Flag Officer Tatnall having relieved Flag Officer Buchanan, who was incapacitated from command on account of severe wounds received in the first day's fight in Hampton Roads, and all the vessels of the squadron having been refitted, on the 13th of April the squadron again sallied out to attack the enemy. It was expected that the _Monitor_ would be eager to renew the combat with the _Virginia_, and it was agreed upon that, in case the _Virginia_ failed to capture or destroy the Federal iron-clad, an attempt should be made to carry the latter by boarding. This duty was assigned to the gunboats _Beaufort_ and _Raleigh_ and two other small steamers. One of these small steamers was the tender of the Norfolk Navy Yard; she was manned for the occasion by officers and men from the _Patrick Henry_, under the command of the executive-officer of that vessel, and was christened by the men _Patrick Henry, Junior_.
The Confederate squadron steamed about in Hampton Roads for two days, but the _Monitor_ did not leave her anchorage at Fortress Monroe, her passiveness being due, it seems, to orders from Washington not to engage the _Virginia_ unless she attempted to pass Old Point Comfort.
General J. Bankhead Magruder, commanding the Confederate Army of the Peninsula, was urgent in demanding the return of the James river squadron, and consequently the _Patrick Henry_ and _Jamestown_ were ordered to run by the Newport News batteries at night, and resume their old duty in James river. The _Jamestown_ ran up the river on the 19th and the _Patrick Henry_ on the 20th of April; the _Beaufort_, _Raleigh_ and _Teaser_ were also sent up the river; the headquarters of this detached squadron, of which Tucker was the senior officer, was at Mulberry Island, on which point rested the right flank of the Confederate Army of the Peninsula.
Up to this time the _Patrick Henry_ was brigantine rigged, but to fit her better for running by batteries without being discovered, both of her masts were now taken out and short signal poles substituted for them.
When the Confederate authorities determined upon the evacuation of Norfolk, the James river squadron was employed to remove what public property could be saved from the Navy Yard to Richmond. The hulls of several uncompleted vessels were towed past the Federal batteries at Newport News. The running past the batteries was always done at night, moonless nights being chosen whenever it was practicable to select the time of making the trip. So far as known, the vessels employed on this service were never detected by the enemy; at least they were never fired upon.