USS Arthur ( 1855 ) USS " Arthur " ( 1855 ) was a bark acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways . " Arthur " commissioned in New York City . On 1 August 1861 , " Arthur " — a bark built at Amesburg , Massachusetts , in 1855 — was purchased at New York City by the Union Navy . Fitted out at the New York Navy Yard , she was commissioned there on 11 December 1861 , Acting Volunteer Lieutenant John W . Kittredge in command . Assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron . " Arthur " sailed south on Christmas Eve , 1861 , joined the Gulf Blockading Squadron at Key West , Florida , and then proceeded to the coast of Texas to patrol the waters between Matagorda and Corpus Christi , Texas . This was familiar territory for Kittredge , who had spent several years trading along the Texas seaboard before the Civil War . " Arthur " reached station off Matagorda on the morning of 25 January . " Arthur " captures blockade runner " J . J . McNeil " . Later that day , some 17 miles northeast of the bar at Pass Cavallo , she sighted a schooner sailing toward shore . Kittredge called the crew to quarters and sent two cutters in pursuit of the stranger which was attempting to run aground . A shot from the bark brought the quarry to . A boarding party from the cutters took possession of the schooner , which proved to be the Confederate blockade runner " J . J . McNeil " . The prize — which had left Veracruz , Mexico , with a cargo of coffee and tobacco — was sent to Ship Island , Mississippi , and on to New York City for adjudication . Failed expedition into the Cedar Bayou . On 13 February , the brig exchanged fire with a cavalry troop on shore near Aransas , Texas . About noon on 21 April , Kittredge led an expedition of three boats into Cedar Bayou , Texas , where they chased the schooner " Burkhart " which escaped because of her master ' s knowledge of nearby channels . The next day , they captured three small sloops , but were forced to abandon their prizes — along with two of their own boats — to escape attacks by a numerically superior Confederate force . Kittredge and his party managed to escape without injury . Spring 1862 operations . During the spring of 1862 , Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut , the squadron commander , reinforced Kittredge with the yacht , purchased from the Key West prize court , and the screw gunboat . Besides these tenders , " General Butler " — a lugger about which little is known — was also at Kittredge ' s disposal for operations in the shallow inlets , bays , and bayous found in " Arthur ' s " sector . Capturing the schooner " Reindeer " after a chase . On 9 July , Kittredge entered Aransas Bay in " Corypheus " . Upon approaching , he sighted a " … . schooner apparently lying on her beam ends . . . " He then armed the second cutter and ran down through the reefs to her . Upon seeing the approaching Union ship , the schooner ' s crew righted their vessel — which they had careened for caulking — and cast adrift a cotton - laden , flat - bottomed barge which had been moored to a nearby wharf while the schooner was being prepared for an attempt to run the blockade . The schooner began leaking rapidly the moment she was again upright , and was soon swamped . Kittredge returned to " Corypheus " , and got underway " . . . in pursuit of a schooner that had just passed to the southward . . . . " He soon found his quarry , the schooner named " Reindeer " , at anchor , captured by " General Butler " . Capturing additional Southern vessels while in the Gulf Squadron . On 10 July , Corypheus captured the 9 - ton sloop . A few days later , she reentered the gulf where Kittredge returned to " Arthur " . " Arthur " took the armed schooner at Aransas on 12 August and , on that same day at Corpus Christi , Texas , forced the Confederates to burn the armed schooner " Elma " and sloop " Hannah " to prevent their capture . On the 15th , she added to her list of victims the steamer " A . B . " ( sometimes spelled " A . Bee " ) which had run aground in the narrow and shallow channel that leads to Nueces Bay near Corpus Christi . After several unsuccessful efforts to refloat that prize , Kittredge put the torch to her . Finally , shortly after dawn on 24 August , the yacht " Corypheus " — still working under the direction of Kittredge — captured " Water Witch " of Jamaica as that schooner attempted to enter Aransas Bay with a cargo including a large quantity of gunpowder . Attempting to negotiate the release of Judge Edmund Jackson Davis ' family . Early in September , David Farragut asked Kittredge to attempt to arrange the release of the family of Judge Edmund Jackson Davis , a prominent political leader in Texas who had remained loyal to the Union and had left his home to serve the Federal cause . On 12 September , Kittredge proceeded under a flag of truce to Corpus Christi where the Confederate commanding officer there refused to allow Mrs . Davis to leave Texas , but promised to refer the matter to the Confederate commander in Texas . While awaiting the commander ’ s decision , Kittredge proceeded to Flour Bluffs . Kittredge and his landing party captured by the Confederates . The next morning , Kittredge ’ s ships joined in the shelling of several small vessels that escaped into the shallow waters of Laguna de la Madre where the Union ships could not follow . Kittredge landed a small reconnaissance party and took three prisoners before returning to " Corypheus " . The following morning , Kittredge again went ashore where he and his party of seven men were captured by a large group of Southern soldiers . Because of fear of harming Kittredge ( who would ultimately be dismissed from the service a year later ) and his men , Kittredge ’ s ships were unable to fire on the enemy ashore . Final Civil War operations . The Navy record for " Arthur " is incomplete at this point . Her final operations are not known at this time . Note . See for more detail on Kittredge ’ s activities during this period of time .