Hundreds of Liberated Union Prisoners of War Die
in a Ship Disaster on the Mississippi!


After the Confederate surrender in Appomattox (April 9, 1865), the American Civil War ended ...:



The troops of the victorious northern states gradually occupied the entire territory of the defeated confederation and liberated tens of thousands of prisoners of war.

Many of them come from the gruesome Andersonville camp ...





... that of the sadistic Captain Henry Wirz ...



... was directed.

Wirtz was one of the very few who ended up on the gallows in Washington after the war. Note the onlookers and the press, who even climbed into the trees so as not to miss anything ...:







Most of the freed prisoners are in such dire physical condition that they cannot simply be released home ...:



The leadership of the Union Army therefore decides to take most of the liberated by water (the Mississippi) north, to Cairo, Illinois.

For this purpose, all ships that can be reached are confiscated, including the "Sultana", which normally carried passengers, mail and goods between New Orleans, Louisiana, and St. Louis, Missouri ...





On April 26, 1865 at 2:00 am, the "Sultana" under the command of Captain J. C. Mason ...



... sets off in Vicksburg ...:



The picture above shows the "Sultana" exactly at the moment of casting off - you can see the people crowding on the upper deck as well as the fact that the hopelessly overloaded ship is almost to the gunwale deep in the water.

On board are 85 crew members, 70 travelers and around 2,300 liberated soldiers.

The ship is more than ten times overloaded with its human cargo, actually it is only approved for 356 people (crew and passengers).

But under the circumstances, the transport officer in charge, Major Frederick Speed ...



... simply ignored the regulations!

After 17 hours, around 7:00 pm, the "Sultana" arrives in Memphis, Tennessee. She can barely drive!



Because the muddy river water has badly clogged the boiler tubes of the prime mover. The "Sultana" actually needs clean, fresh feed water for its steam boiler - but Speed had ignored that too.

The boiler tubes should now actually be cleaned, otherwise there is a risk of explosion if they become clogged. But that would take a while!

Major Speed disregards this and orders the immediate continuation of the journey! The ship only takes new coal on board in Memphis and slowly limps on, heading north.

The downright criminal negligence of Speed is taking revenge!

On April 27, 1865, at 2:40 am, a cauldron of the "Sultana" exploded just eight miles upstream from Memphis!




Sharp-edged, glowing steel parts pierce the decks overcrowded with sleeping soldiers.

Within a few minutes, two more boilers explode, the battered ship catches fire from bow to stern, causing the decks above to collapse.



Hundreds of people jump into the water, where quite a few are killed by the falling chimneys ...:






Many of the weakened ex-prisoners of war who want to save their lives by jumping into the water from the blazing pyre "Sultana" drown in the wide river.

Towards sunrise the "Sultana" sinks, at least 1,700 people are killed, about 200 people more than 47 years later in the sinking of the "Titanic"!

It is the most casualty shipwreck in US history. Today in Knoxville, Tennessee, there is a memorial in memory of the victims of the "Sultana".



Transport officer Speed could not be held accountable - he was among the dead ...

Fascinating stuff Martin. I think I read about this many years ago, but your photos and pictures bring it home in all its tragedy. Amazing that nobody in the Confederate hierarchy got to grips with Wirtz, but I guess "out of sight, out of mind" was the answer.

Phil