USS Linden ( 1860 ) USS " Linden " ( 1860 ) was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries . " Linden " , a wooden sidewheel steamer , was built in 1860 at Belle Vernon , Pennsylvania ; purchased by the Navy at Cincinnati , Ohio , 20 November 1862 ; and commissioned at Cairo , Illinois , 3 January 1863 , acting Master Thomas E . Smith in command . Assigned to Mississippi River operations . " Linden " departed Cairo 9 January escorting charter steamer " Home " and five coal barges to Memphis , Tennessee . After convoy duty up and down the Mississippi River , " Linden " was ordered to cooperate with General Ulysses S . Grant in cutting a canal between the Red and Black Rivers through Tensas Bayou . The project was pressed vigorously but as Porter later noted Supporting the siege of Vicksburg . Throughout the winter and spring of 1863 , " Linden " , continued to support operations against the Confederate river stronghold at Vicksburg . She remained above the fortress when Admiral David Dixon Porter and his gunboats dashed under Vickburg ’ s guns to support Grant ’ s campaign from below . On 29 April with seven other Union Navy ships , three mortar boats and 10 large Army transports , " Linden " began a feigned attack on the Confederate batteries at Haynes Bluff on the Yazoo River above Vicksburg . The movement was designed to prevent southern reinforcement of Grand Gulf where Grant was about to land his troops after crossing the Mississippi River . That day the expedition proceeded as far as Chickasaw Bayou . On the 30th the task force moved up the Yazoo River , and landed troops who marched up “ . . . the levee , making quite a display , and a threatening one also . ” Naval gunfire supported the demonstration until Grant had safely ferried his men across the river and landed at Bruinsburg , Mississippi . Then the diversionary troops withdrew from Haynes Bluff , reembarked , and the expedition returned to the mouth of the Yazoo River . Grant threatens Vicksburg “ in reverse ” . Grant then daringly abandoned his supply lines , drove deep into Mississippi , and defeated converging Confederate forces in detail in several spectacular victories before turning back toward the river to threaten Vicksburg in reverse . At mid - May , Admiral Porter ordered " Linden " back up the Yazoo to assist the Army in encircling the southern river stronghold and to supply the Union Army . When Confederate troops were cut off at Snyder ’ s Bluff , the Union ships pushed on to Haynes Bluff which the South was evacuating . When these heavy works fell , the gunboat again advanced and began to shell the hill batteries at Vicksburg . On 18 May " Linden " while escorting five Army transports on the Mississippi silenced a masked battery at Island No . 82 ; then covered troops who landed and destroyed buildings in the area . On 21 May , " Linden " , " Baron De Kalb " , " Choctaw " , " Forest Rose " , and " Petrel " ascended the Yazoo River to Yazoo City , Mississippi , and forced the Confederate Navy to destroy three “ powerful steamers , rams , and a fine Navy Yard ” to prevent their capture . On the 20th " Linden " and " Forest Rose " reconnoitered Quiver River , Mississippi , and a boat expedition from the ships captured and burned " Dew Drop " and " Emma Bett " . Vicksburg surrenders on the Fourth of July . The tireless efforts of both Navy and Army bore fruit when Vicksburg ’ s dogged defenders finally hauled down the Confederate flag 4 July giving the United States one of its greatest birthday presents , freedom to navigate the Mississippi River from source to the Gulf of Mexico . In the coming months " Linden " performed valuable but unspectacular service on reconnaissance and convoy missions on the Mississippi River and its tributaries . " Linden " sinks after striking a snag in the river . On 22 February 1864 , while attempting to aid transport " Ad . Hines " , " Linden " struck a snag 15 miles up the Arkansas River and sank .