Men of the 27th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry were crossing the fast moving Cumberland River, at St. Igail's Ferry near Somerset, Kentucky on coal barges drawn by ropes from the shore. One boat, carrying around thirty-three men, in full kit with rifles and sixty rounds of ammunition, was swept away and capsized, drowning all aboard. The regiment did not recover all the bodies as the other side of the river was now occupied by Confederate units. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
"Drowning of Twenty-five of the Twenty-Seventh New-Jersey Regiment," New York Times, May 8, 1863, p.8.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Battles/Soldiers