The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in 1790 as an armed maritime law enforcement service. Throughout its entire existence the Revenue Cutter Service operated under the authority of the United States Department of the Treasury. In 1915 the Service merged with the Lifesaving Service to form the United States Coast Guard.

On April 11, 1861, the Revenue Cutter Harriet Lane fired the first shots of the maritime conflict in the American Civil War of 1861-1865. The cutter fired a shot across the bow of the Confederate steamship Nashville as it tried to enter Charleston Harbor during the bombardment of Fort Sumter.

Revenue Cutters assisted Navy operations throughout the war. The USRC Harriet Lane joined a Federal naval squadron to capture Forts Clark and Hatteras, which served as bases for Confederate blockade runners. USRC E.A. Stevens, a prototype 110' semi-submersible ironclad gunboat, participated in the unsuccessful sortie up the James River to Drewry's Bluff in company with the USS Monitor, USS Galena and two other gunboats, to attack the Confederate capital at Richmond. After carrying President Lincoln from Washington, on 09 May 1862, the USRC Miami assisted navy transports in landing Federal troops at Ocean View, VA.

President Lincoln ordered the Secretary of the Treasury on June 14, 1863, "You will co-operate by the revenue cutters under your direction with the navy in arresting rebel depredations on American commerce and transportation and in capturing rebels engaged therein."

When President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865, Revenue Cutters were ordered to search all ships for any assassins that might be trying to escape.