Surviving the Worst: The Wreck of the Sultana at the End of the American Civil War Civil War & Reconstruction Cotton Kingdom, 1833-1865 It was late April 1865 and more than 2,000 tired, sick, and injured men, wearing dirty and tattered clothes, filed down the bluff from Vicksburg to a steamboat waiting at the docks on the Mississippi River. Communication Preferences. But perhaps the best explanation is that after years of bloody conflict, the nation was simply tired of hearing about war and death. Yet few know the story of the Sultana's demise, or the ensuing rescue effort that included Confederate soldiers saving Union soldiers they might have shot just weeks earlier. At 2:00 a.m. on April 27, 1865, the magnificent side-wheeler riverboat Sultana was struggling against the surging current of the Mississippi River eight miles north of Memphis. Better maintenance and processes inside the ships boiler chamber could have stopped the tragedy from happening. hide caption. To escape the burning steamer, some passengers leaped into the river, where they faced hours in the dark, frigid water listening to the shrieks and cries of the injured and dying. Alexa, When did the sultana explode? | Alexa Answers Digging Deeper A Net Inceptions project. Those who lived made it through a lot of difficulties and sustained injuries. Marion, across the river from Memphis, Tenn., is near the spot where the 260-foot side-wheeler came to rest. Although the disaster got little press in its own time and remains little-known today, the city of Marion, Arkansas has ensured it is not forgotten. The ship could handle the weight, but not with this distribution, and not with a leaky boiler. Sign up to receive the latest information on the American Battlefield Trust's efforts to blaze The Liberty Trail in South Carolina. A board of inquiry later determined the cause to be insufficient water in the boilerovercrowding was not listed as a cause. The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company. "It was like a tremendous bomb going off in the middle of where these men were. Historian Walter Johnson has claimed that boiler explosions were the nineteenth centurys first confrontation with industrial mayhem. While most mourned and winced at the mechanized chaos, others eagerly exploited peoples fascination with death and destruction. Mere weeks after the Civil War came to an end, the steamboat, Sultana exploded and sank in the Mississippi River, killing an estimated 1,200 to 1,800 Union soldiers who were released from prison and on their way home. Although steam power was an exciting technology that appeared to offer limitless possibilities, boiler construction, manufacture, maintenance, and operation were hardly perfected when steamboats began appearing in American waters. "The river is at flood stage," he says as we watch a barge struggle to move up river, "very similar to what it was on April 27, 1865." Was the Titanic of the Mississippi a Coal Dust Explosion? Only very few people survived the tragedy to tell the tale. People were woken by debris flying through the air, while the force of the explosion threw others into the cold Mississippi water in the dark of night. The Lusitania and the Blame Game: A Legitimate Target? The explosion had certainly been huge, destroying nearby parts of the ship. A few weeks earlier, he might have been attacking the Sultana if it had come in. Instead, newspaper accounts say Franklin Barton saved several Union soldiers. "It's clear that he had bribed an officer at Vicksburg to ensure that he would get a large load of prisoners," Potter says. It was in a weakened condition even before it got to Vicksburg. A proper repair would have taken several days, but Captain Mason, afraid of losing his lucrative cargo of soldiers to other steamboat competitors, ordered the precariously leaking boiler simply to be patched. I just wish to give you a big thumbs up for your excellent info youve got here on this post. The Explosion of the Sultana, April 27, 1865 - Blogger The Sultana was launched from Cincinnati in 1863. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. All rights reserved. The steamboat Sultana explodes on the Mississippi River near Memphis, killing 1,700 passengers including many discharged Union soldiers. Some artifacts and debris have been salvaged with time to serve as reminders of man-made tragedies that can strike innocent people at any time. The operators of the Sultana hoped to capitalize on such an opportunity. Use our online form to ask a librarian for help. The boiler explosion of the Mississippi River Steamboat Sultana on April 27, 1865 caused one of the 100 deadliest fires ever and claimed more lives than the Titanic. Battles Accept Read More. Jerry O. Potter Sultana Collection - OCLC In order to save time, they would set the people off in treetops, and go back to the boat to take more off. All 25 soldiers were rescued, historians say, and the Fogelman home became a refuge for Sultana survivors. They departed hastily and top-heavy. Many Sultana survivors ended up on the Arkansas side of the river, which was under Confederate control during the war. Sultana: A Tragic Postscript to the Civil War In a tragic postscript to the Civil War, as many as 1,700 Union soldiers, recently released from Confederate prisons, may have died while en route home aboard the steamer Sultana . The First American President: Setting the Precedent, African Americans During the Revolutionary War, Help Preserve 29 Acres at Gettysburg & Second Deep Bottom, Dont Let Data Centers Destroy the Wilderness, Help Preserve 32 Acres at Chickasaw Bayou and Champion Hill, Help Save 125 Battlefield Acres in Virginia, Help Restore History at Gettysburg, Cold Harbor & More, Help Us Save Hallowed Ground in Tennessee and Kentucky, Protect the Heart of Chancellorsville Battlefield, Support the American Battlefield Protection Program Enhancement Act, Stop the Largest Rezoning in Orange County History. Although there were sick and dying prisoners on the Sultana, the mood was good as many were headed home from war, or from prison. They are needed for the website to function. All Rights Reserved. Thank you for these fascinating and well-researched blog posts. Many people claimed that the Sultana was sabotaged: she could arguably be seen as a military target. As a lawyer, Potter was well-equipped to investigate the mistakes and malfeasance that led to the Sultana disaster. Fire consumed the wrecked ship, and most of those aboard were killed. Sultana was a commercial side-wheel steamboat which exploded and sank on the Mississippi River on April 27, 1865, killing 1,167 people in what remains the worst maritime disaster in United States history. All rights reserved. That day, he says, the water was moving very quickly and contained a lot of trees and other debris. Overview In this lesson, students investigate a historical mysterythe 1865 explosion of the steamship Sultanaby analyzing a collection of primary and secondary source documents. Capt. But some of the most poignant stories involve Confederate soldiers rescuing their Union counterparts. The Wreck of the Sultana. With the approach of dawn, other craft arrived and survivors were transported to shelters and hospitals in Memphis. The SS Sultana, commissioned to transport paroled Union troops leaves New Orleans. Your Privacy Rights Shortly after leaving Memphis, Tennessee on April 27th, the overstrained boilers exploded, blowing apart the center of the boat and starting an uncontrollable fire. Events & Documents, Learn The steamboat was only registered to carry 376 people, writes Ambrose. Many of those who were not killed immediately perished as they tried to swim to shore. But even though the Steamboat Act of 1838 required ships to be registered, provide safety equipment, and undergo periodic inspection, steamboat boilers continued to explode at an alarming rate. PDF new look at the explosion that caused the Sultana disaster Samuel Clemens (not the famous author) was the engineer on duty that night. The Sultana steamed north up the Mississippi, but the severe overcrowding and faster river current caused by the spring thaw put increased pressure on its newly patched boilers. A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. And this is exactly what happened. Civil War: Steamer SS Sultana Disaster Documents - PaperlessArchives.com The first rescue craft, the Bostonia No. Explosion of the Sultana, April 28, 1865. Eventually the Sultana turned so that the wind was pushing the flames toward the bow, where 25 soldiers remained. The observation of beachmarks on failed plates lead to a better understanding of fatigue failures within boilers, and the introduction of pressure testing as a more routine method of ensuring safe operation. No one wants to confront their utter powerlessness amidst the chaos of a scorched postwar environment and a seemingly unsympathetic world. Inspection standards for steamboats were strengthened. A monument erected by the survivors to the memory of the East Tennessee victims of the Sultana disaster stands in the Mount Olive Cemetery in Knoxville. Even people who knew how to swim drowned due to the high current of the Mississippi River. 2016 The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company. Many passengers drowned, many struggled to swim, and the luckier ones clung to the floating debris of the ship. The finger was pointed particularly at Sultanas ironwork, which was of poor quality and could have played a part in the explosion. ASME Membership (1 year) has been added to your cart. Enter a date in the format M/D (e.g., 1/1), Union soldiers die in steamship explosion, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/union-soldiers-die-in-steamship-explosion, Navigator Ferdinand Magellan killed in the Philippines, U.S. agent William Eaton leads U.S. forces to the shores of Tripoli, South Africa holds first multiracial elections, Rocky Marciano retires as world heavyweight champion, D.A. On April 27, 1865, the sidewheel steamboat Sultana, jammed with approximately 2,400 Union veterans, many returning at the Civil War's end from Confederate prisons, exploded and sank on the Mississippi River near Memphis, killing more than 1,700 persons. Interesting history topics are just a click away. As the flames spread, those who survived the initial explosion began jumping overboard in the false belief that they were near the shore. Suddenly one of the boilers exploded, triggering the worst inland marine disaster in U.S. history. Work began on legislation culminating in 1871 with a coherent and unified body of maritime safety laws, revised for vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam in 1874. April 27, 1865: Riverboat SS Sultana Sinks in Mississippi, or the Worst US Maritime Disaster of All Time By Major Dan April 27, 2016 Updated: March 15, 2020 18 Comments 4 Mins Read LinkedIn A Brief History On April 27, 1865, the paddle-wheel steamboat, SS Sultana was carrying 2427 people when she blew up, killing 1800!
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