1863 — Aug 4, Steamboat Ruth Burns (arson), Mississippi River, near Columbus, KY– 30

— 30 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 289.
–~30 Dawson’s Daily Times and Union, Fort Wayne, IN. Aug 7, 1863, p. 2.
— 30 Gaines, W. Craig. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. Baton Rouge: LSU, 2008, p102.
— 30 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 262.
— 30 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 685.
— 30 New York Times. “Burning of the Steamer Ruth.” Aug 10, 1863, p. 6.
— 30 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, p. 405.

Narrative Information

Gaines: “Ruth, Union. Side-wheel steamer, 702 tons….Carried a $2.6 million Union army payroll in United States notes and eight paymasters and their clerks bound for the Union army at Vicksburg, Miss. Also carried stores along with thirty-one guards of Company I, 9th Wis. Infantry Regiment…Was burned by Confederate agents on the night of August 5, 1863, between Cairo, Ill., and Columbus, Ky., at Lucas Bend, 4 miles below Norfolk, Mo. One of the agents was said to have been Robert Louden. The vessel was engulfed within five minutes and continued to burn for five hours, sinking in 18 feet of water. Thirty lives were lost, including five Union guards and three clerks. Union salvage divers recovered only pieces of the bank notes. The Ruth was blown up with gunpowder on October 19, 1863, to prevent others from trying to recover any remaining payroll.”
(Gaines, W. Craig. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. Baton Rouge: LSU, 2008, p. 102.)

Way: Ruth. Sidewheel wood-hull packet, built in 1862 in Jeffersonville, IN, at 702 tons, measuring 270 x 46 x 8. “….Came out new on Jan. 1, 1863. She went in service almost at once as a U.S. transport and burned while downbound on the Mississippi, six miles below Cairo, Ill., Aug. 4, 1863. She was loaded with military stores, had in her safe $2.6 million in greenbacks, and was loaded deep. Thirty lives were lost. The blame for the fire was placed on a Confederate arsonist, confirmed later by Absalom Grimes, a mail runner who wrote a book. Grimes lay the blame on Robert Louden, also a Confederate mail runner.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, p. 405.)

Newspapers

Aug 5: “Correspondence of the Missouri Democrat. Cairo, Wednesday, Aug. 5.

“Taking the steamer Nevada, several paymasters and their clerks, Capt. …[unclear] and Mr. [unclear] clerk of the Ruth, went down this morning to where the destruction of the steamer Ruth took place inst. night. Nothing was discovered of any importance. Pieces of the wreck were lying near the Missouri shore, two or three miles below the point where the Ruth was first run aground, surrounded by dead mules and cattle yet fastened to the machinery, but no human bodies were discovered in the vicinity and no news of any could be obtained from residents along the shore. On the return trip they were hailed just above Island No. 1, and told that three or four soldiers had gone up to Cairo upon the Kentucky shore, having been saved from the wreck, but thus far none have reported here. Since my first dispatch I have been able to gather the following particulars of the dreadful affair:

The fire was first seen near the carpenter’s ship, left [unclear] of the wheelhouse, under the ladies’ cabin, when the boat was just below Norfolk Landing [MO, below Cairo], below Island No. 9. The fire came from aft forward almost like a flash, and before anything could be done the steamer was enveloped in flames.

“The steamer’s pump, furnished with excellent hose, was at once applied by the mate, but to no effect. Nothing could subdue such a sheet of flame. The boat was, as before stated, headed immediately to the shore, and with a full head of steam, ran upon the beach with such force that some thirty feet of her…[unclear] was left impressed in the solid clay of the shore. Both wheels were moving when she struck, and had they both continued to revolve, all on board might have got off, but the bank was very steep, and nothing to tie to, and one wheel suddenly ceased to revolve, remaining stationary hardly one minute. All who escaped did so during these few seconds. The other wheel continued in motion, and turned the remaining part of the vessel into the river.

“Maj. Benton [unclear], Paymaster in charge of moneys to pay Grant’s army, was standing upon the upper deck, leaning over the bulwarks, when a shock came behind him and sent him headlong overboard, and, after striking upon the lower guards and hitting one man and knocking him over, the Major fell into the water near the wheelhouse, and was severely hurt and somewhat bruised about the head, but he finally made his escape. Had he not been thus knocked overboard by the shock, he would not have had time to get off, as he had to idea but that the boat would stick upon the shore. His clerk, H.S. Goddard, was also fortunate enough to escape. In the rush of getting ashore some persons fell into the river, but it is believed none were drowned then. A corporal, having in charge five privates, jumped ashore with his men, but stepping down the steep bank he unfortunately went under the heavy staging which had been pushed out to facilitate the escape to shore, and as the boat swung out the stage fell off, and crushed three to death. The remainder who were so unfortunate as to fail in getting ashore seemed to be terror-stricken, and lost all presence of mind. Captain…[unclear] shouted to them to launch another stage, by which they could all have been saved, for if the stage had not reached shore they could have clung to it in the water until assistance could have reached them, but although they were standing on the stage and around it no effort was made to shove it overboard. An old river man who was still on board, tried by every means to induce them to do so, but all his efforts failed. He then jumped overboard and saved himself by swimming ashore. It is thought all who remained on board were lost, with one or two exceptions. This number has been variously estimated at from 26 to 60, but the most reliable authority seems to be that which places it at 30….” (New York Times. “Burning of the Steamer Ruth.” Aug 10, 1863, p. 6.)

Aug 7: “The steamer Ruth was burned on the Mississippi, above Cairo, on Tuesday night. Some thirty lives were lost, including a Paymaster and three Paymaster’s clerks, who were on their way to pay off Gen. Grant’s army. The money with them — $2,600,000 in ‘greenbacks’ – was all destroyed.” (Dawson’s Daily Times and Union, Fort Wayne, IN. Aug 7, 1863, p. 2.)

Sources

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

Dawson’s Daily Times and Union, Fort Wayne, IN. [Steamboat Ruth burns.] 8-7-1863, p. 2. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=41020297

Gaines, W. Craig. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2008.

Lytle, William M., compiler, from Official Merchant Marine Documents of the United States and Other Sources; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. “The Lytle List.” Mystic, CT: Steamship Historical Society of America (Publication No. 6), 1952. Accessed 8-16-2020 at:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018039084&view=1up&seq=8&size=125

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

New York Times. “Burning of the Steamer Ruth.” Aug 10, 1863, p. 6. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=7644724

Way, Frederick Jr. (Author and Compiler), Joseph W. Rutter (contributor). Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America (Revised). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1999.