On Chesapeake Bay, a bold stroke captures a Baltimore ferry and turns it into a Confederate privateer

The Baltimore ferry St. Nicholas was hijacked around 10 p.m., just after it left the dock at its Port Deposit, Maryland stop.  The ringleader was a Captain Zarvona Thomas, who had boarded in Baltimore disguised as a lady passenger.  He and others seized the ship, docked at Cone Point on the Virginia side, put the passengers ashore and loaded around a hundred Confederate troops.  The St Nicholas then sailed to the mouth of the Rappahanock and there captured three brigs loaded with ice, coal, and coffee.  All four vessels then made for Fredericksburg, Virginia.  (By John Osborne)