USS Acacia (1863) - Chesapeake

While the new tug was preparing for service in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, 17 Confederate agents disguised as passengers seized Chesapeake off Cape Cod, Massachusetts on 7 December 1863 as that packet was steaming from New York City to Portland, Maine. The liner's captors took her to Saint John, New Brunswick, where, the next day, they landed the prize's bonafide passengers, her former captain, and most of her crew.

Word of the takeover reached Portland on the morning of 9 December and quickly spread from there. The news prompted Federal officials at northern ports along the coast to speedy action.

At 16:00 that afternoon, Acacia sailed in search of the Chesapeake. En route, however, she began taking on water so fast that she soon found herself "in a sinking condition" and was forced to seek haven at Portland. On the morning of 11 December, Childs wired from there back to Boston, "Through the help of the fire department the Acacia is now alongside a wharf, where she can not sink."

While Acacia was undergoing repairs at Portland, other Union ships continued to hunt for Chesapeake. On 17 December, the recently captured blockade runner Ella and Annie — which had been hastily manned, armed, and sent to sea — finally caught up with her at Sambro, Nova Scotia. Shortly thereafter, the Northern gunboat Dacotah arrived on the scene; and her commanding officer prevented Ella and Annie from taking the recaptured tug back to Boston, lest such action seriously undermine relations between the United States and the British Empire. Instead, to observe diplomatic niceties, he escorted Chesapeake to Halifax where he asked Canadian courts to restore her to her owner. The following morning, the repaired Acacia arrived at Halifax with witnesses who could identify and testify against the Southern sailors.