by the same blockader, . The two runners were conceded to be easily "the most noted that ply between Bermuda and Wilmington." This ship was not the one immortalised in the American popular song Waiting for the Robert E. Lee (1912), which was based on a later Mississippi steamer of the same name. USS Fort Donelson Robert E. Lee was condemned as a prize at Boston, Massachusetts, acquired by the United States Navy and placed in commission on June 29, 1864, as USS Fort Donelson, with Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Thomas Pickering in command. Fort Donelson was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, cruising in blockade of the North Carolina coast through the remainder of 1864 with brief periods of repair at Norfolk, Virginia. From January 13 to January 22, 1865, she aided in the bombardment of Fort Fisher's batteries and landed ammunition supplies for the Union forces. Fort Donelson joined the fleet in attacking Fort Anderson on February 17–February 18. During March she cruised in company with to Bermuda, was present at City Point, Virginia when U.S. President Abraham Lincoln arrived on board River Queen on March 20, and acted as guardship at Fort Fisher. She operated with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron until June, but when ordered to the West Gulf squadron was found to be in such poor condition that she returned to Norfolk. Fort Donelson was decommissioned on August 17, 1865, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and sold in October 1865. She subsequently returned to civilian employment under the name Isabella. Concepción In 1866 the ship was purchased for $85,000 by the Chilean Navy and commissioned as Concepción, arriving at Valparaíso on August 22. On September 3, as the Spanish fleet had left the Pacific, after the Chincha Islands War of Chile-Perú against Spain. Commander Galvarino Riveros Cárdenas was placed in command of Concepción, which saw service in southern Chile. The Chilean Navy sold Concepción on May 1, 1868; her subsequent history is unknown. See also Blockade runners of the American Civil War Captured ships of the American Civil War References Vapor Concepción (Steamship Concepción) at the Armada de Chile (Chilean Navy) web site 1860 ships Blockade runners of the American Civil War Blockade runners of the Confederate States Navy Ships built on the River Clyde Ships captured by the United States Navy from the Confederate States Navy Ships of the Chilean Navy