on the night of 9 and 10 september, she sighted a steamer attempting to run out of charleston and fired repeatedly at the blockade runner which, nevertheless, escaped to sea. some two-and-one-half months later, she fired upon two incoming steamers which entered the harbor about two hours apart. on both occasions, confederate shore batteries at fort moultrie fired upon the union blockaders; a spent 10-inch shell struck "amaranthus"' "starboard" counter, damaging the tug sufficiently to require her to enter a nearby inlet for repairs. the patching was quickly completed, and the steamer was back on station three days later.