Robert Louden (some sources spell as Loudon or Lowden), also known by the alias Charlie Dale, was a

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 ...

saboteur Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization, destabilization, division, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''sabo ...

and mail carrier during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He was said to be the primary messenger between General

Sterling Price Sterling Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was an American politician and military officer who was a senior General officers in the Confederate States Army, officer of the Confederate States Army, fighting in both the Weste ...

and Confederate regulars and bushwhackers. As a Confederate agent, Louden was involved in the sabotage and sinking of several Union

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. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

s near

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

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 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 ...

, 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, 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 in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

on September 14, 1867, at the age of 37, and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/89925392/robert-loudon

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