USS Brilliant (1862)

USS Brilliant (1862) was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways.

Brilliant, a wooden stern-wheel steamer, was built in 1862 at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and purchased by the War Department, 13 August 1862 at St. Louis, Missouri; transferred to the Navy with the Western Flotilla 1 October 1862; and commissioned the following day. Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Charles G. Perkins in command.

Assigned to the Mississippi Squadron
After undergoing repairs Brilliant sailed from St. Louis, Missouri, 25 September 1862 to join the Mississippi Squadron at Cairo, Illinois. Throughout the Civil War she operated very actively on the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers until 2 August 1865.

Assisting in driving off Confederate attackers of Fort Donelson
On 3 February 1863 she assisted in repelling the Confederate attack on Fort Donelson, Tennessee, and from 3 December until 16 December 1864 supported the Union Army's attack on Nashville, Tennessee.

Post war decommissioning
Brilliant was sold at public auction 17 August 1865 at Mound City, Illinois.