Ceres

Charlotte

Cities in North Carolina and Michigan; a feminine proper name.

(Sch: t. 70, cpl. 14; a. 2 guns)

The first Charlotte, a schooner used as a blockade runner, was captured off Mobile, Ala., 10 April 1862 by Kanawha; condemned by the prize court at Boston; purchased by the Navy 6 November 1862; placed under command of Acting Master E. D. Bruner; and assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.

Charlotte's first station was in Choctawhatchee Bay Ala., from which on 27 December 1862 she sailed up river to capture the steamer Bloomer. The ship had been laid up since the beginning of the War, and Charlotte's men repaired her engines so that she could sail to Pensacola. The schooner continued to blockade off the East Pass of the Mississippi, performing reconnaissance through which she was able to report movements of Confederate troops and act as a tender. She was later joined on station by Bloomer, which had been taken into the Navy.

Charlotte was sold at Pensacola 27 April 1867.