USS John Griffith ( 1861 ) USS " John Griffith " ( 1861 ) was a mortar schooner acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used for various purposes , but , especially for bombardment because of her large 13 - inch mortar and 12 - pounder howitzers that could fire up and over tall defensive riverbanks . " John Griffith " was purchased by the Navy at New York City from B . P . Woolsey 16 September 1861 ; and commissioned at New York Navy Yard 20 January 1862 , Lt . K . Randolph Breese in command . Assigned to Mississippi River operations . The schooner was ordered to Key West , Florida , to join the Mortar Flotilla being organized by Comdr . David D . Porter for the decisive attack up the Mississippi River . The flotilla sailed from Key West 6 March and on 11 March anchored at Ship Island , Mississippi , the staging area for Flag Officer David Farragut ' s New Orleans , Louisiana , campaign . A week later " John Griffith " was towed across the bar at Pass a l ' Outre with Porter ' s other mortar schooners . For the next month , while Farragut labored to move his deep - draft , sea - going ships across the bar and into the Mississippi , Porter ' s vessels drilled and prepared for the fight awaiting them . Attack on Fort Jackson and Fort St . Philip . The mortar boats moved into terminal position 18 April and opened fire on Fort Jackson and Fort St . Philip . " John Griffith " , now under Acting Master Henry Brown , was in the 3rd Division commanded by her old skipper , Lt . Breese , who placed his schooners along the western bank of the river just below the lower limit of Fort Jackson ' s fire . " John Griffith " pressed the attack with great vigor , leading the ships of her division on 4 days of the weeklong bombardment which continued until Farragut had succeeded in fighting his mighty fleet past the forts to capture New Orleans in one of the war ' s most daring and strategically significant operations . This bold stroke deprived the South of her largest and wealthiest city , tightened the Union blockade , and gave promise of restoring the entire Mississippi Valley to the Union . When he was barely beyond the forts , Farragut paused to bury his dead , repair his ships , and dash off a note of thanks to Porter for the help of the mortars : " You supported us most nobly . " Moving up the river : attack on Vicksburg . " John Griffith ' s " next major operation came on Farragut ' s second passage up the Mississippi River . The mortars rained their 8 - inch shells on the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg , Mississippi , while the heavy ships steamed by the forts to meet Flag Officer Davis and his Mississippi Flotilla . The schooners then waited for Farragut below Vicksburg , occasionally enlivening their vigil by hurling a few shells at the forts . On 15 July they resumed the bombardment in earnest when the sound of heavy firing announced Farragut ' s approach . Reassigned to the South Atlantic Blockade . " John Griffith " continued to serve the West Gulf Blockading Squadron until ordered north 18 May 1864 . The schooner decommissioned for repairs 1 June and she re - commissioned 23 August 1864 . The following day she received orders to sail to Port Royal , South Carolina , for service in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . She arrived Port Royal 8 September and served on blockade duty and at the mouth of the Altamaha River , Georgia , until ordered 12 December to the Savannah River , where General William Tecumseh Sherman had just emerged at the end of his famous march to the sea . Five days later " John Griffith " shelled Fort Beaulieu , the Confederate fortress defending the mouths of the Vernon and Burnside Rivers . With she maintained her steady and deliberate fire until the defenders finally evacuated 21 December . End - of - war decommissioning and sale . Thereafter " John Griffith " remained on blockade duty until after the end of the war . She decommissioned 21 August 1865 and was sold at public auction at Boston Navy Yard to C . Foster 8 September 1865 .