Bridgeport was the site of a major skirmish on April 29, 1862, when Union General Ormsby Mitchel seized control of the city, and numerous other small actions over the following year as Confederate forces attempted to regain control of the area. The city was burned by Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg in the Summer of 1863, but it was reoccupied by Union forces. In the latter part of the war, Bridgeport was the site of a major Union shipyard that built gunboats and transports for the Union Army. The "USS Chattanooga" was built here; it became a vital part of the famous "Cracker Line," which broke the Confederates' siege of Chattanooga in November 1863.