English: Possibly a contemporary engraving of the paddle-wheel steamer Evening Star's sinking en route to New Orleans on October 3, 1866. It set sail from New York on September 29 with 278 passengers, including numerous Civil War veterans and a French opera troupe. Three days later, a storm arose and sparked a hurricane which ensnared the ship. A day later, it sank; only 17 lives were salvaged.
One surviving passenger, William H. Harris, recalled the tragedy: "While drifting about in this way I could see the whole of the wreck as it lay before me. I saw the hurricane deck, two hundred feet long, crowded with human beings, herded together. Some of these were standing, and some sitting, all helpless and despairing. I now drifted near a life-boat, keel up, for which I abandoned my piece of wreck and swam. Others were clinging to it, whom I assisted to right it..." They climbed in, "but after this we were frequently upset, each time losing one or more of our number, again adding to them by picking up others. Helpless to manage the boat, which was filled with water and drifting at the mercy of the sea, we passed and repassed the wreck during the day. Towards evening we lost sight of it."
Date
possibly 1866
Source
Mid-City Messenger
Author
provided by Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses
Licensing
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
Public domain
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United States
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Captions
Engraving of the steamer Evening Star's sinking while caught in a hurricane on October 3, 1866.