USS Adolph Hugel ( 1860 ) USS " Adolph Hugel " ( 1860 ) was a schooner acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . With her two 32 - pounder guns , she was intended for use by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways . However , she also had installed on board a heavy mortar , useful for shore bombardment . Constructed at Philadelphia in 1860 . " Adolph Hugel " — a schooner built at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , in 1860 — was purchased there by Captain Samuel Francis Du Pont on 21 September 1861 to participate in his impending expedition against Port Royal , South Carolina , and then to serve in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron which he hoped to base at that port . Delayed in commissioning due to construction problems . However , delays in fitting out the schooner prevented her from taking part in the Port Royal operation and caused her to be reassigned twice before her active service began : first to Flag Officer William W . McKeon ' s Gulf Blockading Squadron and then , on 2 December 1861 , to the Mortar Flotilla established under Commander David Dixon Porter to support Farragut ' s forthcoming campaign against New Orleans , Louisiana , and the lower Mississippi River . Civil War operations . Commissioned and ordered to the Mississippi . Commissioned on or before 11 January 1862 , Acting Master Hollis B . Jencks in command , " Adolph Hugel " finally departed Chester , Pennsylvania , on 13 January 1862 and proceeded to Hampton Roads , Virginia , in company with sister schooner . From that port , she proceeded via Hampton Roads , Virginia ; Key West , Florida ; and Ship Island , Mississippi , to the Mississippi Delta which she reached on 18 March . Upon arriving there , she was promptly towed over the bar off the mouth of Pass a l ' Outre and into the river . For the next month , while Farragut labored to get his deep - draft , saltwater warships into the Mississippi River , Porter kept his vessels busy preparing to support the flag officer ' s thrust upstream . Bombardment of Forts Jackson and St . Philip . On the morning of 18 April , " Adolph Hugel " opened fire on Fort Jackson which , with Fort St . Philip across the river , protected New Orleans from seaborne attack . She and her sister schooner kept up the shelling for over two hours before ceasing fire at noon . Thereafter , Porter ' s mortars intermittently bombarded the Confederate fortifications . Their firing reached its peak in the pre - dawn darkness of the 24th when Farragut ' s fleet dashed upstream , passed the forts , and the next day took New Orleans . Four days later , the forts surrendered . Originally , similar operations against Mobile , Alabama , were next on the mortar flotilla ' s agenda ; and " Adolph Hugel " and her sisters dropped downriver and returned to the Gulf of Mexico to await Farragut who was to join them in attacking that port . Meanwhile , however , new orders from Washington sent Farragut back upstream to join Flag Officer Charles Henry Davis ' Western Flotilla which had been fighting down the Mississippi River from Cairo , Illinois . Providing a mortar attack on the fortress at Vicksburg . When these instructions reached the flag officer , he had just returned to New Orleans from Vicksburg , Mississippi , where he had found Confederate cannon which could shell his ships with near impunity , because their location high on the cliffs kept them out of the field of fire of the Union Navy ' s low trajectory guns . He , therefore , called the Mortar Flotilla back to the river to neutralize the Southern batteries as he raced past Vicksburg to meet Davis . Thus , late in June , " Adolph . Hugel " found herself and her sisters just below the Confederate river fortress ; and , on the 28th , they shelled the hillside batteries as Farragut ' s salt water men - of - war ran the gauntlet . Reassigned to the James River to support beleaguered Union Army . However , events were taking place in Virginia which would shorten " Adolph Hugel " s service on the Mississippi River . General Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia had defeated the North ' s Army of the Potomac in the Seven Days Campaign , driving it across the peninsula between the York and the James and penning it up in a somewhat precarious beachhead at Harrison ' s Landing on the north bank of the latter river . There , Union gunboats protected each flank of the beleaguered Northern army ; and , the Federal War Department felt that mortar boats would be ideal weapons to augment naval firepower on the James and , in this way , to increase the security of the besieged Federal troops . As a result , in compliance with an Army request , Secretary of the Navy , Gideon Welles , called 12 of Porter ' s schooners back to the east coast for duty on the vital Virginia river . " Adolph Hugel " arrives , but needs repairs . " Adolph Hugel " — one of the mortar boats brought back to the Atlantic Ocean coast — reached Hampton Roads on 31 July . However , when she arrived there , she was in serious need of repairs . Thus , instead of ascending the James to bolster Union strength at Harrison ' s Landing she soon continued on north for yard work at Baltimore , Maryland . Reassigned to defend the Nation ’ s Capital on the Potomac . The patching kept her out of action into the autumn . By the time she was back in fighting trim , the Army of the Potomac had evacuated the peninsula and had moved north to help to defend Washington . Lee ' s army had routed General John Pope ' s troops in the Second Battle of Bull Run , had invaded Maryland , and was a threat to the Federal capital . Thus , " Adolph Hugel " s capabilities were no longer required on the James , but were urgently needed near Washington . Serving on the Potomac River . Consequently , the schooner was assigned to the Potomac Flotilla and began patrolling the river between Washington and Aquia Creek in early autumn . She subsequently served on various stations in that command through the end of the Civil War . Her efforts were devoted primarily to stopping illicit trade between Maryland and Virginia while acting as a guard ship at Alexandria , Virginia . Her accomplishments were small ; but their cumulative effect , added to the work of many sister Union warships , was significant in helping to weaken the South . An April Fools Day capture of a load of whiskey . The schooner ' s first capture was almost comical in that it took place on April Fool ' s Day , 1863 ; and the prize was a " . . . hastily abandoned . . . " boat loaded with whiskey . This action was a sample of victories to come , for much of her work was devoted to checking the Civil War ' s version of bootlegging or carrying alcoholic beverages . On 20 July , she took another liquor - laden boat with a two - man crew . On 17 September , she made a prize of the sloop " Music " ; and on 3 December 1863 , she captured the schooner " F . U . Johnson " . This vessel ' s general cargo included a large quantity of distilled spirits . And more whiskey . On the night of 6 February 1864 , a small boat attempted to pass " Adolph Hugel " and did not reply to repeated hails from the guard vessel . Acting in accordance with standing orders , the schooner ' s commanding officer fired at the boat ' s only occupant , wounding him . The boat sank alongside , and its captors threw its cargo of whiskey overboard . " Adolph Hugel " asked to defend Alexandria from Jubal Early . During Confederate General Jubal Early ' s Washington raid in July 1864 , the Military Governor of Alexandria requested " Adolph Hugel ' s " help in defending his city in the event of an attack . However , before Early reached Washington , heavy reinforcements arrived at Fort Stevens , which guarded the northwestern approaches to the Federal capital , prompting Early to withdraw . On 28 October 1864 , the schooner took her last prize , the sloop " James Landry " which was carrying a general cargo and six passengers . Post - war decommissioning and sale . Following the end of hostilities , " Adolph Hugel " was decommissioned at the Washington Navy Yard on 17 June 1865 . She was sold at public auction there on 20 July to a gentleman named Robinson .