SMITTEN: lunacy glue for the soul.

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.