Choctaw Rescuers

The Mississippi Southern a troop train wrecked near Hickory, Mississippi February 19^th 1863 and became known as the Chunky Creek Train Wreck.

The Mississippi Southern a troop transport train left the town of Meridian, Mississippi February 19^th 1863, at about 3 pm loaded with Confederate soldiers heading for Vicksburg, Mississippi.  There had been flooding on the Chunky River near the town of Hickory, Mississippi.  The flood had sent debris down the river and it piled up against the train trestle.  The debris and water pushed the bridge out of alignment and when the train tried to cross it, the bridge collapsed.

The locomotive went completely under water, and the boxcars smashed.  Forty people on the train were killed in the crash, but many more drowned in the river being trapped in the train wreckage.  The first rescuers on the sight were the newly formed 1^st Choctaw Battalion.  The 1^st was under the command of Confederate Major S G Spann.  As the Choctaws reached the scene they stripped and dove into the creek, rescuing many in the darkness.

A web site for more information is The Chunky Creek Train Wreck of 1863

Train Wreck

At about three pm on the 19th of February 1863, the train the “Mississippi Southern” left the depot in Meridian, MS. The train was loaded with Confederate soldiers headed to the Battle of Vicksburg. As the train crossed a bridge over the Chunky River near the town of Hickory, MS, the train wrecked. [Please note this not an image of the Chunky River wreck] Forty plus passengers of the one hundred on the train where killed do to the speed of the impact and being trapped under the wreckage [I‘ve seen causality numbers from 40 to 93]. The CSA 1st Choctaw Battalion, under General Arnold Spann; which had been recently organized, led the rescue and recovery. Many of those rescued owed their lives to these men, who strip off their clothes and dove into the icy water. The next morning, bodies and cargo were recovered from the flooded river. Many of those who died in the tragic crash were buried on a farm a few miles from Hickory.

Other places to find information
The Chunky Creek Train Wreck of 1863