 Waddell then steered "Shenandoah" south, intending to raid the port of San Francisco which he believed to be poorly defended.En route they encountered an English barque, "Barracouta", on August 2 from which Waddell learned of the final collapse of the Confederacy including the surrenders of Johnston's, Kirby Smith's, and Magruder's armies and the capture of President Davis.The long log entry of the "Shenandoah" for August 2, 1865, begins "The darkest day of my life."