USS Lehigh, a 1335-ton Passaic class monitor built at Chester, Pennsylvania, was commissioned in April 1863. During the next three months, she operated in the vicinity of Hampton Roads and the James River, Virginia. She took part in an expedition up the James in July that was intended to threaten the defenses of Richmond, and thus divert Confederate resources in the wake of the Battle of Gettysburg.
In August, Lehigh was sent to join Union naval forces off Charleston, South Carolina. She participated in several bombardments of Confederate fortifications during September and was struck several times by cannon fire. In October and November, the monitor engaged Fort Sumter on several occasions. Lehigh remained in the Charleston area during 1864 and into 1865, then was transferred back to the James River. Following the end of the Civil War, she was ordered North and decommissioned at Philadelphia in June 1865.
During 1875-79, Lehigh served as a practice ship at the U.S. Naval Academy and was on active duty with the North Atlantic Squadron. She was laid up in the James River, Virginia, from then until 1895, when she went to Philadelphia for repairs. The old monitor was briefly in commission in April-September 1898, providing a measure of coastal defense in New England waters during the Spanish-American War. Inactive thereafter, USS Lehigh was sold for scrapping in April 1904.
