The revenue cutter Harriet Lane forces the merchant steamer Nashville to show its colors during the attack on Fort Sumter, April 13, 1861. Harriet Lane was one of the more famous ships in the Revenue Cutter Service. Built specifically to operate out of the New York Area, it helped to suppress the African slave trade and, for a short period, served under the Navy Department off Paraguay enforcing American rights in South America. Here, the vessel is shown exercising its right to stop an unidentified ship when it failed to respond to a signal to show its colors. While Nashville later served as a confederate blockade runner, it quickly hoisted the stars and stripes when Harriet Lane fired shots across its bow. Harriet Lane is credited with firing the first shots from the deck of a ship during the Civil War. (Permission to reprint this work must be obtained from the artist. For information, contact Mary Ann Bader at Mary.A.Bader@uscg.mil.)
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