PS ''Alice Dean'', which had a capacity of 880 tons, was a side-wheel, wooden-hulled packet steamer. It was launched from

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, United States, in 1863, running a scheduled route between Cincinnati and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. Its captain was James H. Pepper. In June 1863 the Alice Dean served as a Union troop transport, carrying Federal forces from Memphis to join General Ulysses Grant's siege of Vicksburg. In July of that year,

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Brigadier General

John Hunt Morgan John Hunt Morgan (June 1, 1825September 4, 1864) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. In April 1862, he raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, fought at Shiloh, and then launched a costly raid in Kentucky, which encouraged Br ...

and his

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

undertook a large scale raid from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

through

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and then across

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. While crossing the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

into Indiana at

Brandenburg, Kentucky Brandenburg is a home rural-class city on the Ohio River in Meade County, Kentucky, in the United States. The city is southwest of Louisville. It is the seat of its county. The population was 2,894 at the 2020 census. History Brandenburg ...

, the raiders captured the ''Alice Dean''. Using the ''Alice Dean'' as a ferry, Morgan's troops were transported to Morvin's Landing, near Mauckport, Indiana. Morgan's Raiders had already appropriated a small packet named '' John T. McCombs'' and used her as a decoy to hail down and capture the ''Alice Dean''. After using the two boats for their purposes, Morgan's men burned the ''Alice Dean''. The ''McCombs'' was spared because its owner/captain was a friend of Morgan's second-in-command, Basil W. Duke. The machinery was salvaged in the fall of 1863 and auctioned off to the C.T. Dumont Co. for $4,500. Part of the ''Alice Dean'' is on display at the

Battle of Corydon The Battle of Corydon was a minor engagement that took place July 9, 1863, just south of Corydon, which had been the original capital of Indiana until 1825, and was the county seat of Harrison County. The attack occurred during Morgan's Raid i ...

battlefield.Riverboat Dave's: Riverboats Starting With A
/ref> A towboat accident at

Leavenworth, Indiana Leavenworth is a town in Jennings Township, Crawford County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. The 2010 US Census recorded a population of 238 persons. History Foundation and early settlement Leavenworth was laid out in 1818 in a horseshoe s ...

in August 1959 caused the water of the Ohio River to drop five feet, which exposed the hull of the ''Alice Dean''. Local history buff took pieces of wood as plaques to commemorate the raid. In 1965 the Heth Civic Club took up a collection and bribed a local contractor to move his crane to the site of the Alice Dean in an attempt to recover the ship. The ship was disturbed and several truck loads of wood were recovered. There is a rare video of the expedition. Associated with this affair was "Sherman's Ride," in which a self-appointed

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...

, Jacob Sherman, mounted a horse and galloped upriver to head off the down-bound ''Grey Eagle'' to prevent her from falling into the hands of Morgan. He succeeded. The grateful owners of the ''Grey Eagle'' presented a bell to the citizens of Mauckport in appreciation, and it still is there.''S&D Reflector'', June 1976 Following the loss of ''Alice Dean'', a second steamboat with the same name was built to replace her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alice Dean (1863) 1863 ships Steamboats of the Mississippi River Steamships of the United States Indiana in the American Civil War Kentucky in the American Civil War

See also

References