 She arrived Port Royal 8 September and served on blockade duty and at the mouth of the Altamaha River, Georgia, until ordered 12 December to the Savannah River, where General William Tecumseh Sherman had just emerged at the end of his famous march to the sea.Five days later "John Griffith" shelled Fort Beaulieu, the Confederate fortress defending the mouths of the Vernon and Burnside Rivers.With she maintained her steady and deliberate fire until the defenders finally evacuated 21 December.