With the Union forces in Maryland still deeply worried about the divided loyalties of Maryland and its largest city, troops of the Philadelphia Regiment, acting on orders from General Nathaniel P. Banks, swooped in the early morning hours to arrest Baltimore's four Police Commissioners in their homes. Charles Hinks, Charles Howard, William H. Gatchell, and John W. Davis.  All but Hinks, who was in bad health were detained for more than a year, first at Fort McHenry and then at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor in Massachusetts.  (By John Osborne)

Ten days before, bold Confederate agents had hijacked the Baltimore steamer St. Nicholas on Chesapeake Bay and instantly turned it into a privateer, seizing small vessels along the bay.  Fearing that other ferries from Baltimore would suffer the same fate in a divided Maryland, the War Department ordered Union General Nathaniel Banks to seize two other Baltimore ships, the George Weems and the Mary Washington.   (By John Osborne)

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)

The William Tell, a 175 foot 1153 ton ship was moored in the river off New York City preparing for a voyage to Le Havre in France fully laden and with her passengers aboard.  At around 2 a.m. a fire was discovered in the forecastle and soon the entire ship was afire.  All the passengers and crew were able to escape but the William Tell burned for several days, having been beached on the flats.  The cargo was mostly lost but the ship was eventually salvaged to sail again.  She hit a reef and was destroyed in Puget Sound in January 1866.  (By John Osborne)  

An earthquake, strong enough to awaken residents, was felt in Cincinnati and other parts of Ohio at around five o'clock in the morning.  The tremor, in fact, was felt to some degree all over the east coast, from Washington, DC to Charleston, South Carolina.  Later observations put its epicenter in extreme south-western Virginia and there was some minor damage in western North Carolina. No serious destruction or injury was reported.  (By John Osborne)

Robert Anderson, the hero of Fort Sumter, had been named as commander of Kentucky's military forces on September 18, 1861, headquartered in Louisville.  His poor health had suffered even more during the long ordeal in South Carolina and he was forced give up his command three weeks later.  His replacement at the head of the newly renamed Department of the Cumberland was  Brigadier-General William T. Sherman.  (By John Osborne)  

With the state's early hope of neutrality gone, the pro-Union Kentucky state legislature voted to drive out Confederate forces.  They named Robert Anderson, the hero of Fort Sumter, as commander of the state militia with headquarters in Louisville and Thomas L. Crittenden head of the state guard.  Anderson's poor health meant that his tenure lasted only three weeks after which he resigned and turned over command to William T. Sherman.  (By John Osborne)