medicine in a cramped, iron-hulled vessel with no windows, sunny Penobscot would have been a welcome change. In July, she ran an English-built Kate aground on Smith's Island; a boat party attempted to disable the vessel and actually set the blockade runner afire. USS Lehigh On August 11, Longshaw was ordered to return to ironclad service on the newly built monitor , a sister ship of Passaic, under the command of Commander Andrew Bryson. Lehigh was immediately engaged in active operations in Charleston Harbor, attacking Fort Sumter regularly for the next few months. In an engagement with Confederate batteries on Sullivan's Island, Charleston, South Carolina, November 16, 1863, Lehigh grounded itself while shelling Confederate forts in the harbor; a tow hawser had to be passed to steamer , which was standing by. Longshaw, under direct enemy fire in an open boat, twice carried a line for the hawser across to Nahant. The Confederate fire was so intense that both hawsers were shot away. Longshaw was unable to make the third trip; by then he had wounded to attend. Lehigh was eventually refloated when Nahant pulled her free with the third hawser. Longshaw's gallantry in this action was praised by eyewitness Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren. Wrote Dahlgren: "Twice he passed in a small boat from the Lehigh to the Nahant, carrying a line bent on the hawser. The shot and shell from cannon and mortars were flying and breaking all around." Dalhgren reported he'd promoted the enlisted men involved. "I shall also make honorable mention of them to the honorable Secretary of the Navy, which is all I can do for Dr. Longshaw. It is not in my power to reward him suitably." Five seaman were promoted and eventually awarded the Medal of Honor for the action. Longshaw's status as medical officer prevented Dahlgren from offering him a field promotion. However, the navy's chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery sent his recommendation to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles who did promote Longshaw, pending board examinations and completion of two years' service. USS Minnesota Longshaw was transferred to Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee's North Atlantic Blockading fleet on December 30, 1863, and was assigned to the squadron flagship Minnesota, Lieutenant Commander John H. Upshur commanding. Longshaw's new assignment was prestigious; he would serve under the fleet surgeon with three other assistant surgeons aboard. With ship's officers and enlisted