She was originally built in 1859 at New Albany, Indiana, for service on the Mississippi River and other waterways in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the war.

She was pressed into service at the start of the Civil War by the Confederacy, but was captured by the 76th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment on 18 August 1862, during a joint expedition to Milliken's Bend on the Mississippi.

[1] On 3 February 1863, Fairplay was steaming up the Cumberland from the Smithland base to Nashville, Tennessee, guarding a convoy of transports during a lengthy campaign.

The small flotilla sailed at full speed to disperse the main body of attackers, taking them by surprise, and then returned to complete the passage to Nashville.

Fairplay continued to operate in the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Ohio rivers, and on 3 December 1864, engaged a Confederate battery at Bell's Mill near Nashville.