On April 27, 1865, America experienced its greatest maritime disaster. More people died in the boiler explosion of the Cincinnati-built steamer “Sultana” than were killed in the sinking of the “Titanic” in 1912.
Most of those who died were paroled Union soldiers who had been imprisoned for months and sometimes years at Andersonville and Cahaba. At war's end these weak, sick, emaciated prisoners – most from Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, Indiana and Kentucky, were bound for Cairo, Illinois, and then home to their families. At Vicksburg, they were herded onto the “Sultana,” a vessel built to carry 376 passengers. But Captain J. Cass Mason encouraged the Army to cram on as many soldiers as possible as he stood to gain as much as $10,000 from the government. With the more than 2300 soldiers were some 100 civilian passengers, a crew of 85, and 100 head of cattle!
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Shortly before departure, the “Sultana's” leaking boilers were quickly repaired. It wasn't until midnight that the massively overloaded ship headed out into the swollen waters of the Mississippi. She fought strong currents all the way to Memphis. About 2 a. m., in the dark of night and a few miles north of Memphis, the boilers exploded. The force hurled many of the sleeping passengers into the cold water. Most were scalded and suffering from burns caused by flames and showering hot coals. Screams echoed into the night air. Many, weakened and desperately injured, quickly slid below the surface. Others could not or did not have the strength to swim. Some clung to trees along the shoreline and the lucky ones floated on the “Sultana's” debris.
Rescue operations continued through the night and all the following day. Because of the Army's poor records at Vicksburg, it is estimated that only seven to eight hundred survived. As many as 300 of those died later from burns and exposure. Only 18 of the crew and passengers survived. As the weeks and months passed, bodies were still found in the Mississippi - some well beyond Vicksburg.
Ironically, most of the families who were anxiously awaiting their loved ones' return, did not learn of their fate until several weeks later. The disaster was overshadowed the events surrounding the end of the war and President Lincoln's assassination. Most of America's prominent newspapers, located in the East, gave scant coverage to the disaster.
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums
While the Army and the nation wanted to put death and the war behind them, survivors never forgot. A strong bond developed among them. They gathered together experiences and created lists of the lost. The first reunion was held in Fostoria, Ohio, on the 20th anniversary of the destruction. From that date forward the Sultana Association held reunions nearly every April at Fremont, Upper Sandusky, Toledo, Sandusky and in Coldwater and Hillsdale, Michigan. Veterans from Kentucky and Tennessee held reunions in the South as well. Their efforts for government pensions, medical care, and a memorial proved futile.
To learn more about the "Sultana" tragedy, please read
Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscences of Survivors by Rev. Chester D. Berry, 1892
The Sultana Tragedy: America's Greatest Maritime Disaster by Jerry O. Potter, 1992
Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865 by Gene Eric Salecker, 1996
A version of the article appeared in Lifestyles 2000.
