The Mississippi Southern a troop transport train left the town of Meridian, Mississippi February 19th 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 1st Choctaw Battalion. The 1st 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.
