Book Excerpt

Excerpt from Chapter 6, “The Perfect Hurricane”

By Priit J. Vesilind. © 2005, Shipwreck Heritage Press. All rights reserved.

In early October of 1865, the New York Times carried repeated ads for the fifth voyage of the SS Republic, the restored side-wheeler formerly known as the Tennessee: “For New-Orleans Direct, passage with unsurpassed accommodations.”

Among the passengers were Colonel William T. Nichols and his younger brother, Major Henry Nichols. On October 18 the brothers stepped from Manhattan pier No. 9 onto the New Orleans-bound steamer. Heavy weather held the ship overnight; she embarked again at 9 a.m. on October 19. The voyage was expected to take eight or nine days.

Both brothers were war-weary veterans. William, an ambitious lawyer, businessman and real-estate investor, had commanded the 14th Vermont Regiment at Gettysburg. Like countless soldiers fortunate enough to survive the war, they had been shocked into early maturity. Ahead of them lay a voyage no passenger aboard could forget.

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