USS Moose ( 1863 ) USS " Moose " ( 1863 ) 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 to prevent the South from trading with other countries . " Moose " , a wooden sternwheel steam gunboat built at Cincinnati , Ohio , in 1863 as " Florence Miller II " , was purchased at Cincinnati 20 May 1863 , and commissioned immediately , Comdr . LeRoy Fitch in command . Assigned as a gunboat to the Mississippi Squadron . Assigned to the Mississippi Squadron , the new gunboat departed Cincinnati 2 July 1863 to patrol the Ohio River from Louisville , Kentucky , upstream . Morgan ’ s Raiders had captured Union ships " John T . McComb " and " Alice Dean " 7 July ; " Moose " and responded to the Confederate threat , arriving Brandenburg , Kentucky , 9 July . " Moose " caught up with a guerrilla band at Twelve Mile Island 11 July ; of the 1 , 500 Confederate troops trying to reinforce Morgan ’ s party , 45 crossed the Ohio River , 39 were held on the island and taken prisoner , some were drowned , and the rest driven back . Ohio River operations . On 19 July , " Moose " and " Allegheny Belle " shelled Confederates on Buffington Island , and captured abandoned artillery . Continuing to patrol the Ohio , Cumberland , and Tennessee Rivers during the summer , " Moose " had convoy duty on the Cumberland in October , and joined , , , and 8 November in defeating Confederate guerrillas attempting to cross the Ohio River . Returning from Harpeth Shoals and escorting 10 transports to Nashville , Tennessee , " Moose " lay below Dover 9 November planning the destruction of a guerrilla camp near Palmyra , a mission carried out with " Victory " in December . Kentucky River operations . She continued river patrols , reporting on construction of ships in the Tennessee River , and in April 1864 with and broke up a Confederate attack on Columbus , Kentucky . On the 16th , the Confederates attacked Fort Pillow , annihilating its 500 defenders ; " Moose " , , and " Hastings " were sent there to clean up . On the 29th , " Moose " scouted the river to Hickman , Kentucky , bringing away Unionists while skirmishing to keep guerrillas away from the river . From May through December , " Moose " patrolled from Nashville to halt smuggling and control guerrilla movements . Typical operations included shelling and scattering a group of 40 cavalry at the crossing of the Memphis and Clarksville Railroads near Johnsonville 5 November , and shelling a large southern encampment above Turkey Island the same month . On 3 and 4 December , she fought field batteries at Bell ' s Hills , Tennessee , silencing the guns and recapturing three transports . She returned to Nashville , but hit another battery , the 15th , capturing the guns . She joined 17 December to escort transports compelled to return to Nashville by a strong southern force . A surprise attack on guerrillas on the Cumberland River . " Moose " made a surprise attack on guerrillas crossing the Cumberland at Eddyville , Indiana , 30 April 1865 , completely dispersing and demoralizing the party . " Moose " then returned to the Ohio and was ordered to Jefferson Barracks , Missouri , 2 July to discharge stores . End - of - war decommissioning , sale , and civilian career . She decommissioned at Mound City , Illinois , 12 April 1865 and was sold at public auction to D . White 17 August 1865 . Redocumented as " Little Rock " 9 October 1865 , she operated on the rivers until destroyed by fire at Clarendon , Arkansas , 23 December 1867 .