USS Tallahatchie ( 1863 ) USS " Tallahatchie " ( 1863 ) was a 171 - ton steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War for service against the Confederate States of America . " Tallahatchie " was outfitted with ordnance for river bank operations ( howitzers ) and guns for attacking blockade runners ( 32 - pounders ) and was sent to the Mississippi River and then to the Gulf of Mexico coast , where she participated in operations in both places . Built in Cincinnati , Ohio , in 1863 . " Cricket No . 4 " — a wooden - hulled sidewheel steamer built in 1863 at Cincinnati , Ohio — was purchased there by the Union Navy from Stephen Morse et al . on 23 January 1864 . Renamed " Tallahatchie " on 26 January and designated " " tinclad gunboat no . 46 " , " the sidewheeler was held at Cincinnati for a fortnight by ice in the Ohio River before she could be moved downstream to Cairo , Illinois , to be fitted out and lightly armored . Civil War operations . Assigned to the Mississippi River . Acquired by Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter in response to a request from Commodore Henry H . Bell for light draft gunboat s to strengthen United States naval forces in the Gulf of Mexico , " Tallahatchie " headed down the Mississippi River on 9 March 1864 . The ship ' s bottom was covered with sheet copper at New Orleans , Louisiana , to protect it during salt water operations . When finally ready for action , the ship was commissioned at New Orleans , Acting Master J . W . Saunders in command . Meanwhile , Porter ' s Mississippi Squadron had ascended the Red River to support a Union Army thrust toward Texas . However , the forces had met reverses and were retiring . This left the Union gunboats without land support and in danger of being caught upstream by the falling water level in the river . Now Porter needed help , and " Tallahatchie " ascended the Mississippi and entered the Red River which she patrolled from Fort De Russy to the mouth of the Black River to protect the Mississippi Squadron ' s waterborne communications . Assigned to the West Gulf blockade . In the meantime , the crews of Porter ' s warships and Union Army engineers dammed the river to allow the ships to ride downstream over the rapids . When the Union gunboats reached safety , " Tallahatchie " returned to New Orleans for duty with the West Gulf Blockading Squadron . She served with this force for the duration of hostilities , operating off the passes of the Mississippi and in Mississippi Sound and Lake Pontchartrain . On 15 September 1864 , while " Tallahatchie " was operating on the lake , her commanding officer , Acting Master J . W . Lennekin , received information warning him that smugglers would attempt to bring out contraband cotton under cover of darkness . Accordingly , he stationed a picket boat off the mouth of the Blind River . Apprehending smugglers . That evening , when the smugglers came out , " Tallahatchie ' s " pickets challenged them and ordered them to surrender . Facing imminent capture , the southerners threw overboard a ledger book which contained the details of their illicit activities . Much to the smugglers ' chagrin , the book was recovered . Two days later at the mouth of the Amite River , " Tallahatchie " captured more contraband cotton as well as small quantities of medicines , powder , flour , and other supplies on the banks of Bayou Schinblon . Besides taking the contraband , her landing party went ashore and learned that Confederate agents had previously purchased ammunition and supplies in the vicinity . Post - war decommissioning . After the coming of peace in the spring of 1865 , " Tallahatchie " was decommissioned at Mobile Bay , Alabama , on 21 July 1865 . Sold at auction to S . W . Roberts on 12 August , the sidewheeler was redocumented as " Coosa " on 25 August . She was subsequently destroyed by fire at Licking River , Kentucky , on 7 July 1869 .