150 years ago today 1,800 died in US history's greatest maritime disaster.

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/sultana_tragedy_150_years_ago.html



What remains of the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history lies buried beneath an Arkansas beanfield where the Mississippi River once ran.

A century-and-a-half later, residents of the nearest town and descendants of passengers aboard the steamboat Sultana are gathering to commemorate a disaster that was overshadowed by Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Along Highway 55 entering Marion, Arkansas, a small banner welcomes the descendants arriving for Monday's anniversary. Workers are feverishly restoring a mural depicting the steamboat as they seek to give the disaster its place in history.

The Sultana blew up on April 27, 1865, about seven miles north of Memphis, Tennessee, claiming as many as 1,800 lives, according to historical estimates. The Titanic claimed fewer — 1,517 — when it sank 45 years later.

But the momentous events of April 1865 — Lincoln's death and Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender among them — all but eclipsed the tragedy on the Mississippi.

That month, thousands of Union prisoners newly freed in the South were being sent back north on steamboats. The Sultana was carrying six times its capacity with almost 2,500 people, among them many emaciated, injured or sick Union veterans



Everyone knows about the Titanic and the Lousitania, but few people know of the Sultana disaster here in the US.

[newfie11]

1. Thanks for posting this

I had no knowledge of this.

[Faygo Kid]

2. Unbelievably tragic. It should be recalled.

Union prisoners on their way home after surviving the prison camps blown to bits. It was criminal negligence, of course, and an unspeakable tragedy.

[FLPanhandle]

3. I've always thought they should make a movie about the Sultana

It's a far more compelling story than the Titanic.

[hifiguy]

4. I had never heard of this until I saw a program on the History Channel

a few years back. Awful.

[beam me up scottie]

5. K&R

I had no idea, how tragic. Thank you for posting this.

Passengers who escaped the burning ship struggled in the dark, cold water. Hundreds died of hypothermia or drowned. Bodies were still being pulled from the riverbanks months later, while others were never recovered.

The wreckage is now buried about 30 feet beneath a field not far from Marion, inside the river's flood-control levees. The river has since run a new course and runs about a mile east of the spot.

It wasn't until last year that the state of Arkansas erected a bronze plaque at the edge of a parking to memorialize the tragedy. Those who know the Sultana's story are hoping Monday's anniversary events will help make the sinking more than just a footnote to the end of the Civil War.

[borondongo]

6. I'd never heard of that

Tragic .

[sarge43]

7. The tragedy was briefly mentioned in Burns' Civil War series. nt

[FLPanhandle]

8. I'm glad he mentioned it.

Most people have never heard of the Sultana and that is a shame.

It's quite a story.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. Even I hadn't heard of it

and I grew up in Arkansas.

[FLPanhandle]

10. A good video

[kairos12]

11. Good to be reminded of this event. Thanks.

[mountain grammy]

12. Thank you for remembering.

[Jim Lane]

13. Thanks for the info! I had thought the worst was the General Slocum

The General Slocum disaster claimed "only" 1,021 lives, according to estimates.

I had never even heard of the Sultana.

[FLPanhandle]

14. I only learned about the Sultana 10 years ago

I was surprised too.

[Archae]

15. There was a movie made about this disaster.

http://worldeonline.com/nccc/on_set_photo's.htm