The only warship captured by cavalry

USS Columbine was a side-wheel steamer that served briefly as a warship of the United States Navy during the Civil War. It was built in 1850 as a tugboat. It was purchased by the Navy in late 1862 to assist in Operation Anaconda, the naval blockade of the southern states. During 1863, it served in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, operating out of Port Royal, South Carolina. In February 1864, it was transferred to Jacksonville, Florida to assist in the Union effort to assert better control over the St. Johns River, which the Confederate forces had been crossing with impunity. In mid-May 1864, USS Columbine as assigned to participate in a Union operation to attack Confederate troops suspected to be camped upstream from Palatka, Florida some miles up the St Johns River. A Confederate spy learned of the operation and alerted the troops. Captain John Dickison, commander of the 2nd Florida Cavalry, CSA, decided to set a trap. Bringing two small artillery pieces, he and his men crossed to the east bank of the St. Johns River and waited in hiding at Horse Landing. As the 17th Connecticut Infantry, Colonel William Noble commanding, marched down the east bank of the river, the Confederate forces attacked. Colonel Noble was wounded and captured. The Union infantry retreated. Captain Dickison then turned his artillery pieces on Columbine. The rudder was quickly damaged. As the warship lost steering, it soon grounded. Firing on the warship continued until only Acting Ensign Frank Sanborn was the only able-bodied officer remaining. He went ashore and surrendered Columbine to Captain Dickison. USS Ottawa, the other warship assigned to support the Union operation, was approaching from its position five miles downstream, so Columbine was burned after its surviving crew members had been taken prisoner. The wreck was recently discovered buried in the mud off Horse Landing Point, but there are no plans to recover it as it is officially the property of the US Navy.