USS Midnight (1861) was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy

Union Navy

The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...

 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...

. She was planned by the Union Navy for use as a gunboat stationed off Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 waterways to prevent their trading with foreign countries.

Midnight was purchased as Dawn by the Navy at New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 31 July 1861 and commissioned at New York Navy Yard 19 October 1861, Acting Volunteer Lt. James Trathen in command.

Assigned to the Gulf Blockade

Assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron 2 November 1861, Midnight operated primarily along the southwestern coast of 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...

, from time to time engaging Confederate coastal batteries as she served the Union blockade.

Faithful service deserves faithful comments by Farragut

Her faithful performance of duty in an area remote and neglected by war correspondents, illustrates the hardship often suffered by American sailors during the Civil War, in August 1862, as he reported sending Midnight home, Admiral Farragut commented:

“The Midnight has been most active on the west coast of Texas and has been now constantly on blockade 9 months, during which time she has only had fresh provision 24 days....Forty cases of scurvy, and dysentery [make it] impossible for such a crew to recruit in this climate.”

Overhauled, Midnight is assigned to the South Atlantic Blockade

Overhauled and her crew restored to health, Midnight arrived Port Royal, South Carolina

Port Royal, South Carolina

Port Royal is a town in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Largely because of annexation of surrounding areas , the population of Port Royal rose from 3,950 in 2000 to 10,678 in 2010, a 170% increase. As defined by the U.S...

, 16 October for service in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. For almost 2 years she continued this duty, a strong link in the chain which the Union Navy had forged and was drawing ever tighter around the Confederacy. On 3 February 1864 she captured British schooner Defy off Doboy Light, Georgia, sailing from Nassau

Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...

 to Beaufort, North Carolina

Beaufort, North Carolina

Beaufort is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1709, it is the third-oldest town in North Carolina.The population was 4,189 at the 2008 census and it is the county seat of Carteret County...

 with a cargo of salt for the South. Midnight was ordered to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, 2 August for repairs.

Reassigned to the East Gulf Blockade

Midnight’s last tour of duty took her to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron early in the fall. Besides serving in the blockade, she from time to time sent landing parties ashore in the vicinity of St. Andrews Bay, to gather information and to destroy Confederate resources.

The value and necessity of salt

Salt works were Midnight’s favorite targets. Vast quantities of salt were needed by the South to preserve meat, fish and other perishable foods; to cure hides; and to bolster the Southern munitions industry. The Union Navy’s systematic attacks on salt works seriously impaired the Confederacy’s ability to remain at war. Midnight’s most successful expedition began 1 February when a party landed at St. Andrews Bay. Three days later they returned to the ship, after destroying beyond repair several large salt plants and dumping tons of the precious chemical into the sea.

Midnight served at St. Andrews Bay through the end of the war. She sailed north early in July and was sold at public auction

Public auction

A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....

 in Boston, Massachusetts, to C. H. Miller 1 November 1865.