Disaster on the Potomac
Author | : Alvin F. Oickle |
Publisher | : Arcadia Publishing |
Total Pages | : 125 |
Release | : 2009-11-27 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781614233077 |
ISBN-13 | : 1614233071 |
Rating | : 4/5 (77 Downloads) |
Download or read book Disaster on the Potomac written by Alvin F. Oickle and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2009-11-27 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For passengers of the steamboat Wawaset, August 8, 1873, began with a pleasant cruise from Washington, D.C., down the Potomac River. As the Wawaset came into sight of a small Virginia landing, fire broke out below decks, and frantic passengers leapt from the flames only to be pulled down by the swift waters. Author Alvin F. Oickle puts a human face to the tragedy as he profiles some of the seventy-five who perished, among them young mother Alethea Gray and six members of the Reed family. With a fast-paced style and firsthand accounts, Oickle masterfully narrates the last run of the Wawaset against the backdrop of a tense post-Civil War society.