The latter steamer quickly transferred her inflammable cargo and her pilot to the larger vessel which then sped to Hampton Roads.

The jury censured the steamboat's owners for maintaining a dangerous ship and denounced them for transporting inflammable cargo on a steamboat carrying passengers.

An inquiry found it most likely that the fire had been caused by members of the crew or passengers broaching cargo in the hold using a naked light, thus igniting the large quantity of inflammable cargo including tar, oil, varnish and pitch.