In July 1862, the USS Grey Cloud and USS New London, reinforced by men from the USS Potomac, raided Pascagoula in an effort to disrupt communications and seize naval stores. On July 18, the ships approached from Round Island and fired two shells over the large hotel, scattering civilians. The New London landed sixty sailors and marines at the hotel wharf, and they rushed into the village, posted guards at street corners, and moved to seize mail and telegraph messages at the post office. After realizing they were being watched by members of the Mobile Dragoons, a Confederate scout and mounted company from Mobile, Alabama, the raiding party withdrew quickly to the gunboats, leaving the telegraph apparatus behind. The Grey Cloud then tried to enter the Pascagoula River to capture schooners carrying turpentine and lumber, but obstructions at the river mouth stopped that effort. The gunboats then sent three boats carrying twenty-five sailors and marines each a mile upriver, where thirty Mobile Dragoons under Lieutenant Hallett ambushed them near the home of the late Rene Krebs with Sharps breechloading carbines. Although the men in the launches returned fire, they were forced back to their ships with eight or nine wounded. In response, the New London fired twenty-five shells into the village and the Grey Cloud fired seven more, causing little damage and wounding only one civilian. The Union ships stayed offshore for another day before departing. The fighting also reflected how the Civil War divided families, as W. J. Farragut of Gautier served with the Mobile Dragoons while his uncle, Admiral David Farragut, commanded the Union Navy in the Gulf of Mexico.