[from our Special Correspondent.]
Our citizens were thrown into quite a furor of excitement yesterday afternoon, about 6 ½ o'clock, by the arrival at the wharf of the steamer St. Nicholas, of the Baltimore and Washington line, and at a very late hour of the night the wharf was crowded with those dubious about her identity, and curious to know the circumstances under which she came.
For several days past, the town has been highly excited with curiosity about the secret expedition which left here Friday morning, and even now the excitement of the ignorant in regard to it has not abated in the least.--The arrival of this steamer was the cause, very naturally, of alarm to some, while it increased the intense curicsity of others. The circumstances connected with her transfer from the Baltimore and Washington line to one of the ports of the Confederate States, may be summed up as follows:
The steamer St. Nicholas left the wharf at Baltimore Thursday, about 1 o'clock P. M., having on board about eighty passengers, and some merchandize. When she reached one of the Maryland capes the Captain and crew suddenly found themselves in the hands of some "Rebels," and were necessarily obliged to surrender in the name of the Confederate Government. Resistance was useless, and the Captain, seeing how futile would be any such attempt, quietly submitted to being deposed.
The gentleman who conducted this affair deserves a great deal of credit, and it is only for important considerations (which he will understand) that I can forbear calling his name. He will receive the reward due him from another and more pleasing source.
The steamer, after undergoing a change of commanders and crew, proceeded to Cone river to await reinforcements and to execute the remainder of the mission for which she was captured; but owing to some mismanagement or misunderstanding, was compelled to leave undone the most important part of the programme. She left Cone river Saturday, and while proceeding down the Bay to the mouth of the Rappahannock, captured two schooners--one named Margaret, of New York, ladened with coal from Alexandria, to Staten Island; the other, Mary Pierce, of Boston, ladened with 268 tons of ice, for Washington. The latter proves a very valuable acquisition, as our stock of ice is growing very small. The Virginia captured a schooner, the name of which I could not learn, ladened with coffee, from Rio, for Baltimore; and, as the neutrality of Maryland has been recognized, I presume her cargo will be purchased. The Captain of the schooner Margaret is a Virginian, and should be dealt with as he deserves. The Captain of the schooner Mary Pierce is undoubtedly a Yankee.
The report of fighting at Mathias' Point has again reached me, and I am inclined to believe that we shall soon hear of a glorious victory on our part from that place. M.
