USS General Bragg ( 1851 ) USS " General Bragg " ( 1851 ) was a heavy ( 1 , 043 - ton ) steamer captured by Union Navy forces during the American Civil War . She was outfitted as a U . S . Navy gunboat and was assigned to enforce the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America . Built in New York City . " General Bragg " was originally the 1043 - ton side - wheel river steamer " Mexico " and was built in New York City in 1851 . She was owned by the Southern Steamship Co . at the start of the American Civil War Service as CSS " General Bragg " . " Mexico " was pressed into Confederate service as CSS " General Bragg " at New Orleans , Louisiana 15 January 1862 . She was converted to a " cottonclad " ram and renamed for General Braxton Bragg , a western theater commander . As part of the River Defense Fleet , she took part in the defenses of Memphis , Tennessee , and the surrounding area . In an action off Fort Pillow on 10 May 1862 she helped sink the Union Navy ironclad ( later raised and refitted ) and was put out of action herself . On 6 June , she was run aground and captured during the naval battle off Memphis . After repairs , she became USS " General Bragg " . Service as the USS " General Bragg " . Following " General Bragg ' s " capture by the Union ' s Western Flotilla , she was transferred to the War Department 30 September 1862 . Her first Commanding Officer was Lieutenant Joshua Bishop . " General Bragg " was fitted out at Cairo , Illinois , departing 9 July 1862 for Helena , Arkansas . She sailed 16 August 1862 as part of an escort to steamer " Iatan " carrying 500 troops to the mouth of the Yazoo River for reconnaissance of Confederate batteries and guerrilla parties . For the next 15 months , except for periods of repair at Memphis , Tennessee , she patrolled the river from Helena to the mouth of the Yazoo River , where she guarded against Confederate movements toward Vicksburg , Mississippi . Red River operations . With the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863 , " General Bragg " remained in the vicinity until her departure 13 December , for her new station at the mouth of the Red River . During the spring of 1864 , it was her duty to guard the mouth of the river in support of the joint expedition against Shreveport , Louisiana on the Red . She began patrolling the river again , and 15 June engaged a Confederate battery with " Naiad " near Tunica Bend , Louisiana . Per the later captured battle flag of Barlow ' s Battery , now preserved at the Illinois National Guard Museum , thirty - two rounds were fired at the " General Bragg " . For a time the ships got the worst of the action amid a hail of shot and musketry , but eventually drove off the Confederates with the help of " Winnebago " . " General Bragg " was disabled in the action . The remainder of " General Bragg " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s career was spent patrolling the Mississippi from the mouth of the Red River to Natchez , Mississippi . Infrequently she cruised as far south as Baton Rouge , Louisiana and New Orleans , Louisiana . Post - war decommissioning and subsequent career . The ship returned to Mound City , Illinois , 2 July 1865 , and decommissioned at Cairo 24 July 1865 . She was sold 1 September 1865 , she was redocumented " Mexico " . She was employed for U . S . civilian purposes until 1870 , when she was sold to foreign interests .