Ordered To Search For The Steamer Electric Spark
On 1 August 1864, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles ordered Mitchell to ". . . visit the fishing grounds on the eastern coast French Islands, in the Bay of St. Lawrence ..." to seek the steamer Electric Spark, a prize of CSS Florida, thought to have been sent there. However, some now-unknown problem prevented Ascutney from undertaking this mission; and, three days later, Welles instructed Mitchell to bring his ship to Washington, D.C. en route to duty with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
Read more about this topic: USS Ascutney
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