- USS Gazelle (1863)
USS "Gazelle" (1863) was a side-wheel steamer acquired by the
Union Navy for duty with theMississippi River Squadron .Commissioned at Cairo, Illinois, in 1864
She was the first ship to be named "Gazelle" by the Navy after being purchased at
Cincinnati, Ohio ,21 November 1863 , as the "Emma Brown". She was commissioned February1864 atCairo, Illinois ., with Acting Master Charles Thatcher in command.Civil War operations
"Gazelle" reached the mouth of the Red River in time to join Admiral
David Dixon Porter ’s joint Army-Navy expedition of12 March -22 May 1864 . The operation was part of the campaign againstTexas designed to gain a strong foothold there and to thwart the French intervention inMexico .Serving between the mouth of the Red River and
Grand Ecore ,Louisiana , "Gazelle" engaged enemy shore units, convoyedUnion Army transports, and patrolled the river while Union Navygunboats assisted in the capture ofFort De Russy .For the next year the ship patrolled between the mouth of the Red River and
Morganza, Louisiana , and convoyed transports. On24 May 1865 she embarked Confederate GeneralsSimon Bolivar Buckner, Sr. , andSterling Price at the mouth of the Red River and brought them toBaton Rouge, Louisiana , to negotiate a surrender with GeneralEdward Canby . Subsequently, following repairs atNew Orleans, Louisiana , "Gazelle" steamed upriver toMound City, Illinois ., arriving25 June .Decommissioning
She decommissioned there
7 July 1865 ; she was sold17 August 1865 to Henry Scott et al. She was redocumented as "Plain City"23 October and operated until abandoned in1869 .References
*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g2/gazelle-i.htm
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