Sinking of the PS Lady Elgin in Lake Michigan

Background. The PS Lady Elgin was a wooden-hulled sidewheel steamship that experienced significant operational difficulties prior to its sinking. In 1858, the vessel struck a reef at Copper Harbor, Michigan, and was stranded on Au Sable Point Reef in Lake Superior. Subsequent incidents in 1859 included breaking a crossbeam requiring towing to Marquette, Michigan, and a broken crank pin near Point Iroquois, Michigan, necessitating further towing.

Voyage and Collision. On September 6, 1860, the Lady Elgin departed Milwaukee for Chicago carrying members of the Union Guard. After political speeches and entertainment on September 7, the ship began its return trip to Milwaukee. During the night, while steaming through Lake Michigan against gale force winds, the brightly lit vessel was rammed by the schooner Augusta of Oswego, leading to its sinking off Port Clinton, Illinois.

Aftermath and Legacy. The passenger manifest was lost, but the sinking resulted in the loss of about 300 lives, described as one of the greatest marine horrors on record. The disaster remains the greatest loss of life on open water in Great Lakes history. Herbert Ingram, a notable victim, has a statue in Boston, Lincolnshire, erected in 1862, and Henry Clay Work wrote a memorial song in 1861.