who had been taken prisoners when the steamer was seized by Thomas, the 'French lady,' and his party, had been released by them and was returning to this city on the Mary Washington. The officers also ascer tained that among the passengers on board were seven or eight of the cap-' tors, with Capt. Thomas himself, who, doubtless exhilarated by the success attending their first achievement, were disposed to make another venture, probably on the steamer Columbia or some other steamer plying on the Maryland rivers.

As soon as satisfactory information on this point was obtained and each one of the party recognized beyond doubt, Lieut. Carmichael directed Capt. Mason L. Weems, the commander of the Mary Washington, to proceed, on reaching this harbor, to land the passengers at Fort McHenry. The direction was given while the steamer was at Annapolis. Shortly after, while Lieut. Carmichael and Mr. Horner were in the ladies' cabin, they were approached by Thomas, who desired to know by what authority the order had been given for the steamer to touch at Fort McHenry. The lieutenant informed him that it was through authority vested in him by Col. Kenly, Provost Marshal of Baltimore. On hearing this, Thomas drew his pistol, and calling his men around him, threatened to seize and throw Carmichael and Horner overboard. The latter drew their revolvers and defied the other party to proceed to execute their threats. The utmost confusion prevailed in the cabin for a short time, the female passengers running out screaming, but the other male passengers stood up with Carmichael and Horner, and compelled Thomas and his companions to remain quiet. Matters thus stood on the boat until the steamer approached the fort wharf, when the lieutenant went up and informed Gen. Banks of his important capture.

"The General instantly ordered out a company of infantry, who marched to the steamboat and secured all the accused excepting Thomas, for whom search was made for an hour and a half. He was then found concealed in the drawer of a bureau in the ladies' cabin, in the aft part of the boat. At first it was apprehended that Thomas would make a desperate resistance, but he disclaimed any such design, alleging that he was too weak to resist. He and the other prisoners were then marched to the fort and placed in confinement."

The arrest created a "tremendous excitement in Baltimore, where Col. Thomas was well known, and had many friends among the best families in the city. On his person was found his commission as colonel in the volunteer forces of Virginia;' but that did not protect him from treatment such as a pirate would have received. His imprisonment, upon becoming known at Richmond, was firmly protested against, and measures of retaliation adopted, which arrested all proceedings against him on the charge of piracy, but did not

1 The following are copies of papers found on Col. Thomas at the time of his arrest at Fort McHenry:

"The Commonwealth of Virginia to Richard Thomas Zarvona, greeting:

Know you, that from special trust and confidence reposed in your fidelity, courage and good conduct, our Governor, in pursuance of the authority vested in him by an Ordinance of the Convention of the State of Virginia. doth commission you a colonel in the Active Volunteer forces of the State, to rank as such from the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
RICHMOND, July 3, 1861.

Permit Col. R. T. Zarvona, of the Potomac
Zouaves, to pass at will, free, over the roads and

secure the treatment due to him as a prisoner-of-war. He was confined in Fort McHenry for several months, during which he made several ineffectual efforts to escape, and was, early in 1862, transferred to Fort Lafayette. During his imprisonment reports were circulated that his health had been impaired, and that his mental condition indicated cruelty in the treatment he had received. These reports caused the U. S. Senate to direct the Committee on Military Affairs of the Senate to inquire into and report as to the truths of those reports. Senator Wilson reported, February 16th, 1863, that:

"Richard Thomas Zarvona was committed to this fort on December 3d, 1861, and was allowed the same privileges as the other prisoners until the 3d March, 1862, on which date he was placed in close confinement by order of the Secretary of War, dated 28th day of February, 1862. After that date he was not allowed to leave his room except to go to the watercloset-which is situated on the sea wall-in charge of a member of the guard, of which privilege he took advantage on the night of the 31st of April, 1862, and attempted to escape by jumping overboard and swimming to the Long Island shore. Since that time he has not been out of his room except to see his mother, who visited him in October last by permission of the Secretary of War.

"The room in which he is confined, is one of those intended for quarters, 25 feet long and fifteen feet wide, with nine windows, one of which is closed, because it opens upon the court where the other prisoners exercise. The room is the same which Senator Wall, with some others, occupied while confined here. He is permitted to supply himself, through the commanding officer of the post, with anything he may wish in the way of food (in addition to the regular ration which is issued to him) and clothing. He is not permitted the use of papers or books, as he has taken advantage of these privileges to communicate to parties outside.

"As regards Thomas' health, Acting Assistant Surgeon W. H. Studley, of the fort, under date of February 2d, says: I have this day examined Col. Richard Thomas Zarvona, Confederate States army, and found that his health is generally good, according to his own admission. That it is better than when he entered the fort. In reference to his mental condition, I find him sound and rational, but somewhat eccentric in some of his ideas, and yet not more so than in thousands who may be said to be born with a certain turn of character. Therefore, in my opinion, I should deem his peculiarities perfectly consistent with sanity of mind.'

"The report of Assistant Adjt. Gen. D. D. Townsend, to the Secretary of War, dated February 10th, says: Col. Richard Thomas, alias Richard Thomas Zarvona, was captured on board the steamer Mary Washington, near Annapolis, February 7th, 1861, and confined at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland. He was recognized on the steamer as a man who headed a party which captured the steamer St. Nicholas, plying between Baltimore and the Potomac, and was indicted by the Grand Jury of Maryland District for the offence and for treason. When

amount would be duly honored by Messrs. R. H. Maury & Co., of Richmond.

July 14, 1861, Asst. Adj. Gen. Robert Williams at Fort McHenry, reported by direction of Major Gen. Banks, "that the schooner Georgiana, owned by Thomas and his party, and with which a portion of them had been lying in wait for the capture of other steamers from Baltimore, has been taken possession of, and is now at the dock of this port, having been run aground and deserted by her crew. No capture of rebels was made on board of her."-Official Records, Series 1, Vol. II., p. 749.

search was made for him on the Mary Washington, he was found dressed in female apparel, and concealed in a bureau in one of the state-rooms. Gen. Dix, in his report of February 20th, 1862, thinks he should be treated as a 'pirate and a spy.' There are four witnesses against him as to the first crime, who were at Fort McHenry the last of September. The evidence of the second charge consists in his being taken in disguise as a female, with a commission of Colonel in the active volunteer forces' of Virginia upon his person at the time. In consequence of the report made in his case, he has not been placed in the list of prisoners-of-war, but is held confined at Fort Lafayette."

There was no truth in the statement that Col. Zarvona was "dressed in female apparel."

Such feats of resolution and daring inspire a whole people with admiration, and create that spirit of enthusiasm which takes no reckoning of the odds against success. Col. Zarvona may have been eccentric, every man that acts outside of the dull line of other men is set down as eccentric; but the coolness and resolution with which he faced danger, and the indomitable energy with which he executed his enterprise, show that he was well fitted to lead in a desperate undertaking. Some idea of the resources of this young man may be formed from the novel means by which he tried to effect escape. With a number of tin cans securely corked and tied around his waist, he threw himself into the water and swam boldly from Fort Lafayette toward the Long Island shore; but being discovered by the sentinel, a boat was sent after him and he was recaptured and brought back to the fort. He continued to languish in the gloomy cell at Fort Lafayette for two years— an object of admiration and pity to every man and woman in the South. His imprisonment was reported to be rigorous in the extreme, and his confinement close and severe. His repeated efforts to escape may have rendered these measures necessary-but their report caused retaliation to be instituted in Richmond, by the confinement at hard labor in the Penitentiary of two Federal officers, and the announcement of the purpose to mete out to them whatever might befall Col. Zarvona. In response to a resolution, adopted by the Virginia House of Delegates on the 23d of January, 1863, in relation to the efforts made by Governor Letcher to obtain the release of Col. Zarvona, the Governor said that "at the time of his capture, Col. Zarvona was acting under orders from me, and was employed on secret service for the accomplishment of an object regarded as one of the first importance to the interests of the State and the Confederacy." In response to this communication, the Legislature, on March 28th, 1863, adopted a resolution authorizing and directing the Governor to transfer the prisoners captured by the State Line to the Confederate government, except those held as hostages for Col. Zarvona and others. These acts of retaliation procured the release of Col. Zarvona, and he was exchanged and returned to Richmond in April, 1863. That one so conspicuous in the earliest period of the