However , the Confederates learned of the expedition and scuttled the schooner before the Northern gunboats could reach her .
On 2 January 1863 , Satellite and three other Union ships steamed to the Piankatank River seeking a schooner which had run through the blockade and entered that stream .
The Confederates learned of the expedition and scuttled the schooner before the Northern gunboats could reach her .
On 2 January 1863 , Satellite and three other Union ships steamed to the Piankatank River seeking a schooner which had run through the blockade and entered that stream .