The Prison Train Wreck – Today In Southern History
15 July 1864
15 July 1864
On this date in 1864…
An Erie Railroad train jammed with Confederate prisoners, collided with a freight train in New York. The wreck killed 48 prisoners and 17 guards instantly. More than 100 injured prisoners were dumped into the Elmira, New York prison compound without treatment. Most died within a few days. Today there is a monument naming the yankee guards. There is no such monument to the confederate dead, who were dumped in a mass grave, forever unknown.
Other Years:
1539 – Spanish Conquistador Hernando de Soto’s expedition began its march inland from Tampa Bay on his exploration of the South.
1830 – The Sioux, Sauk & Fox tribes signed a fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien guaranteeing the U.S. government control of most of Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri.
1862 – The ironclad ram C.S.S. Arkansas survived a night attack by the federal fleet of U.S. Admiral David Farragut as his ships downriver ran past the batteries at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1870 – Georgia was the first Confederate state to be readmitted to the U.S. during reconstruction.
1878 - The Battle of Lincoln during the Lincoln County War of New Mexico began as Billy the Kid and others took shelter in the home of Alexander McSween
1916 – 22.22 inches of rain fell at Altapass, NC setting a state record
1933 – Texas/Oklahoma Aviation legend Wiley Post began the first solo flight around the world, completing the journey in 7 days and 19 hours
1948 – US President Harry Truman of Missouri was nominated for his first full term at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia
1949 – WBTV TV channel 3 in Charlotte, NC began broadcasts
1954 – KOCO TV channel 5 in Oklahoma City, OK began broadcasts
1960 – Baltimore’s third baseman Brooks Robinson of Arkansas goes 5 for 5 for the cycle in the Orioles’ win over the White Sox
1973 – Nolan Ryan of Refugio, Texas became the first pitcher in two decades to win two no-hitters in a season while playing for the California Angels.
1974 – TV news reporter Christine Chubbuck shot herself live on WXLT-TV in Sarasota, FL, the first person to commit suicide on a live broadcast
1980 – Billy Carter, the brother of US President Jimmy Carter, registered as a foreign agent of the Libyan government
1995 – Northern Virginia began using its new 540 area code
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