The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1911-05-10
MANY WERE LOST
Survivor Of The Sul.aHa TradesY Recalls
Awful Catastrophe
NOBODY Was PUNISHED

Closely Following Assassination of
Lincoln, Disaster Which Cost e.
900 Lives Received Scant Atten-
tion-a1ost Of Victims Were Sol
diers just Liberated from South
ern Prisons.
Although forty-SfX years have
passed since the famous Sultana dis
aster, one of the most tragic events
of the civil war, the details are still
vivid in the mind of E. ". Stevens,
veteran Of Bloomington, ILL.,, and he
relates a thrilling story of the wreck
which cost 1000. Only a handful
of survivors live and the recurring
anniversary recalls gruesome Incl
dents of the remarkable event, prob
ably unparalleled in the marine annals
of the world.
1t was April 81, 1865, that the
Sultana was lost. The boat was
side wheeler plying between Mem
phis and New Orleans and was re-
garded as one of the finest boats on
the river at that period. AS was
the case with most Of the Mississippi
River steamers during the war, she
was impressed into the Government
service and was in constant use,
transporting soldiers and supplies
up and down the great water way.
On what proved to be her last
trip, the Sultana left New Orleans
April 81, 1855, and at Vicksburg on
April "a, and picked up 1865 enlist
ed men and thiTty-fve officers who
had been paroled after being imates
of Confederate prisons at Anderson
Vile, Macon and Cahaoa. They were
en- route to the Middle States and
many were in a sad condition ply
sically from wounds and long impris-
onment.
The captain of the Sultana pro-
tested vigorously against taking such
load, stating that one OF the boil
ers was weak and ne doubted wheth-
er it would stand the strain of the
long drag up the river. Gen. Nor
gan Smith, who was in command Of
the post at Vicksburg, ordered him
to take them all, however, as the
lives of many depended upon their
reaching home where they could re-
ceive the care Of their families. Gen.
Smith ordered the commander to run
slowly and cautiously and expressed
confidence in successful voyage.
At Memphis, a portion Of the car
go of sugar was unloaded and the
| Journey resumed. The number of
| persons on board when the boat left
Memphis, according to Mr.. Stevens,
was S,434. 1t was about / O'Clock in
the morning of April 81, at a point
known as Hen and Chicken Island,
eleven miles north of Memphis, that
one Of our boilers of the Sultana
exploded with a deafening report.
The boat was in flames almost in
stantly, the wind blowing a gale at
the time and tanning the fire until
it spread over the entire boat, fore
ing all who could move to leap oYel-
board.
The pilot, an unnamed hero, head
ed the boat to the shore and ground
ed it. The river was high and
rough and this increased the death
roll. Life preservers were scarce
and the other means of rescue were
limited. Many clung to cotton bales
which had been placed around the
rail of the steamer to protect The
passengers ind crew from stray
bullets fired from the shores. Some
of the Getaways who f1oated a dis
tance of forty miles were rescued.
The great width of the river at
this point hindered the work of res
cue. Many who swan for miles fin
ally sank from exhaustion. Hun
dreds of the soldiers were instantly
killed by the explosion of the boil
ers. AS the night was cold, scores
were huddled against the smoke
stacks and over the boilers and were
blown into the river. Mani Of the
dead were never identified. Others
who realized that they could not be
saved, scriobled their names and ad-
dresses upon articles of apparel and
thus made known their identity.
The War Department ordered a
thorough investigation of the great
disaster but it amounted to nothing.
Nobody was court-martialed and the
only tangible result was the exoner-
alton of the saptain. It was brought
out that he opposed the overload
and only yielded when perempterily
ordered. To have refused orders OF
such character at that period
would have meant death. Despite
the enormity Of the disaster, it at
tracted but little attention at the
time.
The public mind was infamed
with the momentous events OF The
great struggle between the North
and the South. the assassination OF
Lincoln, which had occurred but
two weeks previous, holding the at
tention of the entire world to the
exclusion Of all else. 1t was ne"-
er known absolutely how many per
sons perished in the wreck OF the
Sultana, but the number was not lar
from 1900. The survivors, a few
years afer the war. organized the
Sultana Reunion Association and
each year the ewing remaining as
semble and recall the incidents OF
that terrible night.