1864 — Nov 3, Union transport James White, snags/sinks, Miss. River, Island No. 10, TN–17

–17 Blanchard death toll and date of loss.*

–15-18 Chicago Tribune. “From Cairo.” 11-7-1864, p. 1.
— 18 Daily Milwaukee News, WI. “From Cairo.” 11-6-1864, p. 1.
— 18 Daily Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA. “By Telegraph…Mississippi Steamers…” 11-7-1864, p2.
— 18 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, 269.
— 17 Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis. “Latest by Telegraph.” 11-8-1864, p. 3.
— 16 Bragg. Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River. 1977, p. 27.
— 16 Gaines, W. Craig. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. 2008, p. 98.
— 16 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS River]… 1999, 242-243.

* Blanchard on death toll: While the sources we cite note a range of 15-18 deaths, we take as definitive the only account we have located which identifies the victims by name, and those names number seventeen.

Blanchard on date of loss: While the sources we cite note a range of dates of loss – Nov 3, Nov 4 and Nov 5 (which we highlight in yellow below), we take as definitive the newspaper reporting below which clearly identify the date of loss as Nov 3. We speculate that sources such as Way based their dating on the datelines found in several newspaper accounts we quote below. These, and many sources we looked at but did not use or cite, were datelined Nov 5 and noted the loss, without noting the date. However, we did locate sources which clearly identify the date of loss as Thursday, November 3. The date could only be Nov 4 or 5, if the sources noting Thursday, November 3rd are wrong.

Narrative Information

Bragg: “Still another casualty [Fred Tron snagged/sunk prior to the Civil War] was the James White, a Union transport that hit one of the rebel wrecks in 1864 and went down so rapidly that 16 deckhands sleeping in the hold were drowned.” (Bragg. Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River. 1977, 27.)

Lytle and Holdcamper: “James White…662 [tons]…snagged…11 5 1864…Island No. 10…18 [lives lost].” (Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. 1952, p. 269.

Way: James White: Sidewheel wood-hull packet, built in Cincinnati in 1864 at 662 tons, measuring 260 x 40 x 7. “….Four boilers. Launched May 1864 and went to St. Louis, Capt. Hugh L. White, master… Named for Captain White’s father, a Missourian who settled there in 1810…. Snagged and lost at Island 10, Miss. River, Nov. 5, 1864, will loss of 15 lives. The Continental, upbound, came to the scene finding the boat sunk 1n 13 feet. Went alongside and took off 60 head of cattle and some hogs. Most of the stock escaped to the Tennessee shore….” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, 242-243.)

Newspaper

Nov 5: “Special Dispatch to the Chicago Tribune. Cairo, November 5.

“The steamer James White, enroute for New Orleans, snagged and sunk yesterday afternoon [Nov 4] opposite Island No. 10. From fifteen to eighteen deck hands were drowned. The cargo, consisting of Government stores and produce was badly damaged, but there are slight hopes of saving the boat.” (Chicago Tribune. “From Cairo.” 11-7-1864, p. 1.)

Nov 5: “St. Louis, Nov. 5. The steamer James White has been sunk at Island No. 10, on the Mississippi river….The cargo was principally Government freight, and is probably a total loss.” (Wisconsin State Journal (Madison). “River Disasters,” Nov 7, 1864, p. 1.)

Nov 6: “Cairo, Nov 4….The steamer James White, one of our best New Orleans boats, struck the wreck of one of the rebel boats sunk at Island No. 10 yesterday [Nov 3?], and sunk in 18 feet of water. Eighteen of the deck-hands, who had been driven into the hold by negro soldiers who were on board, were drowned. A large lost of cattle and hogs were also drowned.”

“St. Louis, Nov 5. – Steamer James White sunk at Island No. 10, Mississippi river…” (Daily Milwaukee News, WI. “From Cairo.” 11-6-1864, p. 1.)

Nov 7: “St. Louis, Nov. 5. The steamer James White was sunk on Island No. 10, in the Mississippi river. She was valued at $120,000, and insured for $80,000. Her cargo consisted principally of Government freight, and will probably be a total loss….

“Cairo, Nov. 5….Eighteen deck hands were drowned by the sinking of the steamer James White on Thursday [3rd].” (Daily Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA. “By Telegraph…Mississippi Steamers Sunk,” 11-7-1864, p. 2.)

Nov 7: “We learned on Saturday morning [Nov 5] that the steamer James White, Captain Hugh L. White, bound from this port [St. Louis] for New Orleans, struck a snag, and was sunk a day or two ago [Nov 3 or 4] at Island No. 37 [sic.] in deep water. A report says that the boat and cargo are a total loss. The James White was owned by Capt. Hugh. L. White and others of this city, and was a new and very valuable steamer. No further particulars have come to hand.” (Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis. “Steamboats Sunk.” 11-7-1864, p. 1.)

Nov 8: “Cairo, November 7. The following is a list of the crew and passengers [17] lost on the steamer James White, sunk at Island No. 10 on the morning of the 3d.

“Crew – [We break paragraph in original article into separate lines for ease of reading.]

William Murphy,
Charles Wilson,
Owen Keefe,
Michael Lynch,
James Conners,
Dennis Murphy,
Patrick Lutz,
Wm. Price.
Jno. Feely,
James McMurray,
Jerry Sullivan,
Anthony Halliday,
Mike Hester (the only body recovered)
Jas. Mannion,
Chas. Brown.

Deck Passengers –

Frederick Brennan,
Henry Beltsman.”

(Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis. “Latest by Telegraph.” 11-8-1864, p. 3.)

Sources

Bragg, Marion. Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River. Vicksburg, MS: Mississippi River Commission, 1977. Accessed at: [Both links broken]
http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/pao/history/MRnames/MissRiverNames.htm > Also at:
http://www.mvd.usace.army.mil/Portals/52/docs/MRC/MRnames%28Intro-end_final2%29.pdf

Daily Milwaukee News, WI. “From Cairo.” 11-6-1864, p. 1. Accessed 9-14-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-milwaukee-news-nov-06-1864-p-1/

Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis. “Latest by Telegraph.” 11-8-1864, p. 3. Accessed 9-14-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/saint-louis-daily-missouri-republican-nov-08-1864-p-3/

Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis. “Steamboats Sunk.” 11-7-1864, p. 1. Accessed 9-14-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/saint-louis-daily-missouri-republican-nov-07-1864-p-1/

Daily Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA. “By Telegraph…Mississippi Steamers Sunk,” 11-7-1864, p. 2. Accessed 9-14-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/harrisburg-pennsylvania-daily-telegraph-nov-07-1864-p-2/

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

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.

Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. “River Disasters,” Nov 7, 1864, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53864473