1863 — Sep 28, Steamboat Robert Campbell, Jr. burns, MS River, Milliken’s Bend, LA– 22

–40 New Albany Daily Ledger, IN. “Arrival of Sick at Cairo…Burning of the Campbell.” 10-4-1863, 3.
–22 Daily Intelligencer, Wheeling WV. “Burning of a Steamer on the Mississippi.” 10-5-1863, 6.
–22 Gaines, W. Craig. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. LSU Press, 2008, p. 102.
–22 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]…1999, p.395.
— 0 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 259.

Narrative Information

Gaines: “Robert Campbell Jr. Union. Side-wheel steamer, 421 tons. Length 226 feet, beam 41 feet, depth 6 feet. Built in 1860 at Jeffersonville, Ind. Burned on September 28, 1863, near Milliken’s Bend, La. Was set afire by Confederate guerrilla Isaac Elshire, who posed as a passenger. A total of twenty-two died, including a number of Union soldiers….” (Gaines, W. Craig. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. Louisiana State University Press, 2008, p. 102.)

Way: Robert Campbell, Jr. Sidewheel wood-hull packet built in 1860 in Jeffersonville, IN, at 421 tons, measuring 226 x 41 s 6. “Ran St. Louis-New Orleans, Capt. John S. Shaw….sold to a Capt. McCloy and others and was loaded out for Vicksburg. Caught fire in Milliken’s Bend [LA] on Sept. 28, 1863. Many jumped overboard with life loss set at 22 persons.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System…(Revised). 1999, p. 395.)

Newspapers

Oct 3: “Cairo, October 3. – The steamer Robert Campbell from St. Louis to Vicksburg, was fired by incendiaries on Tuesday morning last, near Milliken’s Bend. The flames spread so rapidly that passengers were forced to jump overboard before the boat could be got to shore. Twenty-two lives are known to have been lost, including Lt. Perrill, 8th Missouri, N.T. Curtiss, 13th Iowa, Bf. W. Thompson, 50th Ill., Roberts, 33rd Ohio, C. Lynch, 2nd Clerk of the boat and Mrs. Sarah Hampton….” (Daily Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “Burning of a Steamer on the Mississippi.” 10-5-1863, p. 6.)

Oct 4: “Cairo, Oct. 4….Part of the crew of the Robert Campbell have arrived, who represent the loss of life by the burning of that steamer to be 40.” (New Albany Daily Ledger, IN. “Arrival of Sick at Cairo – Loss of Life by the Burning of the Campbell.” 10-4-1863, p. 3.)

Sources

Daily Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “Burning of a Steamer on the Mississippi.” 10-5-1863, p. 6. Accessed10-23-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/wheeling-daily-intelligencer-oct-05-1863-p-6/

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

New Albany Daily Ledger, IN. “Arrival of Sick at Cairo – Loss of Life by the Burning of the Campbell.” 10-4-1863, p. 3. Accessed 10-23-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-albany-daily-ledger-oct-04-1863-p-3/

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.