USS Vicksburg, an 886-ton (burden) screw steam gunboat, was built in 1863 at Mystic, Connecticut, for civilian use. The Navy purchased the new steamer in October 1863 and, after conversion for warlike purposes, placed her in commission in early December. Her first assignment was inspection duty in and near New York Harbor, an action prompted by Confederate agents' seizure of the steamship Chesapeake on 7 December 1863. In February 1864 Vicksburg began service with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off the Carolina coast. She captured a sailing blockade runner in late April and, during the rest of the year, chased several steamers that were attempting to trade with the Confederacy.

In addition to her blockade work, in mid-July 1864 Vicksburg was briefly stationed off Annapolis, Maryland, to defend against a possible enemy attack. During the year's final week she took part in the unsuccessful attempt to capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina, and in January 1865 was part of the combined operation that took that powerful fortification. On 11 February, Vicksburg helped bombard Half Moon Battery, one of the remaining enemy positions near Fort Fisher. Soon afterwards, she was sent to the James River, Virginia, to support the Army's campaign to break through the defenses of Richmond. USS Vicksburg was decommissioned in late April, shortly after the Confederacy's collapse. She was sold to private owners in July 1865 and was employed as a merchant vessel until about 1868.