 Reactivated in 1869, the ship became a dispatch vessel, beginning a role which soon brought "Tallapoosa" one of her more interesting missions.In January 1870, she carried Admiral David Farragut to Portland, Maine, where he met at the end of that British turreted battleship's voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to return to the United States the remains of philanthropist George Peabody who had died in England.Early the following summer, the double-ender carried Farragut from New York City to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to visit the commandant of the navy yard.