The Sultana, part one....accident?

Bonny Blue Flag

1st Lieutenant
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Location
Grand Prairie, Texas
This subject, authored by Hugh Martyr 118th Pa, was initially posted on this site 11.24.06, by the American Civil War Society Ltd, UK. It was, in part, from a semi-monthly newsletter of that group, written in April, 2003.

The sinking of the Sultana is still the largest maritime disaster in American history. It received little attention; also occurring in April 1865--Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Lincoln was assassinated, the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth ended and Jefferson Davis was still at large(5).

The jury is still out on whether the sinking of the Sultana was an accident, therefore preventable, or was it sabotaged by the Confederate Secret Service.

A short background: The Sultana was built in Cinncinati, Ohio in 1863, at 260 ft long it was concidered, " one of the largest and best steamboats ever constructed". It was a side-wheeler and could carry up to 376 passengers including the crew(1), and cargo.

J.C. Mason was one of three investors who purchased the steamboat from it's original owner, and became it's captain and master(1). Financial problems would lead Mason to questionable actions which would threaten the ship.

The Sultana ran a circuit route between St. Louis and New Orleans, ferrying soldiers, civilians, and cargo including tons of cotton, livestock, sugar, etc. The doomed journey began on April 21, 1865 as the Sultana left New Orleans, headed for it's first stop, Vicksburg.

Captain Mason went into downtown Vicksburg looking for passengers. He learned the Union Commander for the Department of the Mississippi, General Dana, had ordered all soon-to-be-paroled Union prisoners at Camp Fisk just 5 miles from town and all hospitalized Union prisoners within the area would be sent northward on privately owned steamboats with the owners receiving $5.00 per enlisted man and $10.00 per officer, from the Federal government(1).

Mason could not pass up this money-making opportunity. He met with two army officers, Brig. Gen. Morgan L. Smith and Lieut. Col. Reuben B. Hatch, who guaranteed Mason there would be enough soldeirs to fill his steamboat by departure time on April 24th(1).

While the boat was tied up at Vicksburg, an engineer made a disturbing discovery; the boilers were badly leaking and determined the boat needed to stay in dock, put out the boiler fires and repair the boilers and machinery(3). Mason pleaded for a quick patch-up job so he could leave port on time; he knew other steamboats were taking on soldeirs and would leave him with fewer passengers. At first the engineer declined, then agreed(1).

Muster rolls of the soldiers arriving by train at Vicksburg were being prepared by Capt. George Augustus Williams, in charge of prisoner exchange and Capt. Frederic Speed, assistant to the adjutant general of the Department of the Mississippi. So eager were the ex-POW soldiers to go home, three trains full of them scrambled on board the Sultana with only two of the trains having completed their muster rolls (1). This is why there is no set number as to how many passengers were on board the Sultana when it left Vicksburg. The number most agreed upon is 2,400(5).

The human load was so great that it was necessary for the crew to install extra supports for the upper decks for fear the sagging floors might collapse(1).

The next day a brief stop was made at Helena, Arkansas to load coal. A photograph was taken of the Sultana and it's passengers, the action of which nearly capsized the boat as the excited soldiers ran to the railings to get in the photo(1).

That evening the Sultana made a four hour stop at Memphis to unload and load cargo and passengers; then a stop at Hopefield, Arkansas for coal(3). It was the 27th of April.

The Mississippi river was above flood stage and the Sultana had to go against strong currents which put an extra strain on the patched up boilers. While steering around a set of islands named "Hen and Chickens" seven miles north of Memphis, it happened.

There was an explosion that instantly tore through the decks above the boilers, flinging live coals and splintered timber into the night sky like fireworks. Scalding water and clouds of steam covered the prisoners who lay sleeping near the boilers. Within 20 minutes of the explosion, the entire superstructure of the Sultana was in ames(6).

Of the estimated 2,400 passengers about the Sultana, the number killed outright or drowned ranges from 1,500 to 1,900. Probably a median figure of 1,700 would be about right.

The explosion was felt in Memphis and the pillar of fire were seen for miles. The USS Grosbeak, the USS Tyler and other steamers on the Memphis waterfront started up river, being led in the dark by the screams and cries of the victums(6).

Between 500 and 700 were rescued, found on both shores of the Mississippi, found clinging to pieces of broken timber and furniture floating down the river, they were found caught up in the reeds and bushes at the rivers edge. One former Confederate soldier in a small boat recued fifteen Union soldiers single-handedly(6).

Within hours, General C. C. Washburn, the commanding officer at Memphis, appointed a commision to investigate the tragedy. The Washburn Commission concluded that insufficient water in the boilers precipitated the explosion. The commission discounted the crowded conditions aboard the Sultana, concluding the evidence fully shows the the "government has tranferred as many or more troops on boats of no greater capacity than the Sultana, with frequency and safety."(1)

Not everyone agreed. General Dana and Brig. Gen. William Hoffman, the U.S. Army Commissary General of Prisoners, each conducted their own investigations. Hoffman was most critical of the militrary's involvement in the tragedy. The shipment of so large a number of troops on one boat was, under the circumstances, unnecessary, unjustifiable, and a great outrage on the troops(1).

The next posting on this subject will be:

Sultana, part 2...sabotage?


References:

(1) HistoryNet.com, Sultana: A Tragic Postscript to the Civil War.
(2) The Sultana Tragedy by Jerry Potter (1992)
(3) Death on the Dark River--The Story of the Sultana Disaster in 1865. This article originally appeared in American Heritage Magazine, 10 - 1955.
(4) Repeat of number 2. Mia Culpa.
(5) Infoplease.com, The Sinking of the Sultana April 27th: Anniversary of America's Worst Maritime Disaster By Borgna Brunner.
(6)Memphis Archeaological and Geological Society/MAGS Rockhound News. October 2003; Vol. 49, No. 10.

--BBF
 
Not everyone agreed. General Dana and Brig. Gen. William Hoffman, the U.S. Army Commissary General of Prisoners, each conducted their own investigations. Hoffman was most critical of the militrary's involvement in the tragedy. The shipment of so large a number of troops on one boat was, under the circumstances, unnecessary, unjustifiable, and a great outrage on the troops(1).

BBF


Bonny Blue,

I agree that many of these vessels were over loaded with personnel. It had to do with money as usual.
 
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