 With "Rattler" in the lead, sounding as she went along, Admiral David Dixon Porter's Mississippi Squadron ascended the White and Arkansas Rivers to attack Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post on 10 January 1863, in a joint Army-Navy expedition as part of the larger campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi.While the other gunboats bombarded Fort Hindman, "Rattler" closed within 50 yards of the Confederate guns in an unsuccessful effort to clear away a barrier of chevaux-de-frise and was forced by heavy fire to return to station.The next day "Rattler" and dashed past the fort to enfilade the Confederate position; their guns drove the Rebel troops out of rifle pits allowing Federal troops under General William T. Sherman to reach the fort unopposed.