Clifton, a ferryboat, was built in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1861, and purchased 2 December 1861 by the U.S. Navy. Placed in commission late in 1861 or early 1862, she served with the Mortar Flotilla of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, joined in the bombardment and capture of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and attacked the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, Miss., during which action on 28 June 1862 she took a shot through her boiler which killed seven men. She also assisted in the capture of Galveston in October 1862.
Clifton was seized by the Confederates at Sabine - Pass, Tex., on 8 September 1863. She was then employed as a gunboat by the Texas Marine Department [See Annex III]. On 21 March 1864, while attempting to run the blockade off Sabine with a cargo of cotton she grounded on a bar, and to prevent capture by the blockading vessels was set on fire and burned by her crew after ineffectually disposing of her deckload to refloat her.
