Black Diamond Remembrance April 26

A special remembrance ceremony will be held at 2pm Sunday, April 26, 2026, honoring the 87 lives lost in the Black Diamond Disaster, an often-forgotten Civil War-era maritime accident that occurred near St. Clement’s Island during the hunt for presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth.

Community members are encouraged to gather at the St. Clement’s Island Museum site for a wreath-laying ceremony commemorating the disaster, which occurred on April 23, 1865, when the barge Black Diamond and the steamer Massachusetts collided in the Potomac River.

Following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the Quartermaster Corps stationed the Black Diamond off St. Clement’s Island on picket duty to help prevent John Wilkes Booth from crossing the Potomac River during his attempted escape. Meanwhile, the steamer Massachusetts was traveling from Alexandria, VA, to Fortress Monroe when it struck the Black Diamond in the darkness.

The collision sank the vessel in under three minutes, tragically claiming 87 lives.

Following the April 26 ceremony, a concert and reception will take place at 2:30pm at nearby Potomac Gardens featuring a performance by the 8th Green Machine Regiment Band, an early American brass band known for performing 19th-century music on authentic period instruments and mouthpieces.

Guests will also have the opportunity to meet Karen Stone, author of “Shipwreck on the Potomac: Disaster in Pursuit of Lincoln’s Killer,” during a book-signing reception.

Later that evening, the 2026 Dinner and a Cruise Series (ticketed event) will kick off with the program “The Potomac River and John Wilkes Booth,” presented by local author and Booth historian Michael Kauffman.

During the cruise, Mr. Kauffman will explore the strategic significance of the Potomac River during the Civil War and its central role in Booth’s escape following
Lincoln’s assassination.

Learn more here.