1864 – Dec 11, Steamboat Maria boiler explosion, fire, Miss. River, Carondelet, MO — ~25

–~25 Blanchard estimate.*

–>25 Elk Advocate, Ridgway, PA. “Explosion of the Steamer Maria.” 12-17-1864, p. 2, c.3.
— 25 Indiana Herald, Huntington IN. “Fearful Explosion and Loss of Life.” 12-21-1864, p. 1.
–~25 Missouri Republican, St. Louis. “Destruction of Steamer Maria.” 12-12-1864, p. 2, col. 2.
–>25 Rule, G. E. “Sabotage of the Maria…’Hell and Maria’.” 2001. Accessed 10-1-2020.
–>25 The Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA. “Terrible Steamboat Accident.” 12-17-1864, p. 2, col. 3.
–“immense” Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…MS Riv. Sys.… 1999, 307.

*Blanchard estimate. There is no exact accounting of the loss of life. The Chicago Tribune of Dec 13, noting the St. Louis coroner’s visit, gives one an idea of the difficulty coming to terms with an exact death toll. Given the ambiguity we are uncomfortable noting “at least” 25 deaths or “more than” 25 deaths. Perhaps, but we are more comfortable noting “~” (approximately) 25.

Narrative Information

Way: Maria. Sternwheel wood-hull packet, built in Cincinnati, OH, in 1864, at 254 tons. “….She loaded for St. St. Louis, Capt. William Dravo. On Dec. 11, 1864, she exploded boilers at Carondelet, Mo., with the Third Iowa and Fourth Missouri Cavalry aboard, Capt. Alex Montgomery in command. The life loss was ‘immense,’ giving rise to the expression ‘hell and maria.’ Will Dravo, acting clerk, was badly scalded.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats on the Mississippi River System Since.…(Revised). 1999, p. 307.)

Newspapers

Dec 11, St. Louis: “St. Louis, Dec. 11. – The steamer Maria, from St. Louis for Cairo, exploded at Carondelet, six miles below St. Louis, early this morning. The pilots, clerks and other employees of the boat say that she was lying without steam in the boilers when the explosion took place on the larboard side, the explosion going upward, and making a hole in the boiler deck, through which several persons fell. They say the explosion may have been caused by a box of ammunition in the hold.

“There were 80 soldiers of the 31 and 4th Iowa and 10th Wisconsin cavalry, with 187 horses and mules on board. The soldiers positively say that the explosion was caused by the insufficiency of water in the boiler, which burst. The boat was cast loose, grounded on the bar, and was entirely consumed by fire. All the horses and mules were lost. It is reported that 25 men were killed, 30 wounded and 12 missing. The soldiers lost everything. The boat was entirely new and valued at $40,000.” (Elk Advocate, Ridgway, PA. “Explosion of the Steamer Maria.” 12-17-1864, p. 2, c.3.)

Dec 12, St. Louis: “About 7 o’clock Sunday morning [11th], the steamboat Maria, loaded with Government troops, horses, mules, wagons, &c., was blown up while lying at the landing at Carondelet, and afterwards burned to the water’s edge….

“A negro deck had was struck on the head by some missile, besides being severely burned by the coal thrown on him as he stood at the furnace. He died about noon. With these exceptions [injures to clerk Dravo and steward Fowler]

“The names of the soldiers injured and missing belonging to the 3d Iowa cavalry are:

Lieut. C. L. Hartman, co. F, burned in side and hip severely.
Sergt. James Pain, co. B, burned in hands and face severely.
John Balbach, co. H, in hands and chest severely.
Chas. M. Hume, co. A, one leg broken and the other badly crushed.
A.L. Curtis, co. H, leg bruised slightly.
Francis E. Robb, co. F, hands and hip burned severely.
W. W. Blair, co. H, breast and head burned slightly.
J. Famulener, co. H, foot burned severely.
O. B. Parker, co. H, legs and arms burned severely.
Bazel Gurwell, co. H, burned severely.
James Owens, co. H. wounded slightly.
David Hurlbert, co. H, wounded slightly.
James W. McCormick, co. F, shoulder dislocated.
Volney Henry, co. G, hand and leg burned slightly….
Patrick McCormick, co. F, 10th Missouri, is badly burned in the hands and face.
J. W. Frank, co. D, 4th Iowa, has both legs broken.
Patrick Highland, co. E, 2d New Jersey badly burned on the legs one hand and face.
Coleman, a negro servant of Col. Benteen, was severely burned, and
Dick, a negro belonging to the 4th Iowa, was badly burned and otherwise hurt, and is dead.

“Sergeant Perry Newell, Bugler Jacob C. Boone, and privates Martin Sigler, J. W. Vandeventer, co. H, and Jacob Worley, co. E, are all missing, and supposed to be dead….

When the Maria left St. Louis, she was in advance of the Ella Faber, who had aboard men recently belonging to the 4th Missouri cavalry. Eight of the men of this regiment, left behind, got on board the Maria. Two only of those are known to have got off unhurt. What has become of the others is not known. It seems to be thought they may have come up to the city on the cars, immediately after the disaster occurred. Fourteen of the privates of this regiment have been reported ‘absent without leave,’ among whom are those who went down to Carondelet on the Maria. Their names are Kirber, company B, Hempke and Hengel, company D; Ahrens, Gerhardt and Mitzger, company H; Arntman, Gleber, Heicleman and Thoma, company G; Hetzel, Schneider and Sonbauers, company K, and Schlepper, company M. Their officers seem to think these men are safe and ‘straggling.’

“Of the freight on board nothing was saved except two horses and two or three mules, which broke their halters and managed to get ashore…..

“A number of mules that got into the water perished among the floating ice, on account of the cold chilling them before they could swim out….

“In half an hour after the explosion, the boat was a mass of flame…As the flames got well under way, it was stated there was a quantity of ammunition in the hold. To avoid the danger that would result from its explosion, Mr. Andrew Acker, second mate, cut the cable with an axe, and let her loose. The high wind prevailing from the west, drove her out into the river, and she floated off, the hull lodging about two miles below, at the point of the island, It turned out there was no ammunition on board….” (Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis. “Destruction of Steamer Maria.” 12-12-1864, p. 2, col. 2.)

Dec 12, From St. Louis Dispatch: “The steamboat Maria, accompanied by six other boats, having on board Colonel Benteen’s brigade of troops, destined for Nashville, left the levee [St. Louis] Saturday evening last at six o’clock, on her way down the river. The Maria was the headquarters boat of Colonel Benteen, having on board himself and his staff, Captain Young Assistant Adjutant General; Lieut. Swain, Assistant Quartermaster; Lieut. Thiel and Capt. De Grasse, Aides de camp; Lieut. Colonel Jones, of the 3d Iowa cavalry; and about forty-five soldiers. She had on board also 150 head of horses and 65 mules nearly all of them the private property of the officers, and forage for the animals.

“At eight o’clock two hours after leaving the levee, the fleet was overtaken by the snowstorm of Saturday night, and was compelled to lay up near the Union Iron Works just below Carondelet. Yesterday morning, about 7 o’clock, while the boat was getting up steam to start, a report followed by a violent concussion, was heard, and immediately the front portion of the upper works of the steamer tumbled into the shattered boilers and furnaces below, and after portions of the deck and cabin were filled with escaped steam. An explosion had taken place, and the boat was a helpless wreck. The fall of the fore part of the deck and cabin carried down with it all who were standing there at the time, and many of them were burned to death in the furnace or scalded by the hot steam. Immediately after the explosion, the bales of hay aboard took fire, which was communicated to the boat, and in a few minutes she was consumed to the water’s edge. All the horses and mules on board, except six that were got ashore, perished in the flames. It is estimated that about twenty-five persons were burned or scalded to death, and a considerable number injured. The steamer Lillie Martin, which was one of the fleet, rendered all the assistance she could in rescuing the officers, soldiers and crew on the unfortunate boat.

“There are two theories of the accident. One is that it was caused by the freezing of condensed steam in the steampipe the night before, thereby choking up the pipe and causing the explosion, while the other insists that a torpedo or some kind of infernal machine was fired off in, or under the furnace, and thus caused the destruction and crash.

“Everything on the boat was lost, there being no time to save anything. The officers lost all their horses, baggage, money, and watches estimated at $20,000.” (The Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA. “Terrible Steamboat Accident.” 12-17-1864, p. 2, col. 3.)

Dec 12. St. Louis: “St. Louis, December 12. – At seven o’clock on Sunday morning, the steamboat Maria, loaded with Government troops, horses, mules, wagons, &c. was blown up while lying at the landing at Carondelet, and afterwards burned to the water’s edge. The Maria, had on board Colonel Beuteen, commanding brigade, with his staff and escort; Colonel B. S. Jones, of 3d Iowa Cavalry, and a portion of his command, and detached troops, amounting in all to about 100 men, besides the crew of the boat, en route for Cairo. She had no freight except two hundred sacks of oats, forty bales of hay, a few wagons, sixty-four mules, and one hundred and twenty horses. The explosion threw the forward ends of the boilers apart, landing them on deck without disturbing the after ends, and dashed in from the front of the furnaces a quantity of burning coal forward, setting fire to the bay. The floor of the cabin was burst up, and falling back, precipitated a number of soldiers down on the boilers and burning wreck. The office floor also gave way, carrying with it the clerk, W. B. Bravo, together with the safe and contents of the office. Bravo is seriously though not dangerously injured. Some twenty-five lives were lost in all. Everything belonging to the boat was lost. The soldiers lost all their arms and equipments, except a few who had their side arms on when the disaster occurred. Had the disaster occurred while the boat was under way, every soul on board must have perished, as the water was so intensely old that no one could have remained in it any length of time without perishing. Half an hour after the explosion the boat was a mass of flames allowing time to save nothing but the load of human life aboard. All the officers excepting the first clerk are positive there was no explosion of either boilers or flues. The second engineer says he examined the water a few moments before, and found plenty. Steam was only up to 114 pounds, while the boilers were capable of carrying 145 pounds with safety. It is therefore, certain that some fiend had placed a shell or other explosive missive among the coal used for fuel, and being thrown into the furnace, it produced the disaster. The Maria was a new boat and cost $35,500.” (Indiana Herald, Huntington IN. “Fearful Explosion and Loss of Life.” 12-21-1864, 1.)

Dec 13, St. Louis: “(Special Dispatch to the Chicago Tribune.) St. Louis, Tuesday, Dec. 13.

“Our Coroner has gone to Carondelet to investigate the causes of the recent loss of like on the steamer Maria. The only dead body brought from the boat before she was cut loose from her moorings, was that of a negro. It was spirited away, and the Coroner found no subject. The wounded were taken to Jefferson Barracks, and though most of them have subsequently died from the inhalation of steam, they are beyond the Coroner’s action. The dead, not removed from the boat, are probably in the hands of the authorities of St. Clair county, the boat having drifted within their jurisdiction. That the disaster was the result of the ignorance and recklessness of the officers of the boat is generally conceded by all who have investigated the matter. Steam was being raised in filled boilers and frozen pipes, after a night of intense cold.” (Chicago Tribune. “From St. Louis. The Carondelet Disaster…” 12-14-1864, p. 1, col. 3.)

Sources

Chicago Tribune. “From St. Louis. The Carondelet Disaster…” 12-14-1864, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 10-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-tribune-dec-14-1864-p-1/

Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis. “Destruction of Steamer Maria.” 12-12-1864, p. 2, col. 2. Accessed 10-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/saint-louis-daily-missouri-republican-dec-12-1864-p-2/

Elk Advocate, Ridgway, PA. “Explosion of the Steamer Maria.” 12-17-1864, p. 2, col. 3. Accessed 10-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ridgway-elk-advocate-dec-17-1864-p-2/

Indiana Herald, Huntington IN. “Fearful Explosion and Loss of Life.” 12-21-1864, p. 1. Accessed 10-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/huntington-indiana-herald-dec-21-1864-p-1/

Rule, G. E. “Sabotage of the Maria…’Hell and Maria’.” 2001. Accessed 10-1-2020 at: http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/boatburners/steamermaria.htm

The Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA. “Terrible Steamboat Accident.” 12-17-1864, p. 2, col. 3. Accessed 10-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/pittsburgh-daily-post-dec-17-1864-p-2/

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.