Before she sailed for the Gulf of Mexico, news reached Washington, D.C. that the British-built screw steamer Oreto — later known as the CSS Florida — had arrived at the island of New Providence and, although constructed under the pretext of being a merchantman destined for service under the Italian Government, was in reality a cruiser which was then being fitted out as a Confederate commerce raider.

The ship proved to be a Baltimore, Maryland-built vessel named Emma which was operating out of Nassau, Bahamas, under a British colonial register.

Since the schooner's master had only recently arrived in the West Indies in command of the blockade runner Ann E. Barry, and since Emma was laden with "articles of great need in the so-called Confederate States," Gansevoort sent her to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, under a prize crew.

[2] Shortly thereafter, Adirondack anchored in the roadstead off Nassau harbor, and Gansevoort sent Greyhound's commanding officer a written reply to the protest, justifying his course of action.

[2][3] Since Adirondack had encountered extremely severe weather during her passage out from New York, she remained at Nassau for three days undergoing voyage repairs and replenishing her coal bunkers.

Upon arriving at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 4 August, he reported that Oreto was indeed a Confederate cruiser, but that she was in the possession of a British prize crew, awaiting a hearing in Admiralty court.

He also noted that sentiment in the Bahamas strongly favored the Confederacy, and claimed that Oreto was being outfitted for continued operations as a southern blockade runner.

[2] While underway towards Nassau around 0400 on 23 August 1862, Adirondack struck a reef off the northeast point of Man-O-War Cay of the Little Bahama Bank group.