In May, 1864, the USS "Water Witch," with 80 officers and men and 4 guns under Lt. Comdr. Austin Pendergrast, USN, was on patrol duty in Ossabaw Sound. On May 31, Flag Officer Wm. W. Hunter, CSN, assigned Lt. Thos. P. Pelot, CSN, to command a boat expedition of 15 officers and 117 men in 7 boats to surprise and capture the vessel. After reaching Beaulieu Battery via Skidaway Narrows late on June 1, the expedition found that "Water Witch" was cruising in St. Catherine's Sound, but when she returned to Ossabaw Sound the next day and anchored for the night in the mouth of the Great Ogeechee River about 1 1/2 miles SSE of Raccoon Key, the attackers approached about 2 A.M. on June 3 in two columns with muffled oars. When hailed, Pelot ordered the boarding, and after the parties cut through the nettings and swarmed over the rails, a desperate fight with cutlass and pistol followed in which Pelot, the first aboard, was killed, but his men cleared the deck and captured the ship. Lt. Jos. Price, CSN, then assumed command and moved her through Hell Gate and up Vernon River to the protection of Beaulieu Battery, whose guns turned back a recapture attempt on June 5. At Beaulieu, Lt. W. W. Carnes, CSN, reported on board, assumed command, and moved "Water Witch" up-river to White Bluff to refit her and receive her new crew.