The ''General Lyon'' was a 1,026-ton

screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

steamer and

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

transport built at East Haddam, Connecticut and chartered by the Federal government in March 1864. It was used as a troop transport on the eastern seaboard during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, taking part in the campaigns against

Battery Wagner Fort Wagner or Battery Wagner was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston Harbor. It was the site of two American Civil War battles in the campaign known as Operations Agains ...

, the

Bermuda Hundred Bermuda Hundred was the first administrative division in the English colony of Virginia. It was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1613, six years after Jamestown. At the southwestern edge of the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers oppos ...

and Fort Fisher. Late in the war, ''General Lyon'' was used extensively by the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

to carry Federal troops from

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...

Fortress Monroe, Virginia Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. On board when the vessel sailed from Wilmington on March 29, 1865, were a large number of discharged

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

soldiers returning from the war, along with a number of paroled

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

, approximately 130 refugees and other civilians. The ship anchored for the night off Smithville (present-day Southport) near the mouth of the

Cape Fear River The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River (North Carol ...

, waiting for high tide to cross the bar. Between 8 AM and 10 AM on Thursday, March 30, the ''General Lyon'' crossed the bar and steamed northeast to clear Cape Hatteras. On March 31, 1865, the ship hit rough weather off Cape Hatteras and a fire broke out in the engine room, quickly spreading through the ship. Of the passengers on board, approximately 500 lost their lives, including all but five members of a 205-man contingent of the U.S.

56th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 56th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 56th Illinois Infantry was organized at Shawneetown, Illinois and mustered into Federal service on Feb ...

. There were only 29 survivors of the disaster in total, 28 of whom were named in the ''New York Times''. Isaac Wilhite of the 56th Illinois also survived.Survivor Michael Brocket's Story 1908
/ref> The following two weeks saw a series of events that brought the war to its dramatic climax, including the surrender of Confederate General

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

to Union General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

on April 9 and the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

of U.S. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

on April 14. As a result, the ''General Lyon'' disaster was overshadowed by larger historical events and an investigation into the cause of the tragedy was never carried out.

References

{{reflist
The ''General Lyon'' Tragedy
Illinois Periodicals Online (a project of Northern Illinois University Libraries).

ILGenWeb (Illinois Genealogy Web Project).
US Army Transport General Lyon
(personal website with additional links).(Site no longer exists)

External links

Transcription from The New York Times, April 3, 1865.
The Civil War: Union troops come home to a watery grave
Article, '' The Washington Times'' (Includes photo) Passenger ships of the United States Ships of the United States Army Maritime incidents in the United States Shipwrecks of the American Civil War

See also

References

External links