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(Sch: a. 1 to 5 guns variously)
Pickens, originally the United States Revenue Cutter Robert McClelland, was seized by the State of Louisiana on 31 January 1861 and subsequently turned over to the Confederate States Navy and renamed Pickens. Capt. J. G. Breshwood, CSN, formerly an officer in the United States Revenue Service, was retained in command.
Pickens operated in the lower Mississippi during 1861 and early 1862, in Commodore Hollins' squadron, fighting the Federal gunboats in the engagement of 12 October 1861 off Head of Passes, Mississippi River.