service on the Brazil Station was enlivened late in 1858 by the Paraguay expedition, although St Lawrence herself did not go to Paraguay. The conclusion of the expedition freed St. Lawrence to return home, and she was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 25 May 1859. American Civil War, 1861–1865 Still in ordinary at the outbreak of the American Civil War, St. Lawrence was hurriedly prepared for action and recommissioned on 21 June 1861, Capt. Hugh Y. Purviance in command. She sailed for the Confederate coast eight days later but was delayed in the lower Delaware River by low tides until 8 July when she finally put to sea. After joining the Atlantic Blockading Squadron upon her arrival at Hampton Roads, she headed further south on the 14th. Two days later, she captured the British blockade runner, Herald, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. That vessel had escaped from Beaufort, North Carolina, laden with naval stores and was bound for Liverpool. Capt. Purviance sent the prize to Hampton Roads and continued his voyage south. On the 28th, a lookout on the frigate spotted a schooner flying British colors and gave chase. Some four hours later, as St. Lawrence was overhauling the schooner, the fleeing vessel ran up the Confederate flag and fired three shots at her pursuer. One passed through the frigate's "mainsail and took a splinter out of the main yard." St. Lawrence answered with her forecastle battery and hit the chase twice, once in her bow. Survivors from the schooner, which sank half an hour later, revealed that their ship had been the Confederate privateer, Petrel, of Charleston, South Carolina. Boats from St. Lawrence rescued all but two of the privateer's 38 crewmen and sent them north in the steamer . The frigate proceeded south and blockaded off Savannah, Georgia, until returning to Hampton Roads in September. However, after minor repairs and taking on provisions, she headed back to blockade duty off the Georgia coast. On 19 October, when responsibility for blockading the Confederate Atlantic coast was divided in two, St. Lawrence was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. On 6 November, she captured British schooner, Jenny Lee, of Nassau, New Providence, laden with rice and tobacco from Darien, Georgia, and headed for Nassau. St. Lawrence continued blockade duty, operating along the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina, until ordered north on 27 January 1862. After replenishing her ammunition,