Freak railroad accident hits Indiana governor's train and kills the state's Superintendent of Instruction

Governor Oliver P. Morton and other state officials loaded a special train with medical and other supplies for Indiana troops and left Indianapolis to visit their state troops engaged near Pittsburgh Landing.  In the dark, near the town of Sullivan, the train struck a stationary rail car and Professor Miles J. Fletcher, the Indiana Superintendent of State Instruction, looking out the window, was killed instantly.  He was the only casualty.  Sullivan County was seen as disloyal and foul play was suspected but a grand jury found the incident to be an accident.  (By John Osborne)  
Source Citation
Adjutant General's Office, Indiana in the War of the Rebellion (Indianapolis, IN: Douglas & Connor, 1869), 332.
"Railroad Accident," New York Times, May 13, 1862, p. 2. 
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    Crime/Disasters
    How to Cite This Page: "Freak railroad accident hits Indiana governor's train and kills the state's Superintendent of Instruction," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/39119.