A version of this story first appeared in a badly written form on my original webpage. I have gone back and fixed it to make better sense and to just be a better read. Still not perfect, but as I grow as a writer, it has improved with time. And so with that, on with love. Find more great writers here
History is an odd subject. The events we remember are not always the most important or deserving. On April 27, 1865, over 1,100 souls lost their lives in an event that is barely remembered today. All because of when it happened and the event that overshadowed it. Â
Tragic events sometimes get full days onto themselves and other times even bigger ones overshadow them. Of late, when a mass murder happens and before those killed get laid to rest, along comes another shooting to take the spotlight away. Before we know it, what was breaking news becomes forgotten yesterday's news.
On June 24, 2009, actress Farrah Fawcett died after a battle with cancer. Her death on any day would have been big news, but we pushed her aside when pop icon Michael Jackson suddenly died at 50 on the same day. Another example was on April 16, 1947, when an explosion on the ship SS Grandchamp triggered a chain of events that lead to the death of 581 people in Texas City, Texas. It was one of the deadliest industrial disasters ever, and yet it got overshadowed, even to this day. All because the day before the blast, Brooklyn Dodgers Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. We honor Robinson every year and yet few remember the Texas City blast.Â
It all seems like luck in we do and don’t remember. And this is where we find our steamship, the Sultana. The worst maritime disaster in U.S. history, but I am sure many of you didn’t know that. But if I said the name John Wilkes Booth, most would know that name and his crime. But before we get to him, let me tell you about the Sultana.
Built in 1863 during the civil war, they used the sidewheel steamboat up and down the lower Mississippi River to haul cotton and, sometimes, troops. The Wooden ship carried 376 passengers at a time, a fact that is important to our tale.Â
On April 13, 1865, the Sultana left St. Louis for New Orleans, with captain James Mason. On April 15, they shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater and the Sultana helped to spread the word of the death of our beloved president. Reaching Vicksburg, Mississippi, Chief quartermaster Reuben Hatch, approached Mason with a deal. Earlier in the month on the 7th, the South surrendered, ending the war, and many prisoners of war needed to be taken upriver so the union could send them home from Vicksburg. The U.S. government was offering to pay $2.75 per man to any captain who would take prisoners north. Hatch, who was in charge of how many men each boat got, told Mason he could get him about 1,400 prisoners which would lead to a handsome profit for mason. All mason had to do was give a small kickback to Hatch. That would be about $50 a head in 2121, so mason was looking at a payday of over 50 grand in today’s money.
On April 21, Sultana left New Orleans on its way to pick up its load when a boiler sprang a leak just south of Vicksburg. Making quick repairs while they led the prisoners onto the ship, the repairs didn’t take care of the problem but covered them up. This, you know, will not end well.Â
Because of a mix-up, instead of the 1,400 prisoners that Mason thought he was getting, Mason got 1,960 prisoners, all for a ship that carried just 376. Along with the crew and other paying passengers, 2,137 people were on the boat when it headed back north on April 24. After two days, the ship stopped in Memphis to unload some men and cargo. Leaving around midnight from Memphis, the ship had not gone far when around 2:00 a.m. one of the four boilers exploded. Seconds later, two more went off.
The explosion of steam from the boilers tore the pilothouse off the boat. A fire roared thru the ship as prisons jumped into the water, many so weak that they clung to each other. Entire groups of men went down together. Passing by ships rescued men from the icy waters, but many who didn’t die from the explosion or fire died in the water. They would find bodies of the dead for months after that deadly night. Sadly, many bodies did not get recovered.
The cause of the explosion was many, but most point to the bad repairs of the boilers. But in the end, they held anyone accountable, as Captain Mason was one of those who died. Many survived that night and the last remaining survivor died on September 8, 1941, just sly from the start of World War 2.
This was a tragic event and one that should be remembered more today, but even at its time, it was overshadowed because the day before; they had killed John Wilkes Booth. The death of the killer of the President was a big deal, but I also have a feeling that too many at the time, the death of southern soldiers was just not important.
I try my best to take pride in my knowledge of history and I had never heard of this event until I visited Memphis on a trip a few years ago. There is a sign on the banks of the Mississippi River telling you about the disaster.. I remember coming home and reading up on the event and just feeling awful that the public has forgotten such an event.
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