The Wreck of the Lady Elgin

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The Wreck of the Lady Elgin

Military & Political Significance

Often overlooked, is the Lady Elgin's role in Wisconsin's Civil War politics and the furor her loss produced. In 1860, Wisconsin was embroiled in the debates over states' rights fueled by the slavery question. The nation nervously awaited the results of the 1860 presidential election which would decide the country's direction on many issues. In Wisconsin there was much anti-slavery feeling. So much so, that one Waukesha legislator even introduced a motion directing Wisconsin to declare war against the United States unless the Federal Government abolished slavery. Wisconsin's Republican governor, Alexander Randall was also a staunch abolitionist and a strong advocate of states' rights. He had previously suggested that Wisconsin would secede from the Union if the Federal Government did not end slavery.

When Wisconsin's secession began to look like a possibility, the State Adjutant General surveyed all the State's militia companies to determine which would support the State and which would support the Federal Government in such an event. Milwaukee hosted four main militias; the German Green Jagers, the German Black Jagers, the Milwaukee Light Guard and the Irish Union Guard of Milwaukee's Third Ward. When the question was posed to Captain Garrett Barry, the commander of Milwaukee's Union Guard and a Democrat, he replied that while he was opposed to slavery, he considered any stand against the Federal Government to be treason.

When news of Barry's response reached the Adjutant, he promptly revoked Barry's militia commission and disarmed the Union Guards. Barry and his Guards were incensed. They refused to disband and determined to raise money to rearm their proud unit. With the help of the local Democratic Party, they decided to commission an excursion to raise money and lift political spirits. They booked passage for their Company and guests on the Lady Elgin for a cruise to a Democratic party rally in Chicago where they would go on parade and hear a speech by Illinois Congressman and presidential candidate Stephen A. Douglas.

The Wreck Event

The excursion left Milwaukee in the early morning hours of September 7th, 1860 and arrived at Chicago by dawn. That morning the unit went on parade before many spectators and then toured the city. In the evening, they attended a dinner-dance and heard the Senator's oration. By 11:00 PM the Guards were ready to leave, but Captain Jack Wilson of the Lady Elgin was concerned about the weather. Wilson was a veteran lakes captain who knew the lake could be treacherous in September, but the eager passengers and pressure to maintain a federal mail schedule convinced him to get underway. Around 11:30 the Elgin cleared Chicago Harbor and headed out into the open lake. Many excursionists turned in for the night, exhausted from their busy day, while other guests danced and reveled in the Elgin's spacious salons. Within a few hours the winds had increased to gale force and a high sea was running but the Elgin was weathering the storm well.

By 2:30 AM the Lady Elgin was about seven miles off Winnetka, Illinois when a tremendous jar was felt throughout the ship and she suddenly lurched onto her port side. Passengers who had been looking out the portholes reported seeing the lights of a vessel rapidly approaching the Elgin and braced for a collision. When the collision came, most of the Lady Elgin's oil lamps went out creating an air of confusion on board. Captain Wilson and First Mate George Davis had been asleep in their state rooms and dressed hurriedly. Captain Wilson went below and found a massive amount of water entering the engine room, while First Mate Davis rushed to the pilot house and ordered the Elgin turned toward shore. When Captain Wilson returned to the pilot house he privately told the mate that the Elgin would never reach shore.

The vessel that had inflicted the damage was the 129 ft., 266 ton schooner Augusta. She was a two masted vessel bound for Chicago with a deckload of lumber. Despite the gale, she was still flying most of her canvas and was sailing out of control. As she shot through the water, her deckload had shifted and she was nearly sailing on her side. The Augusta was in danger of capsizing and her crew was fighting to regain control of her. Her mate, John Vorce had sighted the Lady Elgin's lights from a considerable distance and reported it to Captain Darius Malott but in the confusion the Captain gave no orders until the Augusta was upon her. At the last minute the Captain yelled to the helmsman "Hard Up! For God's sakes, Man! Hard Up!" as the Augusta plunged into the side of the Lady Elgin just aft of her port paddlewheel. The Lady Elgin was making good time and careened on with the Augusta's bowsprit buried deep in her side.

The Augusta was pulled along with her for a short distance and pried the Elgin's sidewheel and hull planking out as she turned in the water. A few moments later the Augusta dislodged and the Elgin quickly pulled away. Captain Malott and his crew were immediately concerned for their vessel and believed that she must have sustained extensive damage below the waterline. When they looked for the Elgin, they could no longer see her, causing Capt. Malott to remark "That steamer sure got away from here in a hurry." Believing they had struck the Elgin only a glancing blow, and now fearing they might founder, the Augusta continued on for Chicago immediately.

Meanwhile, onboard the Lady Elgin, all was pandemonium. 50 head of cattle that had been in pens below deck were driven overboard in an attempt to lighten the vessel, and cargo including iron stoves was moved to the starboard side in order to raise the gaping hole in the Elgin's side out of the water. An attempt was made to launch one of the lifeboats, but it was lowered without being secured and had no oars. People watched helplessly as it drifted away from the vessel with only the First Mate and a few crew on board. Another lifeboat leaked so badly that it could not be used. Some alert black cargo handlers spotted a mattress and tried to stem the flow of water by lodging it in the huge gash, but the water quickly pushed it aside.

As the Elgin sank, she began to disintegrate and a split in her hull cut most passengers off from the life preservers. People began grabbing anything that would float and a crew of Irish Milwaukee firemen began chopping the hurricane deck off with axes in order to create a raft. Captain Wilson and others chopped doors down in order to rescue sleeping passengers. The Elgin sank stern first and the air rushing forward caused her upper works to explode as she broke up and sank. Within 20 minutes, the Lady Elgin had broke up and most of the vessel had gone to the bottom. Only her bow and two large sections of decking remained afloat. As the Elgin sank, a thunderstorm gathered and poured rain on the survivors with occasional flashes of lightning illuminating the horrific scene.

Rescues and Perils

When the light of dawn appeared over the horizon it revealed about 350 of the 500 or so passengers floating on various pieces of debris and decking. The lake was very rough and the large deck sections began to break apart almost immediately in the surging waves. Captain Wilson had taken charge of an infant and was sheltering it from the rain and surge when he handed it to another survivor in order to try and rig a sail. Just then, a large wave swept the child from the woman's arms to its death.

Two large hull sections with over 100 survivors on each remained afloat for nearly five hours until they neared land. Fortunately, the water was relatively warm and most survivors that found a piece of wreckage were able to ride the 7 - 9 miles to the shallows. The First Mate's lifeboat was the first to reach shore just below the bluff at Hubbard Woods. He scaled the massive cliff and woke the Gage family who transmitted word of the disaster to Chicago via the Chicago & Milwaukee railroad station. By 8:00 AM many student volunteers from Northwestern University were on the scene as the wreckage and rafts approached the shore.

However, the heavy seas had generated a massive surf with a powerful undertow just off shore. When the frail rafts reached the breakers they immediately disintegrated, pounding their human cargo into the water mercilessly. Perhaps as many as 300 survivors reached the shallows, but only 150 were saved, the remainder drowning in the churning wreckage and surf. There were numerous acts of heroism on the part of both rescuers and survivors. Captain Wilson was lost trying to save two women from the surf when he was dashed on the rocks and killed just off shore. His body was not found until three days later when it came ashore at Michigan City, Indiana, some 60 miles away. Likewise, Captain Garrett Barry of the Union Guards was also lost trying to save victims. He was drowned only 100 feet from shore when he succumbed from exhaustion.

One of the several distinguished people lost in the disaster was Herbert Ingraham, a member of the British Parliament and owner of a London newspaper. Among the best known heroes of the Lady Elgin disaster is Northwestern University student Edward Spencer. He is said to have repeatedly charged back into the boiling surf to rescue people despite numerous injuries from floating wreckage. In all he is credited with saving 18 people after which he became delirious, repeatedly asking "Did I do my best?" He was allegedly confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life and was the impetus for the establishment of the Evanston, Illinois US Lifesaving Station which was henceforth manned by NWU students. A plaque in his honor at a Northwestern University gymnasium commemorates his heroic effort. One survivor who reached shore did so by riding in on the carcass of a dead cow while another climbed into one of the Union Guards' bass drums and rode the waves to shore. Another man climbed into a steamer trunk which is today on display at the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society, and paddled it to shore.

The Aftermath

When the Augusta reached port she was leaking badly and her bow was stove in. Captain Malott was horrified to learn that the Lady Elgin had gone down. He promptly gathered his entire crew and stated his case to shipping officials. He claimed that the lighting configuration on the Elgin was incorrect and caused him to misjudge her distance. He also stated that he believed that he only damaged the Elgin's trim and feared for the safety of his struggling vesseland therefor did not stop to render assistance. Public outcry against Captain Malott was severe.

The popular press attacked him as an agent of the Confederacy as well as an agent of pro-Confederacy Britain where Captain Malott had spent some time. Many felt that the ramming was deliberately planned to do away with the Union Guards. Angry mobs gathered and the crew of the Augusta went into hiding. Captain Malott was arrested and held for formal hearings. The Augusta herself was threatened with burning and had a difficult time getting crews after the incident. Her name was quietly changed to the Colonel Cook and she left the Lakes for the Atlantic. She had a long career until she returned to the Lakes and was driven ashore and wrecked near Cleveland, Ohio in 1894. Captain Malott and his crew eventually found another vessel, the bark Mojave.

In a questionable coincidence, the Mojave disappeared without a trace exactly four years to the day after the Lady Elgin disaster. All but one of the crew lost on the Mojave had been on the Augusta when she rammed the Lady Elgin and many though justice had been served. The Mojave was thought to have foundered in northern Lake Michigan, but it is possible that her crew was lynched in response to the Elgin disaster. Bodies continued to wash up all around Lake Michigan well into December. Bodies were found as much as 80 miles from the wrecksite. Of the 380 believed lost, less than half were ever found. Many victims were unrecognizable and ended up in a mass grave at Winnetka. Others were returned to Milwaukee where many headstones still bear the inscription "Lost on the Lady Elgin." Because no official passenger list survived the tragedy, the exact number of passengers and victims will never be known.

Shortly after her loss, popular songwriter Henry C. Work penned the song "Lost on the Lady Elgin" which proved to be one of the most popular pieces of music over the next few years. Governor Randall of Wisconsin was cast as a villain in the Lady Elgin disaster for disarming the Union Guards and the incident served to further increase the tensions between Democrats and Republicans over the slavery and states' rights issues. An official inquest into the disaster exonerated both Captains, finding the rules of lakes navigation in effect at the time to be at fault. The Lady Elgin's bow remained afloat and drifted until her anchors dragged several miles off Winnetka. The upside down hull section remained a hazard to navigation for some time after the accident until it sank.

"Why? Why is that impossible? You're so concerned with the squabbling for the scraps from Longshank's table that you've missed your God-given right to something better. There is a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it."
~William Wallace~

by: Brendan Baillod
Archeological Report on the USM Lady Elgin Wrecksite by the Underwater Archeological Society of Chicago