General Grant was built in 1863 at Monongahela, Pennsylvania; purchased by the War Department; chartered by the Navy and commissioned at Bridgeport, Alabama, 20 July 1864, Acting Master Joseph Watson in command.

[1] General Grant constantly patrolled the upper Tennessee River from Bridgeport until close of the Civil War, fighting guerrillas and aiding the Union Army in clearing Confederate troops from the region.

On 25 November she assisted in taking up pontoon bridges under guns of Confederate sharpshooters at Decatur, Alabama.

She hurled 52 shells into that town 12 December 1864 and joined USS General Thomas 15 January 1865 in the destructive bombardment of Guntersville, Alabama.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.