Robert Louden (died 1867), also known by the alias Charlie Dale, was a
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
saboteur and mail carrier 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 ...
. He was said to be the primary messenger between General
Sterling Price and Confederate regulars and
bushwhackers.
As a Confederate agent, Louden was involved in the sabotage and sinking of several
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 ...
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
s near
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
and, on his deathbed, claimed to have been responsible for the destruction of the steamboat
''Sultana'', which exploded on April 27, 1865 just north of
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, killing an estimated 1,300 to 1,900 paroled Union prisoners and civilians returning home after the war, the deadliest maritime disaster in United States history.
[William A. Tidwell, ''April '65.'' Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1995, pg. 52.] Louden supposedly confessed to a man named William Streetor to have planted a
coal torpedo
The coal torpedo was a hollow iron casting filled with explosives and covered in coal dust, deployed by the Confederate Secret Service during the American Civil War, and intended for doing harm to Union steam transportation. When it was shoveled i ...
, an artillery shell disguised to look like an innocuous lump of coal, in a coal pile used to fire the steamboat's boilers.
An article published May 7, 1888 in the ''New York Times'' refers to Louden's claim about the ''Sultana'' sinking:
The claim is controversial. Most modern scholars support the official explanation that the disaster was purely accidental, pointing out that the explosion occurred in the top rear of the boilers, relatively far from the fireboxes where a coal torpedo would have exploded, which suggests that Louden's story was fabricated.
Louden died of
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
in
in 1867.
References
External links
Civilwarstlouis biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louden, Robert
Year of birth missing
1867 deaths
Deaths from yellow fever
Military personnel from St. Louis
People of Missouri in the American Civil War
Infectious disease deaths in Louisiana