USS Little Rebel ( 1859 ) Little Rebel was a cotton - clad ram that had been converted from a Mississippi River steamer to serve as the flagship of the Confederate River Defense Fleet in the American Civil War . Sent from New Orleans to defend against the Federal descent of the Mississippi , she was among the force that engaged vessels of the Union Army ' s Western Gunboat Flotilla at the Battle of Plum Point Bend on May 10 , 1862 . On June 6 , she again was involved in an action with the Federal gunboats , this time at the Battle of Memphis . In the battle , a shot from a Federal gun pierced her boiler , disabling her , and she was then pushed aground by the Federal ram and captured . Subsequently repaired and taken into the Union Navy , she served through the remainder of the war , seeing only limited action . After the war , she was deemed surplus by the Navy Department . Sold , she reentered the merchant service , where she remained until 1874 . Confederate service . " Little Rebel " was built as R . E . and A . N . Watson at Belle Vernon , Pennsylvania , in 1859 . She was acquired at New Orleans , Louisiana , by the Confederate Army in January 1862 , and selected by Captain James E . Montgomery , a Mississippi River boatman , to be part of his River Defense Fleet . On January 25 , 1862 , Montgomery began her conversion to a cotton - clad ram by placing a 4 - inch oak sheath with a 1 - inch iron covering on her bow , and by installing double pine bulkheads filled with compressed cotton bales to protect her engines . On April 11 , " Little Rebel " s conversion was completed and she steamed from New Orleans to Fort Pillow , Tennessee , where she operated in defense of the river approaches to Memphis . On May 10 , 1862 , off Fort Pillow , " Little Rebel " , in company with seven other vessels under Captain Montgomery , attacked the ironclad gunboats of the Federal Western Gunboat Flotilla . The action of Plum Point Bend was marked by successful ramming tactics by the Confederates , but " Little Rebel " , under Captain J . White Fowler , serving as Montgomery ' s flagship , was unable to get into the battle except with her guns . Brigadier General M . Jeff Thompson , CSA , who witnessed the battle said that " Little Rebel " , under a shower of enemy missiles , " ran amid the storm as heedlessly as if charmed . " Meanwhile her guns supported Montgomery ' s other vessels which were ramming Union boats . Later Montgomery ' s force held off the Federal rams and gunboats until Fort Pillow was evacuated on 1 June . Then the Confederate vessels fell back on Memphis to take on coal . Following the Federal capture of Fort Pillow , Flag Officer Charles Henry Davis , USN , commanding the Western Flotilla , pressed on without delay and appeared off Memphis with a superior force on June 6 , 1862 . The flotilla was accompanied by the Ellet rams , a separate group of vessels commanded by Col . Charles Ellet , Jr . Montgomery , unable to retreat to Vicksburg because of his shortage of fuel and unwilling to destroy his boats , determined to fight . In the ensuing Battle of Memphis , " Little Rebel " attacked the ram , one of the two rams to participate in the battle . The Confederate vessel was hit in her boilers by fire from and then was struck by " Monarch " and driven ashore by the blow . Her surviving crew fled to safety , abandoning " Little Rebel " . Service in the Union Navy . The Union squadron captured the abandoned " Little Rebel " and sent her to Cairo , Illinois , June 11 for repairs and for adjudication before the Illinois Prize Court . Her seizure was judged to be legal , so she was purchased by the U . S . Navy from the prize court . On January 9 , 1863 , she entered Federal service . She was first assigned to a flotilla of gunboats commanded by Lieutenant Commander LeRoy Fitch , who had to suppress guerrilla activity on the Ohio , Cumberland , and Tennessee Rivers . Her deep draft made her unsuitable for this duty , so she spent much time on guard duty in the vicinity of Cairo . " Little Rebel " patrolled from Red River to Fort Adams in March 1863 , as Union ships captured Fort De Russey and moved to counter Maximilian ' s threat to Texas . Steaming to the Mississippi River in April , she patrolled this area for the remainder of the conflict . In May 1865 , she and the other Union ships of the Mississippi River Squadron guarded to prevent the escape of Jefferson Davis . On the 28th , she convoyed troops to Red River , remaining at the mouth of the river when the squadron was reduced in June . Decommissioning , sale , and post - war civilian career . " Little Rebel " decommissioned at Mound City , Illinois , July 24 , 1865 and was sold there to Daniel Jacobs on November 29 , 1865 . Redocumented as " Spy " on March 4 , 1867 , she remained in merchant service until 1874 . Abbreviations used in these notes :