The USS Miami is a 730-ton side-wheel gunboat. She was commissioned on January 29, 1862 and was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The USS Miami was sent to the Gulf of Mexico to help in the battle for New Orleans in the Civil War. In September of that year, the Miami was transferred to the Atlantic Ocean.
On April 19, 1864, the USS Miami participated in a naval-battle with the South's Albemarle. The battle resulted in the death of the Lieutenant Commander of the Miami, Charles Flusser. Towards the end of the same year, the ship was relocated to the James River, Virginia, and outlasted the Civil War in that area. In May of 1865, the USS Miami was decommisioned, and in August of the same year, she was sold. For the following four years, it was a commercial vessel, until finally in 1869, it was no longer used by any organization.
The USS Miami was in fact a integrated ship, and did have both black and white crew members.