Sabotage of the Ruth…
The Steamer Ruth, destroyed August 5, 1863:
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On the night of August 4, 1863, shortly before midnight, after a refueling stop at Cairo, Illinois, the Ruth burned. The Ruth was enroute to Vicksburg with eight Union payroll masters and $2.6 million dollars in army payroll on board. The money was reported destroyed. Twenty-six of the one hundred fifty passengers, military and civilian, were killed. Grimes, in his memoirs, places the blame squarely on Robert Louden. St. Louis Provost Marshal documents also link Louden to the burning of the Ruth. Louden ultimately confessed to destroying the Ruth, was tried and convicted.
From The Missouri Republican, August 6, 1863:
“Ruth burned last night. Crew saved. Twenty-six lives lost. Boat, cargo, books and two million six hundred thousand dollars total loss. One Paymaster and three Paymaster Clerks lost… the flames spread all over the boat in less than five minutes. There is no satisfactory theory as to how the fire originated. It is believed, however, to have been fired by an incendiary in the interest of the rebel Government.”
Known dead of 26 fatalities:
- Maj. Theodore D. Greenwaldt, paymaster
- L. R. Martin, clerk
- S. G. Sampson, clerk
- H. C. Fletcher, clerk
- Frank Oglesby, clerk of the steamer (son of the captain of the Ruth)
- two negro deck hands
- a chambermaid
- colored woman deck passenger
- One corporal and four privates of Company I, Ninth Wisconsin
- several passengers