USS Tyler ( 1857 ) USS " Tyler " was originally a merchant ship named " A . O . Tyler " , a commercial side - wheel steamboat with twin stacks and covered paddles positioned aft . Constructed in Cincinnati , Ohio in 1857 , it was acquired by the United States Navy , 5 June 1861 for service in the American Civil War and converted into the gunboat USS " Tyler " on 5 June 1861 . She was commissioned in September 1861 . She was protected with thick wooden bulwarks . On the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers . " Tyler " served in the Western Flotilla from June 1861 to 1 October 1862 , fighting for the Mississippi River . Soon after being commissioned , " Tyler " participated in the attack on the Confederate forces in Hickman and Columbus in Kentucky , doing battle with the CSS " Jackson " . In November 1861 , " Tyler " escorted troops transports for an assault on Belmont , Missouri . Along with , " Tyler " bombarded Columbus until forced by a Confederate counterattack to cover the withdrawal of the Union troops . In February 1862 , " Tyler " assisted in General Ulysses S . Grant ' s advance up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers , helping in the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson , securing western Kentucky for Federal forces . Between assaults on the two forts , " Tyler " joined and " Lexington " moving along the Tennessee River , destroying an important railroad bridge and capturing three Confederate gunboats , most notably the CSS " Eastport " which was converted into an ironclad for Union service . After participating in the two - day action which culminated in the surrender of Fort Donelson , " Tyler " resumed operations on the Tennessee River in support of Grant ' s advance southward along the river ' s banks through western Tennessee . In the Battle of Shiloh , when Confederate forces under General Albert Sydney Johnston surprised Grant ' s troops in southwestern Tennessee near Pittsburg Landing and began pushing them back into the river , " Tyler " and " Lexington " brought their guns to bear when the Confederates attempted to protect their right flank by anchoring it on the river bank . The two ships delivered a devastating enfilading fire that forced the Southern right flank to fall back . Grant ' s troops took advantage of the withdrawal to mount a general advance supported by naval ordnance . Thus , victory ensued where debacle seemed imminent . Grant said of this battle , " in this repulse much is due to the presence of the gunboats . " The Mississippi and Vicksburg . On 19 April 1862 , " Tyler " moved farther south where she captured the Confederate transport " Albert Robb " and burned another Southern ship , " Dunbar " . After Shiloh and the capture of Island No . 10 on the Mississippi , the North shifted the emphasis of its war in the west to conquering that mighty river in an effort to divide the Confederacy in two . Fort Pillow fell on 4 June and Memphis , Tennessee fell on 6 June . Vicksburg , Mississippi was the next obstacle , and it took more than a year to remove it . Those efforts occupied " Tyler " intermittently for the ensuing 13 months . Her first action of the Vicksburg Campaign came in mid - July when she joined the ironclad and the in probing the Yazoo River above Vicksburg in search of the incomplete Confederate ironclad ram CSS " Arkansas " which had eluded capture at Memphis and sought refuge far up the Yazoo . The falling waters of the Yazoo forced " Arkansas " downriver ; but , by then , she was virtually complete and ready for battle . On 15 July , the Union probe and the falling river brought " Tyler " and her colleagues into a collision with " Arkansas " . After a brisk exchange of cannonades , " Carondelet " was disabled . Only " Tyler " , abandoned by " Queen of the West " , remained to suffer the full onslaught of the powerful Southern warship . Recognizing the futility in attacking her adversary unsupported , " Tyler " reluctantly retreated with " Arkansas " in pursuit . After a running fight all the way down the Yazoo , the two warships reached the Union fleet lying near the confluence of the two rivers . " Tyler " sought refuge among the fleet while " Arkansas " ran through it , delivering salvo after salvo into the aggregate of ships , and moored safely under the protection of the Vicksburg shore batteries . During the first phase of the siege of Vicksburg , " Tyler " participated in the joint Army - Navy expedition up the Yazoo River to establish a landward advance on the Confederate stronghold . That expedition lasted from 7 December 1862 until 3 January 1863 . Though the expedition showed no immediate fruits , the land campaign , in conjunction with the waterborne attacks , eventually brought Vicksburg to her knees . In the meantime , " Tyler " saw action in two other operations . The first was to open Arkansas to invasion and the second was in support of the slow strangulation of Vicksburg . In mid - January , she joined other units of the squadron in escorting Army transports to Fort Hindman which guarded Arkansas Post on the invasion route to Little Rock . Federal forces carried that fort finally on 9 January 1863 after a combined sea and land campaign . Following that expedition , the gunboat resumed a patrol routine on the Mississippi until late April . On the 29th , she joined another expedition up the Yazoo , and it resulted in the fall of the important fortifications on Haynes Bluffs on 1 May . That operation was the gunboat ' s last major role in the reduction of Vicksburg which surrendered to Union forces on 4 July 1863 . " Tyler " resumed her support for Army troops upriver invading Arkansas . On the day that Vicksburg surrendered , the gunboat brought her guns to bear on an attacking Confederate force near Helena , Arkansas . On the White River . For the remainder of the war , she participated in the invasion of Arkansas , operating principally on the White River . Her last major combat with the Confederates came on 24 June 1864 far up the White River near Clarendon , Arkansas , when she engaged the Southern shore batteries which damaged and captured the gunboat " Queen of the West " . The beginning of 1865 found her still on the White River but by April she was at Memphis . Rescue efforts in the " Sultana " tragedy . The " Tyler " was pressed into rescue duty with a volunteer crew to assist in the disaster , north of Memphis on 27 April 1865 , as her regular complement had recently been discharged . In June , " Tyler " moved to Mound City , Illinois where she remained until sold at auction there on 17 August 1865 .