USS General Taylor USS " General Taylor " was a small sidewheel steamer which served in the U . S . Navy from 1842 to 1852 . Prior to her Navy service , she operated as a transport and supply vessel during the Second Seminole War . Though only an auxiliary ship , " General Taylor " appears to have had quite a colorful career . After her Seminole War service , she played a cameo role in the notorious trial and sentencing of abolitionist Jonathan Walker . In the mid - 1840s , " General Taylor " s crew included two future Engineers - in - Chief of the Navy . After being burned and rebuilt in 1846 , the steamer later played a role in the foiling of a planned 1849 filibuster invasion of Cuba . " General Taylor " was sold by the Navy in 1852 . Design and construction . " General Taylor " had a length of 105 feet ( 32 m ) , a beam of 17 feet 6 inches ( 5 . 33 m ) , a draft of 6 feet 6 inches and a hold depth of 8 feet 6 inches ( 2 . 59 m ) . " General Taylor " s original builder is not known , but her original engine was supplied by the Allaire Iron Works of New York . The single - cylinder , 98 hp , 23 rpm engine was of the square crosshead type , with a 25 . 3 inch bore and 6 - foot stroke . Steam was supplied by an iron flue boiler at an average working pressure of 20 psi . The paddlewheels were 16 feet in diameter and 4 feet 10 inches wide , with fourteen 1 - foot 10 - inch width paddles . The vessel had an average speed of 8 and a maximum speed of 9 knots . Service history . " General Taylor " was purchased at New York by the War Department in 1840 and was used as a transport and supply ship during the Second Seminole War in Florida . She was transferred to the Navy in 1842 , and used for a time in the Gulf of Mexico . In July 1844 , " General Taylor " was used to convey abolitionist Jonathan Walker from Key West to the Pensacola Navy Yard , where he was handed over to local authorities and charged with slave stealing . Walker later testified that for most of the voyage aboard " General Taylor " , in spite of being seriously ill , he was kept chained hand and foot in " filthy " and oppressively hot conditions in or near the engine room of the steamer ' s hold , apart from brief periods of a few hours a day when he was allowed on deck . Walker was later infamously sentenced by a Florida civil court to having the letters " S . S . " — an acronym for " Slave Stealer " — branded on his hand . In 1845 , " General Taylor " was converted into a tugboat , operating out of the Pensacola Navy Yard . Benjamin F . Isherwood , later Engineer - in - Chief of the Navy during the American Civil War , served on " General Taylor " in 1846 – 47 . William H . Shock , Engineer - in - Chief of the Navy in the 1870s , also served on " General Taylor " in the late 1840s . On 10 October 1846 , " General Taylor " caught fire while lying at the wharf of the Pensacola Navy Yard , and was burned to the water ' s edge . She was redesigned by F . Grice and rebuilt by G . Lyndal of Baltimore , a new engine and boiler being supplied at the same time by Charles Reeder & Sons of the same city . The new 187 hp engine was of the crosshead type , with a 36 - inch bore , 6 - foot stroke and steam cut - off of 3 feet . The new boiler had a greater fire surface area ( 720 vs . 499 square feet ) than the original , and a slightly higher operating pressure of 25 psi . The paddlewheel diameter was also enlarged by a foot , and the number of paddles reduced by one to thirteen . The new machinery appears to have been less efficient than the original , consuming twice the fuel for only a one - half knot increase in maximum speed . " General Taylor " s hull dimensions remained the same after the rebuild as before . In September 1849 , " General Taylor " was despatched to Round Island , Mississippi , to help monitor a party of 500 or more " adventurers " gathered there , whose leaders were rumored to be planning an attack on Cuba . " General Taylor " was selected for the mission because her light draft was expected to enable her to negotiate the shallow approaches to the Island , while her speed would allow her to effectively pursue any ships attempting to embark the adventurers . For the operation , " General Taylor " was equipped with a single 6 - pounder cannon , and her crew issued with small arms . In the event , these precautions proved unnecessary as the men on the island eventually dispersed peacefully . The men had been in the pay of Narciso López , a Venezuelan filibuster . Lopez would later organize two further attempts to invade Cuba ; on the last attempt he was captured and executed by the Spanish . " General Taylor " was employed as a dispatch vessel at the Navy Yard until April 1852 , when , needing extensive repairs , she was sold at public auction at Pensacola for $ 3 , 000 . Her fate thereafter is unknown .