Black Diamond
Steamship · United States · Lost 1865 · Chesapeake Bay
An iron coal barge on picket duty in the hunt for John Wilkes Booth was run down in darkness in the Potomac twelve days after Lincoln's assassination.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Black Diamond was an iron coal barge built in 1842 by Hogg & Delamater of New York and chartered to the Potomac Flotilla, forming part of the picket line seeking to block John Wilkes Booth's escape across the river. On the night of April 23, 1865, the steamer Massachusetts, carrying paroled Union soldiers, struck her at the mouth of St. Clement's Bay. The barge sank within three minutes, and the collision claimed dozens of lives in all. Four of the eleven aboard the barge survived.
Vessel
- 1842
- Hogg & Delamater
- New York, New York
- Iron
- 120 ft
- Not established
- 200 tons
- Grasshopper steam engine
- Chartered for the Potomac Flotilla
Loss
- April 23, 1865
- Collision
- Mouth of St. Clement's Bay
- Potomac River
- Alexandria, Virginia → St. Clement's Island, Maryland
- Coal and supplies
- 11
- 87
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- About 25 to 40 feet
- Broken; high-density metallic debris in the vicinity.
- Not established
- Not established
- Protected historical site
Position
- 38.21° N 76.74° W
- Approximate position
- Colton's Point, Maryland
Approximate position at the mouth of St. Clement's Bay.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Casualty figures combine both vessels involved in the collision and remain an estimate.
Historical Marker Database, The Black Diamond Incident
Incident details, casualties, Booth pursuit context.
Virginia Museum of History and Culture resources
Wartime context.
