As they were saved from the river, the passengers were taken to the large home of Mrs. Rebecca Coleman Pettigrew where the house itself and all the outbuildings were converted into makeshift hospitals for the care of the injured and ill. At one time seventy-five persons were being cared for by Mrs. Pettigrew, her family, and her servants.

All of her teams and wagons were assigned to hauling wood for the roaring fires which kept the cold from claiming additional victims. Huge cauldrons of soup bubbled day and night to provide food for the survivors. For almost a week Mrs. Pettigrew gave her full time to the care of her guests, doing everything possible for their comfort until their families could come for them.

When the weather finally cleared and the river began to recede, the mournful task of recovering the bodies of the dead was completed. Nobody now knows exactly how many lives were lost in the disaster. Some say twenty-nine some say more than fifty, but they all agree that the burning of the Eliza Battle was probably the greatest tragedy in Alabama's river history.

For years afterwards people who lived close to the river, who loved her and understood her moods, said the ghost of the Eliza Battle still plied the 'Bigbee's waters. On stormy nights, they said, they saw the great steamer rise up out of the troubled water. The boat, they said, was ablaze from bow to stern, so brightly lighted that the name Eliza Battle could be read plainly on even the darkest nights.

And always there was music, dancing tunes, providing a background for the shrieks of terror and cries for help that came from the phantom vessel.

Tales about the ghost vessel became a part of traditional Tombigbee River lore.

Most often these apparitions were seen by crewmen of tugs and barges, and when these rivermen reached Mobile they usually began looking for jobs ashore, safer employment away from the threatening river.

Sometimes, speaking cautiously, they would describe the ghost ship to friends along the waterfront. And their listeners, rivermen like themselves, would nod with understanding.

They had seen the Eliza Battle, too.