Steamer General Grant Arrives at Galena 150 Years Ago

From the August 21, 2013, Galena (Ill) Gazette.

The Galena Gazette reported on August 29, 1863, that "The fine steamer General Grant arrived at our levee this afternoon. It is down from St. Paul and bound for St. Louis."

According to Way's Packet Dictionary, the General Grant was a sternwheeler built in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, in 1863. It would have gotten its name from the big western theater hero.

It later made a trip to Vicksburg and brought back 250 bales of cotton to Louisville. It was the first commercial steamboat arrival from Vicksburg since the war broke out.

--Old B-Runner