USS Queen City (1863)

USS Queen City (1863) was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy as a gunboat and assigned to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Purchased in Ohio in 1863
Queen City, a wooden, side wheel steamer, was purchased by the Navy at Cincinnati, Ohio, from Samuel Wiggins, 13 February 1863; and commissioned at Cincinnati 1 April 1863, Acting Master Jason Goudy in command.

Assigned to the Tennessee River operating area
The “tinclad” gunboat (No. 26) operated tip the Tennessee River supporting Union Army operations in the area through the spring. In the summer she transferred to the Mississippi River and patrolled the river protecting Union lines of supply and communications. On 13 October she departed Helena, Arkansas, and carried troops to Friar’s Point, Mississippi, where they landed and surrounded the town. The next morning they seized a large quantity of cotton.

Captured by Confederate cavalry and blown up
In ensuing months, she continued operations along the rivers of Arkansas. Off Clarendon, Arkansas, 24 June, two regiments of Confederate cavalry supported by artillery attacked Queen City disabling the paddle wheel steamer arid forcing her commander to surrender. When USS Tyler (1857) attempted to recover the ship, the Confederates blew her up.