USS William Bacon ( 1863 ) USS " William Bacon " ( 1863 ) was a schooner 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 . Commissioned in New York City in 1862 . " William Bacon " — a wooden - hulled schooner — was purchased by the Union Navy on 6 September 1861 from Van Brunt and Slaight and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard , Brooklyn , New York , on 3 February 1862 , Acting Master William P . Rogers , USN , in command . Assigned to the West Gulf Blockade mortar flotilla . Assigned to the mortar flotilla attached to Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut ' s West Gulf Blockading Squadron , " William Bacon " departed New York City under tow on 6 February and arrived at Key West , Florida , on 18 February . The next day , she shifted to Pilot Town . The need to pass Forts Jackson and St . Philip . Flag Officer Farragut gathered his forces at the mouth of the Mississippi River to commence one phase of the move designed to split the Confederacy asunder along that major waterway . Defending the mouth of that key artery were Forts Jackson and St . Philip , mounting between them 115 guns , in addition to a heavy barrier of chained hulks and logs that lay in the river below the forts to obstruct the passage . " William Bacon " furtively ascends the Mississippi River . The steamer took " William Bacon " under tow on the morning of 11 April and , at 0915 , headed upriver ; at 1300 , the crew on board the mortar schooner began dressing the masts with green bushes in an attempt to camouflage the ship — a standard practice throughout the flotilla as it began to clear for action with the Confederate forces upstream . Bombarding the forts with mortar fire while Farragut makes his run . " William Bacon " and the other ships of the mortar flotilla kept up a steady , heavy fire on the two Confederate forts over the next week . Farragut ' s squadron , meanwhile , battered their way through the barrier and successfully made passage . Three days later , the forts — heavily battered by the shells from the mortar flotilla and surrounded on the landward sides by the Army ' s expeditionary forces under General Benjamin Franklin Butler — surrendered , thus removing a formidable barrier to the Federal operations . " William Bacon " , her task in the reduction of the forts completed , dropped down the river to Southwest Pass , where she awaited further orders . Reassigned to the North Atlantic blockade . Because of the enervating climate , however , " William Bacon " did not tarry long at the mouth of the Mississippi River . She sailed for Hampton Roads , Virginia , soon thereafter and refitted there into the summer . Briefly assigned to the Potomac Flotilla , " William Bacon " subsequently received orders on 11 December 1862 to report for duty with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Wilmington , North Carolina . Three days later , she began taking on stores at Hampton Roads for delivery to the ships already off Wilmington and apparently arrived later in the month to take up her duties . Extant records indicate that the blockade had been strengthened with additional ships by 29 December - - " William Bacon " included . Chasing a sail off Wilmington , North Carolina . " William Bacon " operated primarily off Wilmington and the sounds of North Carolina into 1863 . Relieving at Little River Inlet on 13 March 1863 , she was receiving fresh water from the steamer on 21 March , off the mouth of the Little River , when lookouts sighted a sail to the westward at about 0900 . " Victoria " , Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Edward Hooker commanding , immediately got up steam and gave chase . In accordance with orders from Hooker , " William Bacon " slipped her anchor chain and made sail . " Victoria " , the faster of the two Union vessels , managed to close the range in the fog and mist prevailing offshore that morning and lobbed a few shots at the stranger , all of which fell close aboard . While " William Bacon " came up rapidly , the unidentified vessel hove around and stood toward the two blockaders ; Acting Master Rogers , commanding " William Bacon " , later reported : The prize , English steamer " Nicolai I " , is captured . While " William Bacon " thus stood by in a posture of readiness , " Victoria " lowered a boat . Soon , the blockaders learned the identity of the strange ship : she was the English steamer " Nicolai I " , bound from Nassau , New Providence , in the Bahamas , for Charleston , South Carolina , with a cargo of dry goods , arms , and ammunition . " Victoria " consequently took her prize into custody and took her up to the main body of the fleet . " William Bacon " soon returned to the drudgery of coastal patrols . Final operations , decommissioning and sale . Records are not clear as to what the ship did next , but it may be presumed that she served in a support capacity for the duration of the Civil War . Ultimately decommissioned at the Washington Navy Yard on 17 June 1865 , " William Bacon " was sold at auction to William L . Wall and Co . , on 20 July of the same year .