Meanwhile, Thomas H. Dudley, the American consul at Liverpool, had taken pains to learn of Bullock's activities and had informed Washington, D.C., of the South's purchase of Bat and of that ship's departure from the British Isles.

After Bat quickly outdistanced that steamer, Vicksburg began pursuing the speedy Southern ship, but soon lost sight of her quarry and hove to when she reached the outer edge of her assigned area.

Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Bat soon sailed for Hampton Roads, Virginia, but encountered a severe storm during her voyage south and lost her foremast.

Each was completely drained of strength by almost four years of the most bloody fratricidal war; by grief over the loss of their son, Willie; and by the sadness of knowing that the men in Mrs. Lincoln's family had been fighting for the Southern cause.

Since Bat was the fastest vessel in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the Navy ordered her to Washington so that she might carry Mr. Lincoln to Grant's headquarters on the James River.

Because Bat was not outfitted to accommodate ladies and could not be readily made so, the work on her was stopped; and another fast steamer, the River Queen, was found for the task.

Consequently, fear for his safety was strong in the Navy Department, especially during the final phase of the war when frustration and hostility in many Southern hearts were being inflamed by growing certainty that the collapse of the Confederacy was imminent.

The previous autumn—during a conference to plan an expedition against Fort Fisher – Greyhound, an Army transport similar in design to River Queen – had been set afire by a bomb disguised as a lump of coal that exploded in her boiler.

Sherman's absence from his army during this critical phase of the war caused Lincoln great uneasiness and brought orders for Barnes to return the general in Bat to his troops in North Carolina with the greatest possible despatch.

About mid morning on the 4th, Bat got underway to follow Malvern and River Queen up the James toward Richmond, as those ships threaded their way along a channel cleared of mines and obstructions.

Barnes followed in a boat from Bat and accompanied Lincoln when he visited the Southern executive mansion—from which President Jefferson Davis had just fled—and during much of his subsequent tour of the burning city.

Meanwhile, the Navy had received reports of a Confederate plot to capture the ferry at Havre de Grace, Maryland, and of Southern plans to launch other actions in the Chesapeake Bay which might be dangerous to the President.

When Bat was moored at the yard on the 10th, she learned that General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse the day before.

Bat remained in Hampton Roads for the next few weeks waiting for instructions to assist in efforts to capture the President's assassins or for orders to pursue any officials of the fallen Confederate government who might attempt to escape by sea.

On May 6, 1865, Bat was ordered to Washington, D.C. Decommissioned at New York City on the 17th, the ship was sold at public auction there on May 25, 1865 to Russell Surgiss and Associates and was documented on November 6, 1865 as Teaser.