Belle Memphis
10"x 18" Edition of 350

Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Etching Belle Memphis

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.




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