USS Fort Jackson was a wooden side wheel steamer in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Fort Jackson was in New York in 1862, formerly named Kentucky and Union, was purchased by Rear Admiral Hiram Paulding

Hiram Paulding

Hiram Paulding was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, who served from the War of 1812 until after the Civil War.-Naval career:...

 for the Navy from C. W. Vanderbilt on 20 July 1863 and placed in commission on 18 August 1863, Captain Henry A. Walke

Henry A. Walke

Henry Walke was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.-Early life:...

 in command.

Service history

On 2 September she departed New York for Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...

 where she joined with steamer in intercepting a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 arms shipment from Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

 to Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

. While sailing from Bermuda on 16 September a boiler burned out and forced her to repair at New York.

In December 1863 Fort Jackson was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron to cruise off the Western Bar, Cape Fear, and the following month helped in destroying the grounded blockade runner Bendigo at Folly Inlet. In April, Captain Benjamin F. Sands

Benjamin F. Sands

Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Sands was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.-U.S. Navy career:...

, her commanding officer, organized a boat expedition in which her crew crossed the bar to Masonboro Sound and destroyed valuable State salt works, and seized a number of prisoners.

The steamer captured the blockade runner Thistle in June and took the runner Boston as prize during the next month. The success of her voyage was heightened when in the same period she plucked drifting cotton bales and bags from the sea and sent them to Philadelphia for adjudication.

During October she was attached to the 2nd Division North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and on 21 October captured CSS Wando

USS Wando (1864)

The first USS Wando was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. In commission from 1864 to 1865, she was used by the United States Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.- Capture :...

 attempting to run through with a cargo of cotton.

During December Fort Jackson fought in the battle off Wilmington and in the first bombardment of Fort Fisher

First Battle of Fort Fisher

The First Battle of Fort Fisher, was a siege fought from December 23 to December 27, 1864, was a failed attempt by Union forces to capture the fort guarding Wilmington, North Carolina, the South's last major port on the Atlantic Ocean...

 (24–25 December) during which she covered troop landings and received on board the dead and wounded.

After loading supplies for the fleet at Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...

 and Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, she returned in mid-January 1865 to cannonade Fort Fisher

Second Battle of Fort Fisher

The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a joint assault by Union Army and naval forces against Fort Fisher, outside Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War...

 until its surrender on the 15th.

On 1 February she was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, underwent repair at Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

, and took up station on the Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 coast. She aided steamer in capturing the schooner Chaos off Galveston

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

 during April, and was present at the surrender of Forts Point

Fort Point

Fort Point is located at the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. This fort was completed just before the American Civil War, to defend San Francisco Bay against hostile warships...

 and Magruder

Fort Magruder

Fort Magruder was an high earthen fortification straddling the road between Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia, just outside the latter city during the American Civil War...

in June.

Fort Jackson returned to New York where she was decommissioned on 7 August 1865 and later sold 27 September 1865.

She subsequently became the commercial steamer North America and was not broken up until 1879.

As of 2005, no other ship in the United States Navy has borne this name.