Cincinnati was built in 1861 under a War Department contract by James Eads, St. Louis, Missouri, and commissioned at Mound City, Illinois, January 16, 1862, Lieutenant George M. Bache in command.

Assigned to duty with the Army in the Western Gunboat Flotilla under U.S. Navy Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote, Cincinnati participated in the attack and capture of Fort Henry (February 6, 1862); the operations against Island No.

Unbeknownst to them, the battery's guns had been removed from view by simply lowering them from their carriages, both to protect them from the fire of ships on the river and to deceive the Union forces.

William Pratt Parks, (CS Army) had discovered the Union signal code, and when he intercepted a message describing Cincinnati's mission, he had the guns re-assembled during the night and concealed them in brush.

They then reboarded Cincinnati, hastily repaired a small boat which had been damaged by the Confederate fire, and loaded it with men who were too badly wounded to be dragged through the water.

[1] Raised again in August 1863, Cincinnati returned to patrol duty on the Mississippi River and its tributaries until February 1865 when she was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.