USS General Putnam ( 1857 ) USS " General Putnam " ( 1857 ) - – also known as the " USS William G . Putnam " — was acquired by the Union Navy during the first year of the American Civil War and outfitted as a gunship and assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America . She also served as a tugboat and as a ship ' s tender when so required . A ship with two names . The Navy purchased " William G . Putnam " , a wooden - hulled tug built in 1857 at Brooklyn , New York , on 24 July 1861 at New York City and renamed the vessel " General Putnam " soon thereafter . The vessel ' s name later returned to " William G . Putnam " while in the service of the U . S . Navy . Civil War service . Assigned to the Atlantic Blockading Squadron . On 13 September 1861 , with Acting Master William J . Hotchkiss in command , " William G . Putnam " departed New York , bound for Washington , D . C . , and arrived at the Washington Navy Yard three days later . On the night of the 17th , she headed down river to join the Potomac Flotilla but the next day was ordered to join the Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Old Point Comfort , Virginia , where she arrived on 23 September . Within a few days , the armed tug began operating off the North Carolina coast where her initial duty was to reconnoiter Ocracoke Inlet . She also patrolled off Hatteras Inlet and assisted in the sinking of three stone - laden schooner s in an attempt to help tighten the blockade by impeding navigation and obstructing the inlets in the area . On 29 October 1861 , the Navy Department divided the Atlantic Blockading Squadron into the North and South commands , and allocated " William G . Putnam " to the newly established North Atlantic Blockading Squadron . The vessel continued to operate primarily in the waters of North Carolina . Capture of Roanoke Island . In February 1862 , the tug took part in the expedition which captured Roanoke Island , North Carolina . On the 6th , the day before the battle began , the side - wheel gunboats and " USS William G . Putnam " steamed a mile or so ahead of the main force to reconnoiter and discovered fifteen steamers and ten sailing vessels close inshore between Pork Point and Weir ' s Point , above the marshes of Croatan Sound . The following day , the Union warship s pressed their attack while the Union Army landed some 10 , 000 troops on Roanoke Island . " William G . Putnam " fired on a Confederate shore battery in an engagement that lasted all afternoon . The next morning , she resumed firing in company with and other Federal warships as they started to pass a cluster of vessels which had been sunk as obstructions . Although running aground at one point during the fight and suffering a hit on the hurricane deck , " William G . Putnam " emerged with no casualties from the heavy shelling by enemy guns . Raising the Stars and Stripes over Cobb Point Battery . On the 10th , " Ceres " ran aground off Elizabeth City , North Carolina , during the battle of Elizabeth City , and " William G . Putnam " pulled her free . In addition , the armed tug attempted to put out a fire that raged in the Confederate armed schooner " Black Warrior " nearby . The blaze proved to be beyond control , but the Union gunboat did manage to pick up a man from the water as he swam from the burning ship . In the operation , Union warships captured the " CSS Ellis " ; obstructed the passage to the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal ; and raised the stars and stripes over Cobb Point battery . Over the ensuing days " William G . Putnam " conducted daily reconnaissance in Albemarle Sound and missions in the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal . For the next six months , the gunboat carried detachments of Army troops and equipment on missions to search out and destroy rebel supply boats . While stationed at Plymouth or New Berne , the ship operated in the Pasquotank and Chowan rivers and the creeks of Dingaderry , Rochahock , and Seems . Ordered to maintain a “ strict and vigorous ” blockade . Needing repairs , " William G . Putnam " , sailed for Hampton Roads and arrived there on 22 October with intelligence data for Rear Admiral Samuel P . Lee . On 6 November , the gunboat received orders to remain in Virginia waters and to maintain a Proceeding to Yorktown , Virginia , the tug joined a small flotilla operating with the Army in an attempt to take Mathews Court House up the East River . Ordered to capture or destroy all Confederate vessels that could be used to run the Union blockade , " William G . Putnam " carried out her assignment until the successful completion of the campaign against Mathews Court House on 23 November 1862 . Repaired at Baltimore and returned to service . Subsequently serving as guard vessel in the York River and off neighboring coasts , the tug cooperated with the Union Army in landing troops on expeditions up to West Point , Virginia , and enforced the blockade by patrolling the region until 15 January 1863 . At that point her boilers broke down , and she was unable to move . Nevertheless " William G . Putnam " remained on active service in those waters , stationed so as to enfilade Gloucester Point , until towed to Baltimore , Maryland , to receive a new boiler and rifle screening . The latter included iron plates placed around the forecastle , quarter deck , and wheelhouse . She returned to her station in June 1863 , helping to blockade Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries . The ship ’ s master is shot dead . While operating in the Piankatank River on blockade duties on 17 August , " William G . Putnam " and the ex - ferryboats and sighted a schooner , a canoe , and a launch running the blockade . Men from the steamers manned two cutters , two boats , and a gig and gave chase but soon encountered heavy sniper fire from Confederate soldiers and guerrillas in the woods . " William G . Putnam ' s " commanding officer , Acting Master Hotchkiss fell mortally wounded in the first enemy volley , and the boats withdrew while returning fire . Acting Ensign William Jennings assumed command of " William G . Putnam " and the ship shelled the woods for about four miles as she dropped down river . Subsequently towed to Yorktown , Virginia , " William G . Putnam " was stationed at the mouth of Queen ' s Creek , where she formed an indispensable part of the defense of Yorktown while Major General Foster erected a citadel there . By that time , the gunboat , with an " overweight boiler , " had become less useful for blockade duty ; but she found profitable employment dragging for torpedoes ( mines ) near Yorktown . Acting Master Hugh H . Savage took command of the armed tug off Newport News , Virginia , on 16 November 1863 and proceeded up the Nansemond River in early December , where she later captured a large boat and destroyed a canoe used by Confederate forces in the area for running mail across the river . " William G . Putnam " remained on picket duty off the mouth of the Nansemond River to intercept blockade runners until 15 December , when she returned to Newport News . Covering the landing of Union Army troops . In February and March 1864 , she patrolled the Back River and the Poquoson River and joined an expedition on 8 March to head up the Mattaponi River , convoying Army transports . The armed tug covered the landing of General Kilpatrick ' s troops at Sheppard ' s Landing , two miles above West Point , before proceeding to the mouth of the Rappahannock River and ascending to a point five miles below Urbanna , Virginia . On 13 March , " William G . Putnam " returned to Yorktown and later resumed her patrols on the Back and Poquoson rivers . From mid - April 1864 , " William G . Putnam " operated in joint Army - Navy operations in the James and Nansemond rivers , covering the landings of troops . She moved ahead of Union Army transports , dragging for torpedoes ( mines ) from Harrison ' s Bar to one mile above Bermuda Hundred , clearing a channel for the landing of troops at City Point and at Bermuda Hundred . She then operated with Brigadier General Charles K . Graham ' s gunboats , supporting the occupation of Fort Powhatan and Wilson ' s Wharf . " William G . Putnam " accompanied Army gunboats up the Appomattox River and anchored at Gilliam ' s Bar . She reconnoitered the river below the bar and , by order of Brigadier General Graham , towing the U . S . Army gunboat " Charles Chamberlain " down the channel . Informed that Confederate pickets had advanced in force as far as Gilliam ' s Bar , the Union flotilla retreated on 11 May to Point of Rocks and shelled the nearby woods . During the action , " William G . Putnam " discovered the Confederate battery at Fort Clifton , opened fire on enemy guns and soon obtained the range . The enemy battery replied , but a shell from the gunboat ' s 24 - pdr . howitzer exploded in the embrasure of their rifled gun , causing the Confederate gunners to break and run . After that action , the Union steamer returned down river and engaged in further combat operations on the Appomattox River almost daily into June , remaining on guard against surprise attacks . Union forces repeated the attack upon Fort Clifton on 9 and 10 June , silencing the enemy battery . On 28 July 1864 , Rear Admiral Lee assigned " William G . Putnam " to a division under the command of Captain Melancton Smith operating on the James River . The gunboat also served on the Appomattox River and in Mobjack Bay until March 1865 , when she returned to Yorktown . Detached from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron on 18 March 1865 , she patrolled the Rappahannock and St . Mary ' s rivers . Post - war activity . After the collapse of the Confederacy in April , the armed tug was ordered to the Washington Navy Yard with twenty - three other vessels from her division . " William G . Putnam " arrived there on 14 May and was decommissioned on 2 June 1865 . The US Treasury Department bought her at auction for use by the Lighthouse Board , and as the tender " General Putnam " she was assigned to the 3rd Lighthouse District . Rammed and sunk after being assigned to the 2nd Lighthouse District , she was raised and repaired at a cost of $ 4 , 738 at Wilmington , Delaware . Reassigned to the 3rd Lighthouse District , her name was shortened to simply " Putnam " in September 1869 . She was rebuilt and lengthened to 135 feet in 1877 prior to being transferred back to the 2nd Lighthouse District . Overhauled in New York in August 1880 , " Putnam " rebuilt yet again in 1889 for $ 18 , 500 . The Lighthouse Board transferred her to the 7th Lighthouse District in March 1891 , based out of Key West , Florida . She was taken out of service in 1891 and sold in 1893 for $ 1 , 825 . She then entered the merchant service as the " SS Putnam " , operating until 1896 .