Brilliant (Sternwheel Gunboat)
1862-1865
The Navy retained the name carruied by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
(Sternwheel Gunboat: tonnage. 227; length 154'8"; beam 33'6"; draft 5'; speed 6 miles per hour; armament 2 12-pounder rifles, 2 12-pounder smoothbores)
Brilliant, a wooden-hulled stern-wheel steamer, was built in 1862 at Brownsville, Pennsylvania., and purchased by the War Department, on 13 August 1862 at St. Louis, Mo.; tranferred to the Navy with the Western Flotilla 1 October 1862; and commissioned the following day. Acting Volunteer Lt. Charles G. Perkins in command.
After undergoing repairs, Brilliant sailed from St. Louis on 25 September 1862 to join the Mississippi Squadron at Cairo, Illinois. Throughout the Civil War, she operated very actively on the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers until 2 August 1865.
On 3 February 1863, she assisted in repelling the Confederate attack on Fort Donelson, Tenn., and from 3 December until 16 December 1864 supported the Union Army's attack on Nashville, Tennessee.
Ultimately, Brilliant was sold at public auction on 17 August 1865 at Mound City, Illinois.
James L. Mooney
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
24 March 2021
