In orders sent on May 1, 1861 Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles appointed Flag Officer Silas H. Stringham to command the Coast Blockading Squadron. Stringham received this order and took command on May 4, 1861. His new command was to be headquartered at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and was given responsibility for the blockading of the coast from the capes of the Chesapeake to the southern extremity of Florida and Key West. On May 17, 1861, the Coast Blockading Squadron was re-designated the Atlantic Blockading Squadron.