PS Alice Dean (1863)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

PS Alice Dean was a wooden, side-wheel steam packet launched in Cincinnati in 1863. It carried about 880 tons, ran a Cincinnati–Memphis route, and was commanded by Captain James H. Pepper.

In June 1863, it carried Union troops to join General Ulysses Grant’s siege of Vicksburg. In July, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s raid crossed the Ohio River at Brandenburg, Kentucky, captured the Alice Dean, and used it as a ferry to Morvin’s Landing near Mauckport, Indiana. They also tapped a small packet, the John T. McCombs, as a decoy. After the raid, Morgan’s men burned the Alice Dean. Its machinery was salvaged later that year and sold for $4,500 to the C.T. Dumont Co.

Part of the Alice Dean is on display at the Battle of Corydon battlefield. In 1959, a towboat accident lowered the Ohio River, exposing the hull, and locals took pieces as mementos. In 1965, the Heth Civic Club sought to recover more of the ship, bringing in a crane to the site; the effort disturbed the wreck and several truckloads of wood were recovered. A rare video of the expedition exists.

The raid is also tied to “Sherman’s Ride,” when Jacob Sherman rode to prevent the down-bound Grey Eagle from being captured; the Grey Eagle’s bell was later given to Mauckport.

After the loss of the Alice Dean, a second steamboat with the same name was built to replace her.