Now under the command of Lieutenant Elias K. Owen, "Louisville" aided in the capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, 4 to 11 January 1863, and formed part of the expedition through Steele's Bayou, 14 to 28 January. She was ordered to the Yazoo River the 31st and moved to stop Confederates felling trees across the bayou on 21 March. She then turned her attention to the batteries on the river, running past those at Vicksburg on 16 April, and engaging the lower ones on the 29th. She joined , and on that date, silencing the guns of the fort on Grand Gulf and helping to establish the siege which forced Vicksburg's surrender 4 July 1863.