USS Rattler, a 165-ton stern-wheel "tinclad" river gunboat, was built in 1862 at Cincinnati, Ohio, as the civilian steamer Florence Miller. Purchased by the Navy in November 1862 and converted to a gunboat, she was commissioned the following month. In January 1863, Rattler led the Mississippi Squadron up the White and Arkansas Rivers to capture Fort Hindman. In March, she was flagship for the Yazoo Pass expedition, an unsuccessful attempt to isolate the Mississippi River strongpoint at Vicksburg. Rattler next took part in raiding up the Red, Black, Tensa and Ouachita Rivers during July 1863, assisting in the capture of the Confederate steamer Louisville, which later became USS Ouachita. She thereafter was employed on patrol and convoy duties in the Mississippi River, largely near the town of Rodney, Mississippi. A heavy gale near Grand Gulf, Mississippi, on 30 December 1864 drove Rattler ashore, causing her to strike a snag and sink. After being abandoned by the U.S. Navy, she was burned by the Confederates.