April 22-23, 2023: The Black Diamond Disaster Event, an American Civil War Commemoration Weekend, to be Held at St. Clement’s Island Museum to Remember the Forgotten Tragedy on the Potomac during the Hunt for John Wilkes Booth

On the weekend of April 22-23, 2023, the St. Mary’s County Museum Division will remember the 87 lives lost in a tragedy during the American Civil War on the Potomac near St. Clement’s Island during the hunt for presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth. Activities will take place on both Saturday & Sunday at St. Clement’s Island Museum from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., including free museum admission and boat rides, a folk concert, and a military ceremony on Sunday, featuring remarks from the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Base Commander and a commemorative wreath laying on the waterfront. This free event is open to the public and is an opportunity to learn more about one of Maryland’s worst nautical disasters and other information about St. Mary’s County during the American Civil War. In April 1865, following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the Quartermaster Corps sent the barge Black Diamond to the lower Potomac to stand on picket duty off St. Clement’s Island. Her main job was to keep John Wilkes Booth from crossing the Potomac River. Meanwhile, the steamer Massachusetts headed for Fortress Monroe out of Alexandria, Virginia. In a tragic turn of events, the Massachusetts struck the Black […]

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