USS Gen. Grant

USS General Grant was a steamship used by the US Navy as a gunboat. She was commissioned at Bridgeport, Alabama, on July 20, 1864. The USS Gen. Grant patrolled the upper Tennessee River from Bridgeport, Alabama for the majority of the war. In October 1864 she destroyed 22 small boats off Port Deposit and Crow Island. On November 25, 1864 she assisted in taking up pontoon bridges under guns of Confederate sharpshooters at Decatur, Alabama. She hurled 52 shells into that town on December 12, 1864 and joined USS General Thomas on January 15, 1865 in the destructive bombardment of Guntersville, Alabama.

Only one Williamson County man is known to have served aboard the USS Gen. Grant. Isaac Hender (Hunter?) was born in Williamson County around 1844. He enlisted on June 16, 1864, at Bridgeport, Alabama. on the USS General Grant. His paver has been sponsored by Mark Todd.