SOURCE: The Daily Cleveland Herald, Cleveland, OH; Saturday, December 17, 1864; Issue 299; col C
TERRIBLE STEAMBOAT DISASTER.
The steamer MARIA, loaded with Government troops and horses, exploded her boilers and burned six miles below St. Louis, the morning of the 11th. From twelve to twenty lives and one hundred and eighty-seven cavalry horses were lost. An account says:
It was between 6 and seven o’clock, while nearly all the soldiers were in bed, that the explosion occurred. They were sleeping in the cabin, which was split in the center by the explosion, and the soldiers were precipitated to the lower deck, some falling on the boilers, some among the horses, and some clinging to the sides of the crumbling cabin. A terrible scene of excitement and confusion ensued. The soldiers, seeing that the boat was on fire, rushed for the shore, without stopping to secure any of their baggage or arms, and many of them even left their shoes and hats behind. There was a lot of hay on the deck, and this immediately took fire, and burned with great rapidity. Some of the officers ordered the men to throw the hay overboard, and they commenced doing so, but as it was necessary to cut the boat loose to prevent the flames from communicating to the LANE MARTIN, the men leaped ashore, and saved themselves as best they could.
The sufferers were Iowa and Missouri troops, under the command of Col Benteen, who lost everything he had but the clothes he had on and his saber. The soldiers lost all their arms, equipments and baggage.
What units would this have involved?
Regards to all,
Maggie
"steamboat granny"