In the spring of 1863, the Smith Briggs participated in the Siege of Suffolk, and on June 5, 1863, it participated in a combined expedition with the gunboats Commodore Morris, Commodore Jones, and the transport Winnissimet as they ascended the Mattaponi River to attack Confederate ordnance works at the town of Walkerton.

On June 23, 1863, the Smith Briggs and other gunboats – including Commodore Morris, Commodore Barney, Jesup, Morse, and Western World – formed an escort flotilla to provide support for a week-long mission to land a Union force at White House plantation along the Pamunkey River in Virginia.

It also patrolled the York, Rappahannock, Nansemond, and James Rivers in addition to Chuckatuck Creek in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

During the engagement with Confederate troops, members of the 99th New York Infantry were waiting for the ship to arrive down the Pagan River to pick them up.

Upon reaching the troops who were under fire, the gunboat was hit in its exposed boiler causing it to run aground.