After a home leave of some months, Rochelle was promoted on the 14th of September to master, and on the next day was commissioned lieutenant and assigned to duty on the Coast Survey Squadron. He assisted in the survey of New York harbor, Casco bay and the Florida reefs.
His next cruise was in the expedition to Paraguay. Unfortunately, few of his many letters home were preserved. We give one written in 1859:
U.S. Steamer Southern Star,
Montevideo, Republic of Uruguay,
March 11, 1859.
My Dear Mother:
The steamer Harriet Lane, one of the vessels of the Paraguay expedition, will sail for New York on tomorrow morning, and as she is very fast I have determined to write by her, although it will not be long before we follow her to the United States. We are preparing for sea now and expect to sail on the 17th of this month for Norfolk, touching at Pernambuco and Barbadoes for coal. We will be at home, I think, by the 20th of May or 1st of June, though it is possible that we may be detained longer than I expect on the way.
I sincerely trust that I shall find you all well at home, and that I will have a long leave to spend with you. I wrote you in my letter that we had no difficulty in settling our affairs with Paraguay. Lopez acceded at once to all the demands which were made upon him, and expressed himself gratified at their moderation. The health of the squadron is excellent and the cruise has been a pleasant one. No accident or circumstances have occurred to mar its efficiency or concord. If another vessel should leave in time to get home much before we do, I will write again, but I doubt if such an opportunity will occur. You must not, of course, write to me again. Give my best love to Sister, Jimmy, Letitia and Mattie, and my affectionate regards to Mr. Edwards and Major Shands.
Ever your affectionate son,
J.H. Rochelle.
To follow Rochelle through all of his naval life would take more space than we now have and would be to repeat scenes and events already dealt with by him in the following pages. When the war came on he was serving on the sloop-of-war Cumberland. Captain Scharf very correctly says: "It required no sacrifice and entailed no inconvenience to remain loyal to the Union, but to resign from that service involved every consideration which might deter a man not actuated by exalted principles." It was "exalted principles" which caused Rochelle to resign his commission in the Navy, where he had served with honor and advancement for twenty years, and to offer his sword to his native State. From the columns of the Richmond Dispatch we quote: