USS Hastings ( 1860 ) USS " Hastings " ( 1860 ) 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 . " Hastings " , a small wooden gunboat , was built as " Emma Duncan " in 1860 at Monongahela , Pennsylvania , and operated as a river transport out of Cincinnati , Ohio . She was purchased at Cairo , Illinois , in March 1863 from J . Bachelor . Fitted out and ready for service in April ; her first commanding officer was Acting Master W . N . Griswold . Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter recommended that her name be changed to " Hastings " 7 April 1863 . " Hastings " receives battle damage in Confederate waterways . One of the group of lightly built steamers which bore the brunt of the war on the Mississippi River tributaries , " Hastings " was initially assigned to the Tennessee River . While steaming upriver to report for duty , she received her baptism of fire when attacked by Confederate guerrillas near Green Bottom Bar 24 April . Captain Griswold rounded to and engaged the Confederates for a time , after which they withdrew . The light gunboat was hulled seven times and suffered three casualties in the action . Assisting General Sherman ’ s march . " Hastings " then assumed duty as a convoy ship for Union Army transports on the Tennessee River . In May she was sent briefly for duty at the mouth of the Yazoo River , but was soon back on the Tennessee . She arrived at Eastport , Mississippi , 26 October 1863 to assist General William Tecumseh Sherman ' s troops in crossing the river during operations culminating in the Third Battle of Chattanooga , and steamed to Paducah , Kentucky , when that city was threatened by Confederate cavalry 8 November . In need of repairs , " Hastings " returned to the Naval Station at Cairo , Illinois , 16 December . Louisiana operations in support of General Kilby Smith . " Hastings " resumed active patrolling in April 1864 , and was detailed to convoy General Thomas Kilby Smith ' s transports from Springfield Landing to Grand Ecore , Louisiana . Union troops had suffered defeat at the Battle of Pleasant Hill , and the land portion of the Red River Campaign was deemed a failure . Covering the withdrawal of Smith ' s troops , " Hastings " took part 12 April in an engagement with Confederate cavalry and artillery near Blair ' s Landing . After a fierce engagement , in which " Hastings " fought at the rear of the transport group , the convoy passed downriver . Action at Fort Pillow , Tennessee . As the pace of Confederate attacks in Tennessee heightened , " Hastings " was sent to Fort Pillow , Tennessee , to protect it from capture , but was unable to get there in time to help the surrounded city and give assistance to , the only gunboat present . Arriving 14 April , however , " Hastings " shelled the woods in the area of the city . During this period , the veteran gunboat was acting as flagship for the resourceful commander of the 7th District , Mississippi Squadron , Lt . Comdr . S . L . Phelps . Subsequently , she operated in the White River , and in June 1864 cooperated with Major General Frederick Steele in his efforts to corner and defeat Confederate cavalry in the Tennessee and White River areas . Hastings patrolled the river , gained intelligence , and convoyed troops in cooperation with the Army . The gunboat continued her service on the tributaries of the Mississippi River until returning to Cairo , Illinois , early in 1865 . Post - war decommissioning , sale , and civilian career . She decommissioned 7 July 1865 and was sold at Mound City , Illinois , 17 August 1865 to Henry H . Semmes . " Hastings " was subsequently redocumented " Dora " in October 1865 and served as a river freighter until 1872 .