The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1888-11-15
THE SULTANA.
Graphic Account Of the Terrible Explosion.

June q, in reference to the Sultaua horror.
As am. one Of the survivors of that dreadful
disaster, / trust / will be pardoned for asking
q small space in your paper to give my rccol-
/ lection Of the affair. | was q member OF Go. A,
102d Ohio and was captured by Forests cav
airy at Athens, Ala, on the Oath of September
! 1864. ] was taken to Cahaba, Ala, and after
remaining there until March, 1855, ] was sent
10 NcbSbuTE Miss. and kept in parole camp
until about the 25th Of April, 1865. was then
placed on board the Sultana, with about :, 100
others. with the understanding that Cairo H.,
was to be our objective point ! will take oc-
casion right here TO say that the boat was not
considered a safe one, and the responsibility
for the great loss Of life
ON THAT TERRIBLE April. MORNING
belongs to those who were in authority at that
time, and who failed TO properly guard the
| lives of those iRtrusted to their care. On tue
afternoon of the both we reached Memphis
Tenn. Thus far our trip was without incident
worthy of mention. At Memphis a largequan-
tity Of sugar was unloaded from the Sultana.
While the boat was lying at the wharf we went
up into the city and bought good supply OF
provisions intending TO have a square meal next
/ day at noon We steamed away from Mem
I phis at about o'clock in the morning of the
4 9th as near as ] can now remember. When
/ we left Nicksburg my mess had secured quar-
/ tiers immediately over the boiler, on the cabin
2
sirable place for sleeping However, before we
reached Memphis we had to yacate in order
TO make room for some of the sick sol
diers. While we did not much like the
idea of leaving such a comfortable place,
the sequel proves that 1t saved our lives
When we left Memphis on that fatelul morn
/ ing ! secured a place near the stairway on the
cabin-deck. / soon fell asleep, and rs well as
/ can remember we were about eight miles
from Memphis when the explosion occurred
/ The confusion aw0ke me, and when opened
my eyes l beheid sight that beggars descrip-
/ ton. Not more than three feet from where /
/ was lying was hole clear through the boat.
It seemed as if the explosion of the boilers had
/ torn everything out from top TO bottom. Many
] of the boys who were sleeping over and d.
Tectly by the boilers were either torn into
atoms OF blown into the river. To them death
was indeed a welcome messenger as compared
/ 10 the awfHl end that awaited many of those
! who were not Immediately killed. The boat
] took FIRE, and this added another horrible pict-
ure TO the scene l Immediately went down
! stairs and repaired TO the further end of the
/ boat. At this point it was quite distance
| down to the water, and but few came there to
jump of.
/ EVERYTHING WAS CHAOS AND CONFUSION.
Veterans who had faced death on the field of
battle without finching were rushing abOlt
wildly, with the madness of fear depicted on
/ their couutenances. 1t was an awful moment
far more terrible than the crash and roar of
/ battle.
! To remain on the boat was certain death,
/ and TO leap into the murky waters of the Mis-
sissippi was not less dangerous. Tie fire was
/ gaining rapidly, and made haste TO battle for
i life. / Invested myself of everything except
/ my Undertaking, and then pulled strip Of
/ sheeting or siding loose and jumped into the
water. Being good swimmer soon got my
/ bearing and swan away from the boat, in order
/ to get out Of the reach of those who were
/ struggling III the water. l had not gone far
until found a piece of scanting floating
along. IL was 2x4 and about eight feet
4 long. / Immediately grasped it as well
come friend, and chung TO it until /
! was picked up. After / had swan away from
the burning boat a sufficient distance to be out
/ of reach Of the men who were struggling for
/ life in the vain hope to save themselves from
an impending doom, l stopped temporarily to
/ look back upon the scene. Language and pen
/ fail NE to properly describe the horror of the
4 situation. The Ere had made such Roadway
I that human life could no longer endure the
+ heat. Men rushed TO and fro, shouting and
pleading for help that could never come. Whole
knots Of them would rush together and clasp
/ each other IN their arms and with agoniZed
/ shrieks roll off into the water, there to
/ struggle and fight for life until the last one Of
them had sunk beneath the bosom of the
/ mighty Mississippi. Others were too paTaiyzed
with fear to do else than submit to the inevitable
/ and were sudOcated with heat aad smoke. The
! agOnized shouts and walls for help that went
4 up from those comrades Of mine that April
morning still ring IN my ears. Would to GGd
/ that l could forever blot from memory and
/ sight the events Of that terrible disaster; but
! they cling to me Ike horrible nightmare, even
! visiting me IN my dreams, as well as in my
waking moments. / turned away from this
( dreadful scene sick at heart My own situa-
4 ton soon brought me to realizing sense of
/ danger, and / began swimming for the shore
/ on the Tennessee side. The river was high
and the water cold, and | soon realized that
7 HAD a BIG JOB BEFORE NE.
After long struggle ! failed to reach the shore
and kept floating down stream and trying to
/ effect landing, but fate seemed to be against
/ me. My enforced stay in the water began TO
1 tell on me. l was becoming chilled and be-
/ numbed, and consequently less able to help
myself. In this condition / soon found myself
/ drifting back into the main current of the
( river. J stuck closer than ever to my piece of
/ scantling knowing full well that without it
MUST SOON GIVE UP THE FIGHT
/ and 20 to the bottom of the Mississippi. Ny
/ only hope now lay in the chance of being
picked up by some river craft. Luckily the
/ news Of the disaster had reached Memphis, and
! boats were sent out 10 pick up everything that
could be found Of the wreck. i could see the
| lights at the head Of the boats, aud this gave
me new hope for life. By this time | had
drifted nearly opposite Memphis, and was so
| completely benumbed that ! was almost help
less. Finally / was sighted by some men in a
yawl and hauled aboard and placed on a boat
where stimulants were administered. | Law
unconscious for some time, but finally revived
and became myself again. After getting some
clothing and taking proper amount of rest
l began to search for lost comrades.
The reader can scarcely imagine how happy
/ was in finding all of my mess safe except
one, who was severely scalded and somewhat
used up, but still alive. Like myself, many
had been taken out Of the water by the boat.
sent to our rescue from Memphis; but il seems
almost miraculous that our entire mess of five
should escape from that tempest of death
while so many hundreds of brave bows los
their lives. There is certainly something SAD
in the history of the explosion of the Sultana
Many of the soldiers on board had not seer
home and friends for years, and having jus
been released from captivity, their hearts wer
filled with JOY at the prospective meeting O
father, mother, brothers, sisters, or perchanc
she who was soon to become the bride of tht
returned soldier But in an instant they founC
themselves in an avalanche of destruction
from which there was no escape. Out of z. 10
only about 700 escaped. Surely the god 0
battles had spared them for a more terribl
, ! fate