USS Avenger ( 1863 ) USS " Avenger " ( 1863 ) was a large steamer with powerful guns acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways . Because of her large size , she was also used , at times , as a cargo ship . " Avenger " , a ram built at New Albany , Indiana . On 7 December 1863 , the U . S . War Department transferred to the Navy two wooden - hulled , side - wheel rams then being built at New Albany , Indiana , for the Army ' s Mississippi Marine Brigade . On that day , as he was reporting having taken possession of these still - unfinished vessels , Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter — who then commanded the Mississippi Squadron — suggested that they be named " Avenger " and " Vindicator " . Assigned to the Mississippi River Squadron . On 19 December , the larger ship , " Avenger " , was assigned to the squadron ' s Third District which was responsible for controlling the Mississippi River between Natchez , Mississippi and the mouth of the Red River . Completed late in February 1864 , this ram dropped down the Ohio River and was commissioned at Cairo , Illinois , on the 29th of that month , Acting Volunteer Lt . Charles A . Wright in command . Participating in the Red River Campaign . On 12 March , " Avenger " — carrying dispatches and a cargo of ordnance stores — headed downstream to join a powerful naval force which Porter had recently led up the Red River to cooperate with Union Army troops then pushing through Louisiana in a generally northwesterly direction toward Shreveport , Louisiana . The major objectives of the Red River campaign were : the establishment of a Union foothold in Texas to weaken Confederate strength west of the Mississippi River , the impeding of French interventionism in Mexico , and the acquisition of cotton for idle textile mills in the North . Damaged in a Mississippi River collision . However , when " Avenger " reached a point only some six miles below Cairo , Illinois , she encountered an upward - bound merchant steamer whose pilot attempted to pass her on the wrong side of the stream . The two vessels collided , and Avenger suffered considerable damage to her starboard side . Although she was able to continue on down the Mississippi River , the ram lost nearly a day at Memphis , Tennessee , undergoing repairs . Her trip downriver also revealed defects in her machinery which slowed her progress , but she finally reached the mouth of the Red River on the 16th . There , orders from Porter awaited which directed her to return North with messages . After coaling , she got underway on the 17th and arrived back at Cairo on the 23d . There , Wright ' s report of her engineering difficulties resulted in a survey of the ship . The inspectors recommended that a set of blowers be installed to increase the efficiency of her boilers . While this work was being performed by the repair ship Samson , it was discovered that the ship ' s port boilers were badly burned and required repairs . Successful Ouachita River expedition . After temporary remedies were made , " Avenger " entered the Red River on 2 April carrying messages upstream . Two days later , she took station at the mouth of the Black River and , on the 7th , she entered the Ouachita River in an expedition commanded by Lt . Comdr . James P . Foster in the side - wheel ram Lafayette . The Union warships ascended that tributary as high as Ouachita City and confiscated some 3 , 000 bales of cotton ; liberated 800 negroes ; and burned the courthouse at Monroe , Louisiana , the railroad depot there , and a bridge over the stream . Bedford attacks Fort Pillow . They stood down the Ouachita River on the 12th and returned to the Mississippi River when they learned that the famous Confederate cavalry commander , Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest , had attacked Fort Pillow , Tennessee . Foster , accompanied by " Avenger " and " Choctaw " , ascended the Mississippi River to check Forrest . However , at Memphis he learned that , after pillaging Fort Pillow , the dreaded Southern raider had abandoned the fallen Union stronghold and retired inland . Therefore , " Avenger " — which had been suffering engine trouble — was free to remain at Memphis for repairs which lasted through the end of April . Hauling coast near the mouth of the Red River . The ram then returned to the mouth of the Red River where she was assigned to guard the coaling barge stationed there . She was relieved by " Nymph " on 3 May and proceeded to the mouth of the Black River with additional coal barges in tow . There she was again relieved and steamed upriver to join " Forest Rose " on patrol in the vicinity of Fort deRussy . At that fort , " Avenger " exchanged shots with Southern sharpshooters on 12 May ; and she and her consort engaged the enemy several times as they continued patrols up and down the river during the next five days . General Nathaniel P . Banks carried to New Orleans . The ram returned to the mouth of the Red River on 17 May to coal and then continued downriver to Simmesport , Louisiana , to embark Major General Nathaniel P . Banks , the commander of the Army forces involved in the Red River expedition , for passage to New Orleans , Louisiana . The advance of his troops had been checked at the Battle of Pleasant Hill and a shortage of ammunition , supplies , and water had forced him to withdraw . Reassigned to blockade duty . In May , " Avenger " was stationed at Morganza , Louisiana , and carried out blockading duties between Morganza and Donaldsonville , Louisiana through November , when she was ordered to help in patrolling the Mississippi River between Vicksburg and Natchez , Mississippi . Mississippi River operations . On 21 November 1864 , after spotting a skiff crossing the river at Bruinsburg , Mississippi , " Avenger " shelled the area and sent a landing party ashore which found contraband concealed in the undergrowth . The landing party captured several Confederate soldiers and confiscated 154 rifles with bayonet s , and several skiff s and wagons . She continued to operate in the Mississippi River and , in March 1865 , was stationed off Cole ' s Creek to prevent Confederate troops and supplies from crossing the river . The patrols were intensified in late April and early May in the effort to capture Jefferson Davis , who was believed to be attempting to escape across the Mississippi river . After the President of the defeated Confederacy was captured in Georgia on 10 May , the naval forces employed in blockade duties were gradually reduced . Post - war decommissioning , sale , and subsequent commercial career . In July 1865 , " Avenger " was sent to Mound City , Illinois , where she was decommissioned on 1 August . Sold at public auction there on 29 November 1865 to Cutting & Ellis , the former ram was documented as " Balize " on 16 April 1867 and began service out of New Orleans as a merchantman . The steamer continued commercial operations until 1871 .