USS Azalea ( 1864 ) USS " Azalea " ( 1864 ) was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Union Navy as an armed tugboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways . " Azalea " constructed in Boston in 1864 . " Azalea " — a wooden - hulled , screw tug built at Boston , Massachusetts , by McKay and Aldus — was purchased by the Union Navy upon her completion on 31 March 1864 . After her fitting out at the Boston Navy Yard , the tug was placed in commission on 7 June 1864 , Acting Master Frederick W . Strong in command . Assigned to the South Atlantic blockade . Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron , the new tug arrived off the bar outside Charleston , South Carolina , on 17 June 1864 and immediately took station in the outer cordon of Union warships striving to seal off that major port which , as the birthplace of secession , held great symbolic significance for the Confederacy in addition to its substantial strategic value . Assisting in the capture of runner " Pocahontas " . The highlight of this duty — which she performed until March 1865 — came half an hour before midnight on 8 July 1864 when her boats joined those of the tug " Sweet Brier " in boarding and taking possession of the blockade - running " . . . schooner " Pocahontas " , of and from Charleston , South Carolina , bound to Nassau , New Providence . . . " with a cargo of cotton and tobacco . From time to time during her ensuing months off Charleston , " Azalea " had brushes with blockade runners which were attempting to enter or leave port , but she did not score again before she retired to Port Royal , South Carolina , just before the arrival of spring . When this work had been completed , late in March 1865 , she headed for waters near Savannah , Georgia , and was on duty in Ossabaw Sound by 1 April . Preventing the escape of Confederate political leaders . By this time , the Confederacy was collapsing . General Robert E . Lee ' s army evacuated Richmond , Virginia , and Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet retired into the Deep South in the hope of continuing the struggle . However , Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia on the 9th and General Joseph E . Johnston realized that his army , the only significant body of Confederate troops left in the field , could not prevail . On the 25th , Gen . William Tecumseh Sherman informed Rear Admiral John A . Dahlgren that he expected General Johnston to surrender the next day and asked the commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron to " . . . watch the east coast and send word round to the west coast . . . " lest Davis and his cabinet escape to Cuba . " Azalea " was one of the nine steamers that Dahlgren promptly sent to sea to intercept the former Southern chief of state . However , Union cavalrymen captured Jefferson Davis at Irwinville , Georgia , on 10 May ; and " Azalea " returned to Port Royal 15 May . " Azalea " captures British brig " Sarah M . Newall " . Nevertheless , the war was not yet quite over for the tug . On 23 May , she seized " Sarah M . Newall " while that British hermaphrodite brig was attempting to run through the blockade into Savannah , Georgia . Post - war decommissioning , sale , and subsequent maritime career . " Azalea " continued blockade duty into June and , by mid - month , was back at Port Royal receiving repairs . She got underway north on 27 June and was decommissioned on 13 July 1865 . Sold at auction at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , to Samuel C . Cook on 10 August 1865 , the tug was redocumented as " Tecumseh " on 6 October 1865 . Operating , at least originally , out of Boston , Massachusetts , she remained in documentation until 1890 .