The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-05-04
MANY WERE LOST
Survivor of The Sultana Tradegy Recalls
Awful Catastrophe
NOBODY WAS PUNISHED

Closely Following Assassination OF
Lincoln, Disaster Which Cost 2.
600 Lives Received Scant Atten.
tion-Most of Victims Were Sol
dIers Just Liberated from South.
ern Prisons.
Although forty-six 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. w. Stevens
veteran Of Bloomington, ILL.,, and he
relates 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 27, 1865, that the
Sultana was lost. The boat was a
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 21, 1865, and at Vicksburg on
April "a, and picked up 1865 enlist
ed men and thirtv-five officers who
had been paroled after being imates
of Confederate prisons at Anderson
Vile, Macon and Cahaba. They were
en- route to the Middle States and
many were in a sad condition ply
sically from wounds and long impris-
onment. D..
The captain of the Sultana pro-
tested vigorously against taking such
load, stating that one Of the boil
ers was weak and he 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 a successful voyage.
At Memphis, d portion Of the car
go of sugar was unloaded and the
journey resumed. The number of
persons on board when the boat lef:
Memphis, according to Mr.. Stevens,
was s,434. It was about 1 o'clock in
the morning of April 27, at a point
known as Hen and Chicken Island,
eleven miles north of Memphis, that
one of our boilers of the Sull:ana
exploded with a deafening report.
The boat was in flames almost IN.
stantly, the wind blowing gale at
the time and flaming the fire until
it spread over the entire boat, fore,
Ing all who could move to leap over
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 clun,. 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 foated a dis
lance 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 thai they could not be
saved, scribbled 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. 1t was brought
out that he opposed the overload
and only yielded when peremptcrily
ordered. To have refused orders of
such a 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 inhamed
with the momentous events OF The
great struggle between the North
and the South, the assassination OF