The first couple of months of the war include a series of well-documented events: Fort Sumter fell in April, the U.S. Army occupied Arlington Heights in May, and the two sides clashed at Big Bethel in June. Those are all well-known stories. Lesser known is the strange story of one of the first Confederate naval victories.
George N. Hollis had an idea. He was going to steal the St. Nicholas, “and manning her with volunteers . . then take the Pawnee.” It was a bold and daring plan. The Maryland side of the Potomac swarmed with Federal soldiers. But, the plan just might work.[1]
 |
| The Baltimore Sun, March 19, 1861. |
The St. Nicholas
was a packet boat that ran regularly between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.,
with other stops in Alexandria and Georgetown.[2]
With a Confederate commission in hand, the permission of Virginia’s Governor
Letcher, and cash to purchase firearms up North, Hollis set out with his two
sons and five other men. Upon reaching Point Lookout, the draft for the
firearms was given to “Colonel Thomas, of Maryland, alias Zarvona,” who
proceeded on to Baltimore and Philadelphia to procure weapons and maybe a few
more men. Hollis told Thomas to return to Point Lookout on the St. Nicholas.
A day or two later, the St. Nicholas returned for its regular stop at
Point Lookout. Hollis and his band boarded the vessel about midnight where he
found “Colonel Thomas dressed as a woman, to avoid suspicion, as he had high,
large, trunks such as milliners use; they contained arms and ammunition.”[3]
Just a few minutes
after leaving the wharf, Hollis gave the signal. The trunks were opened, and
the members of the party were armed, with Hollis taking a Sharps rifle and pair
of pistols. He ran to the wheelhouse and put his “hand on the captain’s
shoulder,” capturing the vessel. Hollis ordered the captain to sail the St.
Nicholas to Coan River, on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. He was
joined by a small body of Confederate soldiers under a Captain Lewis. The
passengers were landed and most made their way home. There was a group of
ladies that “amused themselves by making Confederate flags out of the Yankee
flags I had captured.” Hollis determined that the Pawnee was out of
reach. Instead, he sailed out into the Chesapeake Bay toward Fredericksburg. He
soon spotted the brig Monticello, with a load of coffee from Rio. Hollis
captured the brig without firing a shot. He moved a crew under Lt. Robert D.
Minor and sent the load of coffee to Fredericksburg. An hour later. Hollis and
the St. Nicholas captured a schooner coming from Baltimore and bound for
Washington, D.C., with a load of ice. Once again, Hollis placed a “prize” crew
aboard and sent the vessel to Fredericksburg. On board, Hollis found a “splendid
flag of a 74” that had been borrowed from the U.S. Naval yard for Stephen
Douglas’s funeral. He used the large flag to make “a goodly number of secession
flags.”[4]
Hollis then
captured another vessel coming from Baltimore and headed to Boston. This one
was loaded with coal, which Hollis used to replenish the St. Nicholas. At
that point, Hollis, afraid that word had gotten out and Federal gunboats were
looking for him, sailed the St. Nicholas to Fredericksburg. The
Confederate government purchased the St. Nicholas for “about $45,000”
and turned it into a gunboat.[5]
“Piracy on the
Chesapeake” read a headline in The Baltimore Sun on July 2, 1861. The St.
Nicholas was last seen leaving Point Lookout “under great speed for the
Virginia shore . . . There is no doubt but that she was taken forcible possession
of by parties who came passengers in her from Baltimore.”[6]
By the evening, The Baltimore Sun was able to report that it was Hollis
who had captured the St. Nicholas. After unloading passengers and taking
on board soldiers, Hollis proceeded to capture three other vessels.[7]
The news quickly
made the rounds. “The rebels have succeeded by a coup de main in seizing
and carrying off a Baltimore steamer” reported the New York Daily
Herald.[8] “The
seizure of the steamer St. Nicholas from this port . . . proved to have
been a bold piratical expedition,” summed up The New York Times.[9]
The Richmond Dispatch considered the affair a “Brilliant Achievement.”[10]
The New Bern Daily Progress labeled it a “Daring Exploit.”[11]
 |
| Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861 |
In 1910, the Evening Sun told the story of George W. Watts, the “Last Survivor of Col. Zarvona Thomas’ Band.” Watts stated that Thomas had sixteen men with him that night. After boarding the vessel, Watts could not find the colonel, but did notice “a mighty pretty young woman, stylishly dressed, flirting outrageously with some young officers. She talked with a strong French accent . . . That young woman behaved so scandalously that all the other women on the boat were in a terrible state over it.” Later, Watts was summoned below deck. On entering the cabin, he saw his comrades, “gathered around that frisky French lady.” Watts recognized the eyes as belonging to Thomas. Thomas “shed his bonnet, wig, and dress and stepped forth clad in a brilliant new Zouave uniform. In a jiffy the ‘French lady’s’ three big trunks were dragged out and opened. One was filled with cutlasses, another with Colt’s revolvers and the third with carbines.” Watts and the others armed themselves, then proceeded to take possession of the St. Nicholas. According to Watts, the Pawnee was no longer in position guarding the river south of Washington, but had moved closer to the city, escorting a dead naval officer to the capital.[12]
The story of the
capture of the St. Nicholas is so outlandish that it almost seems like
an episode in a work of fiction. Yet, it really did happen, and the history of this
strange event, though less spectacular than a battle, needs to be told along with
those of Fort Sumter and Big Bethel Church.
[1] OR
Navy, 4:553.
[2] The
Baltimore Sun, March 19, 1861.
[3] OR
Navy, 4:553.
[4] OR
Navy, 4:555.
[5] OR
Navy, 4:555.
[6] The
Baltimore Sun, July 2, 1861.
[7] The
Baltimore Sun, July 2, 1861.
[8] New
York Daily Herald, July 2, 1861.
[9] The
New York Times, July 3, 1861.
[10] Richmond
Dispatch, July 2, 1861.
[11] Daily
Progress, July 1, 1861.
[12] The
Evening Sun, August 27, 1910.
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