Restless was purchased from Everett and Hawley at New York City on 26 August 1861 and commissioned the following December, Acting Volunteer Lt. Edward Conroy in command.

On the 11th, two escaped slaves provided information on the ships carrying food into Charleston, their use of inland water routes, and conditions in the blockaded city.

On the 14th, armed boats from Restless captured and destroyed the sloop Edisto and the schooners Wandoo, Elizabeth, and Theodore Stony.

On 5 November, a shore party sent to Palmetto Point intercepted a mail shipment bound for Charleston which provided further intelligence for the campaign against blockade runners.

In December, shore parties burned the salt works on Harbor Creek and destroyed Confederate batteries and magazines on Bull's Island.

Toward the latter part of June 1865, Restless, carrying surplus ordnance supplies, rounded the Florida peninsula and sailed north.