Harriet Lane 1857 Steam Paddle Cutter

Built in New York for the US Revenue Service in 1857, the Harriet Lane was powered by a combination of steam and sail. She was 180 feet long with a 30 ton beam. Her armament consisted of a 30 lb. Parrott rifle plus three 9" smooth-bore Dahlgrens.

At the outbreak of the Civil War she was taken into the Union Navy, and participated in the Atlantic blockade and the capture of New Orleans. She was captured in a Confederate naval operation during the galveston expedition. Renamed Lavinia, she slipped through a blockade with 1,050 bales of cotton, and got safety to havana where her cargo was exchanged for French rifles. with the war's end, she was towed to Hoboken and converted to a lumber bark.