1856 — Aug 10-11, Hurricane Isle Derniere (Last Island), LA (Nautilus, Ellen lost)–264-338

–264-338 Blanchard estimate (see breakouts below).
–140-198 Last Island (140 from Ludlum, 195 from Dixon, 198 from Schreiber)
— 5 Iberville
–119-135 Maritime
— < 400 History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, August 11, 1856. -- 400 Blake, et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense US Cyclones…, April 2007. -- 400 Dunn and Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition).1964, p. 319. -- 400 Rappaport and Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest… 1995. Cites Dunn and Miller -- >331 Dixon, Bill. Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856…. 2009, p. 233.
–195 Last Island victims (pp. 226-229)
— 3 Crewmen from the schooner John Roaless.
–~85 Nautilus victims (p. 230-232)
— 13 Manilla victims (p. 232)
— 15 Ship Ellen (p. 232).
— >8 Schooner Exceed (p. 232)
— 1 M.A. Wheeler, “vessel unknown.”
— 1 Yacht Atlantic cook.
— 320 Ho, F. P. Extreme Hurricanes in the Nineteenth Century, 1989, p. 95.
— ~ 300 Childs. A History of the United States In Chronological Order. 1886, 151.
–200-300 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 120.
— 300 Mobile Register, 10-3-1893; in Monthly Weather Review, V. 21/N10, Oct 1893, 272.
— ~300 Morning Post, London. “America. Arrival of The Asia.” 9-1-1856, p. 6.
— 300 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 89.
— <250 Snow, Edward Rowe Great Gales and Dire Disasters. Dodd, Mead Co., 1952. -- >218 Schreiber. “Lost at Sea: James and Josephine Stewart.” HGDPC. Accessed 4-21-2020
–>198 Last Island. “At least 198 people were killed on the island…”
— 20 Schooner Ellen (remains found “sticking out of the sand of Last Island.”
— >200 Daily Picayune, New Orleans, 8-17-1856; in Ludlum. Early…Hurricanes, 1963, 168.
— >200 Sullivan, C. L. Hurricanes of the Mississippi Gulf Coast 1717 to present. 1986.
— ~200 Hamilton. “`Hurricane Highway’ Islands: Rebuild Or Retreat?” NPR, 7-12-2009.
— 173 Sanger. American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for 1856. 373.
— >155 Ludlum. “The Last Island Disaster.” Early American Hurricanes 1492-1870. 1963, 169.
— 5 Iberville, Vermillion Parish. Collapsing houses. Hurricanes. 1963, p. 170.
–140 Last Island. Page 173.
— 10 Ship Manila. Page 169.
— ? Steamer Nautilus. Writes all but two killed, but does not note a number.

Maritime (119-135)

Full-rigged ship Manila (10-13). Grounded, Timbalier Island, LA, Aug 9 on way to New Orleans.
–13 Dixon, Bill. Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856…. 2009, p. 232.
–10 Daily Ledger, New Albany, IN. “More of the Storm.” 8-19-1856, p. 3.
–10 Ludlum. “The Last Island Disaster.” Early American Hurricanes 1492-1870. 1963, p. 169.

Schooner Ellen (~20)
— 20 Schooner Ellen, remains found “of the schooner Ellen sticking out of the sand of Last Island.”
— 1 Captain James Stewart
— 1 Wife of Captain Stewart
–>2 children of Captain Stewart
— 1 niece of Captain Stewart
–15 crew
— ? No mention of passengers.
— >9 Ship Ellen from Richmond VA. Dixon. Last Days of Last Island. 2009 p. 232.

Schooner Exceed ( >12)
–>12 Dixon, Bill. Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856…. 2009, pp. 232-233.

Schooner John Roaless ( 3)
–3 Crewmen. Dixon, Bill. Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856…. 2009, p. 233.

Steamer Nautilus (70-85)
— 85 Dixon, Bill. Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856…. 2009, pp. 230-232.
— ~70 Passengers, ~two-thirds cabin passengers and one-third steerage.
— 70 Statement of the steward, Jim Frisbee, reported as the only survivor.
–30 cabin passengers
–15 steerage passengers
–25 officers and crew
— ~30 Francaviglia. From Sail to Steam…Texas Maritime History, 1500-1900. 1998, 175.
— ~22 New York Times. “The Great Storm of the South,” Aug 26, 1856, p. 4.
— 20 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 136.
— 20 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 683.

Unknown vessel ( 1)
–1 M.A. Wheeler. Dixon. Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856…. 2009, p. 233.

Yacht Atlantic ( 1)
–1 A cook. Dixon. Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856…. 2009, p. 233.

Narrative Information

Berman: “Nautilus; St. p. [steam propeller]; 898 [tons]; 1854 [built]; Aug 10, 1856 [loss]; Stranded; Last Island, Ga. 20 lives lost.” (Berman. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 136.)

Francaviglia: “A significant maritime tragedy of the era occurred off the Texas coast on August 8, 1856, when the steamship Nautilus, bound from Galveston to New Orleans carrying thirty thousand dollars in specie, thirty passengers, one hundred horses, and forty head of cattle, was pounded mercilessly by a hurricane. The Nautilus was wrecked, and its wreckage was scattered along the coast from Sabine Pass to Point Bolivar; reports at the time noted all hands were lost except a lone black man who clung to a cotton bale.” (Francaviglia. From Sail to Steam…Texas Maritime History, 1500-1900. 1998, p. 175.)

Ho: “The 1856 storm is well remembered in the history of Louisiana as the Last Island Disaster because of the loss of more than one hundred prominent citizens of the Louisiana society on the island. Last Island was located at the western end, and therefore, termed the ‘Last’ of a chain of islands extending from the Mississippi Delta westward. It was a summer resort for people of the lower Louisiana Parishes. The island is about 25 miles in length and less than one mile wide, only 3 or 4 ft above the level of the Gulf.

“…this August 1856 hurricane…passed near Key West, FL, on the 8th. The storm decelerated to a speed of 8 mph as it approached the Louisiana coast. The center of the storm passed just west of Last Island at about 5 in the afternoon of August 10. It passed to the south of Eugene Island and entered the coast near the western end of St. Mary Parish. Its forward motion decelerated further as it moved over land and slowly recurved towards the northeast on August 11. Its center crossed into Mississippi, north of Baton Rouge and accelerated in a northeastward direction.

“Devastation of Last Island occurred as the hurricane passed to the west and a resort hotel was destroyed with loss of 320 lives. On the mainland, Bayou Lafourche rose 5 ft in a very short period of time and considerable flooding must have occurred in the lower section. To the east, there were reports of flooding to depth of 4 to 5 ft along the lower reaches of the Mississippi River. Hurricane winds at the southern end of the Mississippi Delta severely damaged installations at South West Pass, about 65 nmi east of the storm center….”

Ludlum: “The city of New Orleans and surrounding river country experienced an increasing tropical storm with heavy rains and rising gales on Sunday, 10 August 1856….The tropical tempest continued to rage around New Orleans through Sunday night and into the next afternoon, with the rain ceasing about 1600 when Dr. Porter measured 4.82 inches in his rain gage….

“The four-day storm might have been quickly forgotten. But soon ominous rumors began to filter in from areas to the south and southwest of the city. These indicated that New Orleans might have been only on the fringe of a violent hurricane.

“Let us follow the story as it unfolded to the residents of New Orleans in the columns of the daily press, commencing on the morning of Wednesday, the 13th, the third day following the initial impact of the storm:

We learn from a passenger who came down on the Opelousas Railroad yesterday, that the storm had raged with great violence on the line of the road, doing much serious damage. Chimneys and houses were blown down. The crops are completely ruined on the line of the road. It is reported that several lives were lost. (New Orleans Daily Crescent, 8-13-1856.)

Brashear City Hotel. Wednesday, August 13—4 A.M. Eds. Pic.[Picayune]—John Davis has just got here from Last Island in a small sail boat, and reports Last Island entirely swept of all the houses by the storm of Sunday night, and that 137 lives were lost by the disaster. This is the amount hurriedly ascertained at present…. (Eugene Daly. Evening Picayune, 8-13-1856.)

Mr. Starr S. Jones, of the Opelousas Railroad Express, yesterday brought us the melancholy news of the complete overflow of Last Island and the destruction of every house and probable drowning of every person on the Island. He says the steamer Star, which was lying there at the time of the gale, went ashore on the Island and bilged near where Muggah’s Hotel had stood. As there was at the time of the gale, upwards of one hundred and forty persons on the Island, we await further intelligence from them with the greatest anxiety. (New Orleans Daily Crescent, 8-14-1856.)
….
Bayou Boeuf, August 14, 1856.
Dear Pic.—You may have heard ere this reaches you of the dreadful catastrophe which happened on Last Island on Sunday the 10th inst. As one of the sufferers it becomes my duty to chronicle one of the most melancholy events which have ever occurred. On Saturday night, the 9th inst., a heavy northeast wind prevailed, which excited the fears of a storm in the minds of many; the wind increased gradually until about ten o’clock Sunday morning, when there existed no longer any doubt that we were threatened with imminent danger. From that time the wind blew a perfect hurricane; every house upon the island giving way, one after another, until nothing remained. At this moment everyone sought the most elevated point on the island, exerting themselves at the same time to avoid the fragments of buildings, which were scattered in every direction by the wind. Many persons were wounded; some mortally. The water at this time (about 2 o’clock P.M.) commenced rising so rapidly from the bay side, that there could no longer be any doubt that the island would be submerged. The scene at this moment forbids description. Men, women, and children were seen running in every direction, in search of some means of salvation. The violence of the wind, together with the rain, which fell like hail, and the sand blinded their eyes, prevented many from reaching the objects that had aimed at.

“At about 4 o’clock, the Bay and Gulf currents met and the sea washed over the whole island. Those who were so fortunate as to find some object to cling to, were seen floating in all directions. Many of them, however, were separated from thee straw to which they clung for life, and launched into eternity; others were washed away by the rapid current and drowned before they could reach their point of destination. Many were drowned from being stunned by scattered fragments of the buildings, which had been blown asunder by the storm; many others were crushed by floating timbres and logs, which were removed from the beach, and met them on their journey….No words could depict the awful scene which occurred on the night between the 10th and 11th inst. It was not until the next morning the 11th, that we could ascertain the extent of the disaster. Upon my return, after having drifted for about twenty hours, I found the steamer Star, which had arrived the day before, and was lying at anchor, a perfect wreck, nothing but her hull and boilers, and a portion of her machinery remaining. Upon this wreck the lives of a large number were saved. Toward her each one directed his path as he was recovered from the deep, and was welcomed with tears by his fellow sufferers, who had been so fortunate as to escape…. (Daily Picayune, 8-17-1856.)

….The hotel, it is said, stood the force of the elements remarkably well, being among the last to be swept off, and going only by piecemeal. On the storm’s approaching its height the inmates betook themselves to a large room upstairs, considered very secure; but the violence of the elements increasing, the bar-room was recommended as preferable for safety, and thither they all therefore went. The upper part of the hotel was soon blown away, and the water making its way into the lower part, they were all driven from that place of retreat. The steamboat Star, now a wreck…lay close to the door, and all endeavored to get on board her. The distance was short but the traverse perilous, and it was in making it that the infant child of the Hon. W. W. Pugh was rested from its mother’s arms and borne to thee realms of eternity by the ruthless waters. There was, of course, a desperate effort to reach the boat y the majority of the apparently doomed ones; and were it not for the strenuous exertions and the noble courage of a few the result even on this account must have formed a sad addition to the features of the disaster….(Daily Picayune, 8-17-1856.)

*****

It is stated that there were about 400 persons on the island at the time of the disaster; and the number surviving on the wreck of the Star is estimated at from 250 to 275.

*****

….The number of victims they estimate at over 200, at least 182 having been already counted….It is believed that many bodies were washed out into the Gulf. (Daily Picayune, 8-17-1856.)

“In the early 1850’s Last Island became a favorite resort place for the residents of southern and western Louisiana, especially among the planters of the Atchafalaya River county nearby. In 1856 there were some twenty unpretentious cottages and one two-story building that served as a hotel. This hostelry was known locally by the unromantic designation, Muggah’s Hotel or The Muggah Billiard-House, after its proprietor, and not as the Trade Winds Hotel, as later writers would have us believe. The resort was not the ‘Newport of the South’ nor could it compare with much more fashionable watering spots along the Gulf Coast east of New Orleans such as Biloxi and Bay St. Louis….

“Loss of life on the island was finally estimated at about 140 persons. The earlier published lists carrying about 180 names were scaled down as survivors, such as Michael Schlatre who had drifted for five days on a raft, were sought out and rescued by search parties. There were two principal marine disasters involving passenger-carrying vessels. The Manila went down with the loss of ten and the highly-regarded Nautilus on the Galveston run sank with all except two perishing.”

(Ludlum, David M. “The Last Island Disaster.” Early American Hurricanes 1492-1870 (The History of American Weather). Boston, MA: American Meteorological Society, 1963.)

NYT: “New Orleans, Monday, Aug. 25. From information obtained from the steward of the steamer Nautilus, who has recovered, it is supposed that al those who were upon that vessel must be looked upon as lost. There were 19 cabin and several steerage passengers. Some of the bodies were washed ashore at Tembalier and Carlbon Islands.” (NYT. “The Great Storm of the South,” Aug 26, 1856, p. 4.)

History.com: “In the ante-bellum days of Louisiana, everyone who could spent as much of the hot part of summer as possible on the island, [near Terrebonne Parish] and by 1852 the Trade Wind Hotel was flourishing. Scores of cottages were built along the shore and the community developed into a thriving watering place for the aristocratic families of the south….

Snow: “The Trade Wind Hotel was a large bulky edifice with two stories of elegantly furnished apartments. A spacious dining room and dance hall overlooked the Village Bayou where the island boat landed…. The first great ball of the season at Isle Derniere was planned for the evening of Sunday August 10, 1856….” (Snow 1952, 222)

On the 9th the weather began to turn. “Nevertheless, arrangements proceeded for the Grand Ball on the following night. All the cottagers had planned to attend and the ladies went ahead with their elaborate preparations regardless of the impending storm….” (Snow 1952, 223)

History.com: A hurricane “…probably formed in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and moved northwest toward the Alabama coast. At that point, it veered due west and just missed a direct hit on Mobile, Alabama. Instead, the storm headed right for the mouth of the Mississippi River.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, August 11, 1856.)

Snow: “The older mariners who lived at Ile Derniere were…gravely concerned about the approaching hurricane but they realized that nothing would be gained by alarming the others. They conferred with the hotel manager and it was agreed to hold the Grand Ball as planned for the building was made of strong oaken timbers which it was believed would withstand the severest blow. The cottagers, however, were instructed to leave their homes at once….” (Snow 1952, 223)

The Grand Ball commenced and when the hurricane hit the hotel proprietor “…advised them [the 300 party-goers] to ignore the weather and to join with abandon in the gaieties of the dance.” (Snow 1952, 226)

“One couple, waltzing with reckless abandon near the southern end of the ballroom, suddenly stopped. The girl dancer looked down at her feet and back at her partner. She began to shriek. Her pretty thin slippers were soaking wet from water which was seeping through the ballroom floor…. An instant later streams of salt water were spurting up through the floor in a dozen places. When it was inches deep, there was a rush for the staircase. The boards began to splinter and crack as they were pounded by the waves below. The building shook as it was undermined by the ocean.” (Snow 1952, 226-227).

History.com: “Of the hundred or more buildings on the island, not one remained after the storm and there was not even a fragment of a sill or a foundation to indicate where they had once stood.” (Snow 1952, p. 229) “…some bodies ending up six miles away. The only survivors from Last Island were those who were able to make it to a steamship moored on the island’s shores. Every building and home on the island was submerged under water for days after the storm.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, August 11, 1856.)

This hurricane “devastated the Louisiana coast. Written reports of the storm describe it as the worst that anyone at the time could remember.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, August 11, 1856.)

Newspapers

Aug 19: “New Orleans, Aug. 16. Capt. Talbot, of the steamship Louisiana, reports the loss of the ship Manilla, from Bordeaux for New Orleans off Timbalier Island. The cargo consisted of wines and brandies, and was very valuable. They were mostly lost. Ten of the crew were lost. Captain Rogers had his leg broken….” (Daily Ledger, New Albany, IN. “More of the Storm.” 8-19-1856, p. 3.)

Sep 1, London Morning Post: “The Royal Mail steam-ship Asia…arrived…today from New York….Particulars of the storm at New Orleans have come to hand. It appears to have been most terrific in its consequences; Last Island, a summer resort, was completely inundated, and about 200 persons lost their lives; Grand Caillon Island, another watering place, also suffered severely. Altogether about 300 persons perished. The steamer Nautilus was wrecked in the storm, and all on board perished.”

Sources

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

Blake, Eric S., Edward N. Rappaport, and Christopher W. Landsea. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Cyclones From 1851 to 2006. Miami, FL: National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center, April 15, 2007 update, 45 pages. Accessed at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/Deadliest_Costliest.shtml

Childs, Emery E. A History of the United States In Chronological Order From the Discovery of America in 1492 to the Year 1885. NY: Baker & Taylor, 1886. Google digitized. Accessed 9-4-2017: http://books.google.com/books?id=XLYbAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Daily Ledger, New Albany, IN. “More of the Storm.” 8-19-1856, p. 3. Accessed 4-20-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-albany-daily-ledger-aug-19-1856-p-3/

Dixon, Bill. Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856, Louisiana’s First Great Storm. University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press. 2009.

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Francaviglia, Richard V. From Sail to Steam: Four Centuries of Texas Maritime History, 1500-1900. University of Texas Press, 1998. Partially digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=UZnJIPCOALAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, August 11, 1856. “Hurricane Submerges Louisiana Resort.” Accessed 12/10/2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=08/11&categoryId=disaster

Ho, Francis P. Extreme Hurricanes in the Nineteenth Century (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS HYDRO-43). Silver Spring, MD, Office of Hydrology, March 1989.

Ludlum, David M. “The Last Island Disaster.” Early American Hurricanes 1492-1870 (The History of American Weather). Boston, MA: American Meteorological Society, 1963. Digitized by The University of Texas; accessed 8-19-2017 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=txu.059173023379471;view=1up;seq=9

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

Morning Post, London. “America. Arrival of The Asia.” 9-1-1856, p. 6. Accessed 4-20-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/london-morning-post-sep-01-1856-p-6/

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. “The Great Storm of the South. The Loss of the Steamer ‘Nautilus,” Aug 26, 1856, p. 4. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9800E0D91339E134BC4E51DFBE66838D649FDE

Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf

Sallenger, Abby. Island in a Storm: A Rising Sea, A Vanishing Coast, and a Nineteenth-Century Disaster that Warns of a Warmer World. New York. Public Affairs, 2009.

Schreiber, Michael. “Lost at Sea: James and Josephine Stewart.” HGDPC (Historic Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Preservation Corporation). Accessed 4-21-2020 at: https://preserveoldswedes.org/2019/05/lost-at-sea-james-and-josephine-stewart/

Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC

Snow, Edward Rowe Great Gales and Dire Disasters. NY: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1952, 263 p.