10/17/2026
Article from Shreveport, LA newspaper - Sunday, April 28, 1940
Sheโs Only Living Survivor of Boat Wreck Here 75 Years Ago
Mrs. Nannie Tidd Eagerly Follows Plans for the Flag Celebration
The only living survivor of one of Shreveportโs most tragic accidents, the wreck in June, 1865, of a river boat carrying the families of Confederate soldiers who surrendered here, Mrs. Nannie Tidd of Hutchinson, Kansas, cousin of R.V. Wynne, 515ยฝ Travis street, is eagerly following plans for the Confederate celebration here next month.
Mrs. Tidd, now 75 years old, was a baby of four months when the S.S. Kentucky struck a rock in the Red river and sank, carrying her father, a Confederate captain, and about 500 other passengers to their deaths.
Always interested in Confederate history which played such an important part in her early life, Mrs. Tidd, whose address is 104 W. 21st Street in Hutchinson, hopes that she will be able to come to Shreveport to take part in the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the last lowering of the Confederate flag on land, at Shreveport May 26, 1865.
Born at Army Camp
Mrs. Tiddโs father, Capt. Anthony Walton, was with Colonel Stoneโs regiment of โPriceโs army,โ made up largely of Missourians. The captainโs family came to Texas in 1860 to stay with him there.
The regiments decided to camp during that winter on a piece of property near Plano, Texas, owned by Captain Walton. This property, chosen because it provided plenty of fresh water, is now known as Big Spring farm.
It was at this encampment that Mrs. Tidd was born a few months before the last lowering of the Confederate flag at Shreveport. When the Confederate army began surrendering, the army in Texas decided to return to their Missouri homes and headed for Shreveport where a boat, the S.S. Kentucky, was to carry them home.
About 200 of these regiments, Mrs. Tidd says, surrendered in Shreveport. Traveling by horseback, it took the party two days to come from Plano to Shreveport.
Boat Struck Rock Ledge
At sunset on June 9 the company boarded the boat which was to take them to St. Louis, Mrs. Tidd says, retelling the story which her mother told her many times. In the group were Mrs. Tiddโs five older brothers and sister.
At 9 p.m., the boat struck a rocky promontory along the shore near Shreveport. A false fire alarm was sounded, and the women and children, joined by the soldiers, rushed to the end of the vessel nearest the shore. This rapidly sank the ship.
Mrs. Tiddโs oldest sister, Clemet Walton, grabbed the tiny baby, who weighed only five pounds, and held her over their heads as they struggled in the water. Mrs. Walton called out what Mrs. Tidd describes as the โMasonic distress callโ and soon a lifeboat picked up the mother and her children.
Kept Watch on Shore
For two days the mother stayed on the banks, hoping her husbandโs body would be found. She kept the children on top of a trunk at the riverside while rescuers hunted for the bodies.
Mrs. Walton never saw her husbandโs body and finally took her children back to her Missouri home to rear them there.
โA man wrote my mother 25 years later and said he knew my father well. He said he stayed and helped bury the dead, and that my father and 18 others were buried on a high, dry place. Maybe some day Iโll come down and see a monument to your unknown dead,โ Mrs.Tidd wrote her cousin, Mr. Wynne.
Burying Place Lost
There is still no information as to the location of these graves. If any old residents of Shreveport know anything of them, The Shreveport Tiimes would be glad to receive any information and investigate this mass burial of Confederate soldiers who were victims of the wreck.
Mrs. Tidd has traveled extensively and has been all over Europe. She had an audience with Pope Pius XI shortly before he died.
Recently Mrs. Tidd went back to Plano. Texas, to visit the scene of the armyโs encampment and her birth.
