The
Belle Memphis was owned by the St. Louis & Memphis Packet
Company. She was in U.S. Transport service at frequent intervals
during the War Between the States. In February 1862, she carried
the 66th Illinois Infantry from St. Louis to Fort Henry, where
the troops occupied the vacated premises. She spent most of March
and the first week of April 1864 on a sand bar opposite
Tiptonville, Tennessee. She was anchored in St. Louis at the
location of the east pier of the Eads Bridge in the winter of
1865-1866, and test borings were made from her forecastle. While
so employed, she was solidly frozen in ice, which later gorged,
resulting in her loss on January 12, 1866. She had a full crew
aboard, which had adventures getting ashore. The wreck lodged
near Duncan Island, and on February 13, 1867, the White Cloud No.
2 struck it and was lost.
*This information was obtained from The Old Courthouse Museum
(Vicksburg, Mississippi,) courtesy of Dr. Gordon A.
Cotton.
|
Back|
