The Marblehead survived its battle with the horse cavalry artillery and was then transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Primarily she patrolled the coast looking for blockade runners, but in early February 1863, she reconnoitered the Wilmington River with the monitor USS Passaic trying to locate the ironclad CSS Atlanta (ex-blockade-runner Fingal).
Later in the month, on the 23rd, she took possession of the prize Glide and her cargo of cotton which had been captured by the Coast Guard schooners Caswell and Arago at the entrance to Tybee Creek in Georgia. The Glide had been in route to Nassau.
During her coastal patrols, the Marblehead on occasion engaged in operations on the Stono River, South Carolina, in support of Union forces on James Island by Charleston. On 16 July 1863, during an assault by Confederate forces on that position, she came under fire by Confederate artillery at Grimball's Landing.
Forced further downriver, she still provided fire support and prevented Confederate reinforcements from reaching the main body of their attack force.
Afterwards, the Marblehead joined with the rest of the Union fleet outside of Charleston Harbor in bombarding the forts there before heading north for repairs.
--Old B-Runner
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