The ship was purchased 14 March 1863 as
James Thompson, a side wheel
steamer; she was converted into a river gunboat by the addition of timber bulwarks and thin iron plate: a style of warship commonly referred to as a "tinclad". She joined the
Mississippi Squadron in April 1863, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant
Thomas O. Selfridge Jr. in command; was renamed
Manitou 23 March 1863; and renamed
Fort Hindman 8 November 1863. The
USS Fort Hindman was designed to patrol in shallow waters and small tributaries where heavier ironclads could not enter. Her light armor was only intended to stop
small arms fire. In July 1863, the steamer headed an expedition up the
Little Red River, a tributary of the
Black River, and captured quantities of
ordnance and Confederate Government provisions, as well as the heavier Federal
ironclad Louisville. She continued to patrol the central
Mississippi River and its tributaries, taking a Confederate merchantman prize in the Red River on 1 March 1864, engaging Confederate
sharpshooters and a battery ashore in the Black River and later that day in the
Ouachita River. On 2 March 1864, during an engagement near
Harrisonburg, Louisiana, Ordinary Seaman
James K. L. Duncan threw a burning cartridge overboard after it was set afire by an exploding shell, and Ordinary Seaman
Hugh Molloy loaded one of the ships guns from an exposed position after a shipmate had been mortally wounded. Both Duncan and Molloy were later awarded the
Medal of Honor for their heroism in the engagement. During the expedition,
Fort Hindman transported troops and
prisoners of war, over and over again engaged Confederate batteries, and took part in the passage of the falls off
Alexandria, Louisiana, on 8 May. Moving to a more southerly patrol area,
Fort Hindman operated in the rivers and
bayous of
Louisiana, occasionally returning to
Natchez, Mississippi. She arrived at
Mound City, Illinois, 1 August 1865. There she was decommissioned on 3 August 1865, and sold on 17 August 1865. == See also ==