1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. On April twenty seventh, eighteen sixty five, the 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: Sultana exploded and sank on the Mississippi River. So that 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: was one hundred and fifty nine years ago today, and 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 1: it was the deadliest maritime disaster in US history. This 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: episode originally came out on June eleventh, twenty fourteen. And 6 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: please excuse how we said, kro Illinois, Welcome to Stuff 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: you missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, 8 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frye and I'm 9 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson, and it is time for another maritime 10 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 1: disaster installment, which I feel slightly odd saying that makes 11 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: listeners happy, But many people really love maritime disaster stories, 12 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: so it's a big draw for some reason. It is. 13 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: It's fascinating. People are drawn to the sea, into seagoing vessels, 14 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: and you know there's a certain romance to all of that, 15 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: and these are always fascinating because you know, usually the 16 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,400 Speaker 1: wreckage sinks and there's an ongoing mystery that kind of 17 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: draws people in. I think this one not so much mystery, 18 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: but a little bit. We'll get to that towards the end. 19 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: And this particular disaster that we're talking about today is 20 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: unique in a number of ways. One is that it 21 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: took place on a river rather than out at open sea. 22 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: Another is that it was likely caused by corruption more 23 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: than anything else. The really sad part of it was 24 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: that it caused the death of many, many soldiers, even 25 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: though it was not part of a battle. And it actually, 26 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: even though it was horrific, really got lost in the 27 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: shuffle of a very busy news cycle and a certain 28 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: degree of numbness that had taken place because the public 29 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: had at this point developed over exposure to stories of 30 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: death and high numbers of deceased, and so this really 31 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: wasn't talked about very much at all, even though it 32 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: ranks as the worst maritime disaster in US history. And 33 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,559 Speaker 1: so to give you context for why this horrific event 34 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: may have gotten lost in the shuffle in terms of 35 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: public knowledge, it took place in April of eighteen sixty five, 36 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: which was an incredibly important month in US history. On 37 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: the ninth of April, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at 38 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: Appomatox Courthouse, and on April fourteenth, President Abraham Lincoln was 39 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 1: assassinated as he watched a staging of our American cousin 40 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: at Ford's Theater. On April twenty sixth, John Wilkes Booth, 41 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: who had assassinated the president, was captured and killed. So 42 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: in that context is maybe not so surprising that a 43 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: steamboat sinking on April twenty seventh, which is the day 44 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: after all of the John Wilkes Booth stuff happened, didn't 45 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: make headline news, but it was nonetheless a huge tragedy. 46 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: The Sultana was built at the John Lithebury Shipyard in Cincinnati, Ohio. 47 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: It's a side wheel steamboat and it was about two 48 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty feet long and forty two feet wide. 49 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: The ship was legally cleared to carry up to three 50 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy six passengers with a crew of eighty five, 51 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: and the Sultana was built as a really impressive ship 52 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: for the time. Her safety equipment, in particular was cutting edge, 53 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: including a full complement of the latest and greatest technology 54 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: available at the time. The boilers had safety gauges, there 55 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: were multiple pumps to fight fire, and there were more 56 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: than three hundred feet of fire hose on board, as 57 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 1: well as dedicated buckets and axes for fire fighting. On 58 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: February third, eighteen sixty three, the Sultana was launched from Cincinnati, 59 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: Ohio to begin her career along the Lower Mississippi. She 60 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: primarily ran from Saint Louis to New Orleans and back. 61 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: And while the Sultana was intended to be used in 62 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: the cotton trade, for the years from eighteen sixty three 63 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: to eighteen sixty five, the US War Department often commissioned 64 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: the steamer as a cargo and troop transport for Civil 65 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: War needs. As the war came to an end, many 66 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: Union soldiers who had been prisoners of war were released. 67 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: Soldiers coming from prison camps at Cahaba and Alabama and 68 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: Andersonville and Georgia were sent to Vicksburg, Mississippi to await 69 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: transport to go north. And because the government was flooded 70 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: with all of these soldiers that were trying to get 71 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: back home as the war was wrapping up, the government 72 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: actually offered steamships five dollars ahead if they would carry 73 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: troops back home, and for most of them, they went 74 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: up to Cairo, Illinois and then routed to wherever their 75 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: personal home was from there and for a comparison, that 76 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: amount five dollars per head is estimated. In one estimate, 77 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: I saw at around sixty five dollars per person today. 78 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: On April twenty first, eighteen sixty five, the Sultana departed 79 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,359 Speaker 1: from New Orleans. Captain James cass Mason was at the 80 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: helm and the ship carried more than one hundred passengers 81 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: in a cargo of livestock. So the Sultana made a 82 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: stop at Vicksburg, Mississippi, to take on recently released Union 83 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: POWs and to perform repairs. And this stop was basically 84 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: riddled with bad decisions that would seal the fate of 85 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: the Sultan and its passengers. The ship's engineers had identified 86 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: a problem with one of its boilers, but to replace 87 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: the boiler was going to take several days, and those 88 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: were days during which all these Union soldiers, which were 89 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: so lucrative to have on board, would instead go home 90 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 1: on other vessels. So, instead of losing potential cash, the 91 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: decision was made that they would patch the boiler quickly, 92 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: which would only take about a day, instead of installing 93 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 1: a whole new replacement boiler. Then there was the matter 94 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 1: of loading all the troops on board. At five dollars 95 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: a man, it was really lucrative to take as many 96 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,280 Speaker 1: POW's as possible, and kickbacks of as much as a 97 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: dollar and fifteen cents a person were being paid to 98 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,160 Speaker 1: military officers in charge of troop loading. This was so 99 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,359 Speaker 1: they would sort of look the other way while the 100 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: boats were loaded way beyond capacity. And when it comes 101 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: to ignoring capacity limits, this particular voyage comes with some 102 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: downright shot numbers like I am not kidding, brace yourselves. 103 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: So we talked about earlier how the Sultana was legally 104 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:10,599 Speaker 1: certified to carry a little less than four hundred people, 105 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: fewer than four hundred people. More than two thousand, yes, 106 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,840 Speaker 1: two thousand soldiers were loaded on board while the captain 107 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: and army officials lined their pockets with all of this money. 108 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: So in the end the ship was at more than 109 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: six times normal capacity. Many of the men could barely 110 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: find a place to stand, let alone sit or lie down. 111 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: The top deck, which was known as the hurricane deck, 112 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: as well as the second deck and the bottom main deck, 113 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: were all completely packed with men who crushed onto the ship. 114 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: They were all eager to get home after the time 115 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: they had spent in battle and some of them in 116 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: prison camps. Yeah, at this point many people will ask. 117 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: You'll see sometimes in the literature, and it sometimes comes 118 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: up of like, why would all of these men agree 119 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: to get on this ship if it's clearly so dangerous 120 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: and horrible. They were POW's. They just wanted to get 121 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: home and end the horrible things that they had been through, 122 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: and so there were so many of them that the 123 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: hurricane deck began to sag really badly from the weight 124 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: of all of the men, and it actually had to 125 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: be buttressed with stanchions to prevent a cave in. After 126 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: assuring one of the army officers that the ship had 127 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: carried similar loads before, Captain Mason left Vicksburg at nine 128 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: pm on April twenty fourth, but it had one more 129 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: stop to make before it moved on toward Cairo, Illinois. 130 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: So on April twenty six, the Sultana docked at Memphis 131 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: to pick up coal for the rest of its journey, 132 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: and some accounts kind of hint that there may have 133 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: been additional repairs to the damage boiler, like they may 134 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: have put another metal plate over problematic areas, but just 135 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: the same they loaded with coal. They may or may 136 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: not have done those repairs, and sometime between midnight and 137 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: one am on the twenty twenty seventh, the Sultana left 138 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: port at Memphis and continued north. It did not get 139 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: very far. In addition to the heavy load that the 140 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: Sultana carried, the journey was slowed by rushing downstream waters 141 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: of the Mississippi because melting snow had actually led to 142 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: the river flooding in certain areas. Around two am, the 143 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 1: boiler that had been repaired instead of being replaced, gave 144 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: out and exploded, and shortly afterward two of the remaining 145 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: three boilers also blew, so a really aggressive fire broke out. 146 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: Within minutes of the explosions, the two smokestacks were completely 147 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: compromised and they fell onto the hurricane deck. Many men 148 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: were killed immediately in the collapse, and those that survived 149 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: jumped from the ship and panic. There have been some 150 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: interesting writeups that I've seen in my research that kind 151 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: of suggests that people should have tried to fight the 152 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,680 Speaker 1: fire rather than jumping, But one, it's hard to know 153 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: if that would have done any good because this is 154 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: pretty catastrophic at that point. And two, you had to 155 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: take into consideration the fact that the people that were 156 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: not crushed by the smokestacks or catapulted from the vessel 157 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: in the explosion, were often suffering from severe burns and 158 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: scalding from the steam and fire. Well, on top of 159 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,959 Speaker 1: the whole question of whether they should have fought the fire, 160 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: there's the fact where if people are crushed onto the 161 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,720 Speaker 1: decks so hard that they can't even move, how could 162 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: they reasonably try to fight a fire? Right? Well, most 163 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 1: of the people are alluding to the people that were 164 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: not crushed that jumped. Oh, I see, I can't say 165 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: that I would behave any differently in a situation like that. 166 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: I mean, I think your survival instinct just kicks in 167 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: and you're like, I got to get out of here. 168 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: This is not a safe place. Right. So the fire 169 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: spread really rapidly toward the stern, which forced more people 170 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: to jump overboard, and the river was quickly filled with 171 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: bodies and with jumpers who were barely clinging to life. 172 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: A lot of these men had just been released from 173 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 1: prison camp, and so they were incredibly weak to begin with. 174 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: Some of them were sick. They were swimming in the 175 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: current and trying to t water and trying to hang 176 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: on to debris just to float, and all of these 177 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 1: things quickly depleted their energy. This is also a time 178 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: when people didn't generally just learn how to swim when 179 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: they were children. So a lot of people in the 180 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 1: water were, you know, in periled just for not knowing 181 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: how to keep themselves afloat. Yeah, it's not like today 182 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: when you grow up and you go to the pool 183 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: in the summer and you take swimming lessons, like it 184 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 1: was not uncommon for people have no idea how to 185 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: swim at this point. Uh. And in addition to these 186 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: people that were in the water being physically taxed by 187 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: the exertion, the water was extremely cold. We mentioned earlier 188 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: that you know, a lot of the heavy water was 189 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: due to the fact that snow was melting, snow and 190 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: ice was melting, and water was coming outstream, and that 191 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: water was super cold. So hypothermia claimed many lives as well. 192 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: Some survivors clung to some of the livestock animals that 193 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 1: had been killed in the blast. There's one survival story 194 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: that involves a man who allegedly floated for ten miles 195 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: down the Mississippi on a deceased mule. Official reports list 196 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: one thousand, five hundred and forty seven deaths, although most 197 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 1: historians estimate now that it's closer to eighteen hundred men 198 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 1: who were killed. We don't know the exact number of 199 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: lives claimed by the tragedy because so many men were 200 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 1: herded onto the ship at Vicksburg. In the end, the 201 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: explosion of the Sultana's boilers and the ensuing panic killed 202 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: close to the same number of Union troops as were 203 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: lost at the Battle of Shiloh. The remnants of the 204 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: Sultana drifted downriver before sinking to the bottom of the 205 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:35,319 Speaker 1: Mississippi River near Memphis. Bodies washed up for days, and 206 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: some even as late as a month later along the 207 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: banks of the Mississippi. News of the tragedy first broke 208 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: when a young man drifted onto the banks of the 209 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: river in Memphis and told centuries what had happened. This 210 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,199 Speaker 1: information was quickly relayed and officials scrambled to try to 211 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 1: mount a rescue effort. The SS Bostonia two was the 212 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: first rescue vessel on the scene, and it arrived really 213 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,599 Speaker 1: quite quickly. So remember this happened at two am. The 214 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: Bostonia arrived there at three am. The SS Arkansas, the 215 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: SS jerry Lynde, the SS Essex, and the Navy gunboat 216 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: USS Tyler also joined in the rescue effort. The USS 217 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:19,439 Speaker 1: Tyler was manned almost exclusively by volunteer crew that had 218 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: to be mobilized really rapidly from Memphis because the regular 219 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 1: crew that would normally man the ship had already been discharged. Again, 220 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: we're coming to the end of the war, and everybody's 221 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: kind of shuffling home. More than a week after the tragedy, 222 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: on May fourth, the Tiffan, Ohio paper reported the incident 223 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: as follows. The scene following the explosion was terrible and 224 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: heartrending in the extreme. Hundreds of people were blown into 225 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: the air and descending into the water, some dead, some 226 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 1: with broken limbs, some scalded. Were born under by the 227 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: restless current of the Great River, never to rise again. 228 00:12:55,800 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: The survivors represent the screams as agonizing beyond precedent. Some 229 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: clung to frail pieces of the wreck, as drowning men 230 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: cling to straws, and sustained themselves for a few moments, 231 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: but finally became exhausted and sunk. Only the best of swimmers, 232 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,080 Speaker 1: aided by fragments of the wreck, were enabled to reach 233 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 1: the woods and take refuge until rescued. By boats sent 234 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: from the landing to their assistance. There were about fifteen 235 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 1: women and children aboard, and as near as can be ascertained, 236 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: not more than two or three had been found at 237 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: the hour when this account was written. So, Tracy, before 238 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: we talk a little bit about the investigation that followed 239 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: this tragedy, do you want to just take a quick 240 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 1: word from our sponsor. Let's do okay, and now we 241 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: will get back to civil war discussion or post civil 242 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: war discussion, and cover kind of what happened in the 243 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:59,319 Speaker 1: aftermath of all of this. So General C. Washburn, who 244 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: was officer at Memphis, opened an investigation into the Sultana's 245 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: explosion and sinking almost immediately after being informed of what 246 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: had taken place. Special Order one nine, which was issued 247 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: by Washburn, established a military commission to investigate the incident, 248 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: and they moved really quickly. They did not drag their feet. 249 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 1: They began taking testimony at eleven thirty am on April 250 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 1: twenty seventh, so just nine and a half hours after 251 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: this had all happened. Several days later, Secretary of War 252 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: Edwin M. Stanton issued Special Order one ninety five to 253 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: start a separate investigation, and there was a rumor that 254 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: a Confederate bomb had been aboard the ship, but in 255 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: the end, these military investigations determined that the mismanagement of 256 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: the boilers and the overcrowding of the ship were the 257 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: real causes. Even so, the alternate possibility that sabotage was 258 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: involved continues to be examined and debated due to a 259 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: quote secret revealed in eighteen eighty eight. How this information 260 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: came to light as a little nebulous, as it's reported 261 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:07,360 Speaker 1: in two different ways, and one Confederate messenger, Robert Louden, 262 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: claimed on his deathbed that he had in fact sunk 263 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: the Sultana with a coal torpedo. Other accounts say that 264 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: an acquaintance of his revealed the information shortly after he died. Yeah, 265 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: and Louden is also often referenced as a basically a 266 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 1: spy for the Confederates, And I would say that more 267 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: accounts seemed to document that his friend William Streeter was 268 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: actually the one that revealed this information. But just so 269 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: you understand how this could have worked, a coal torpedo 270 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: was basically a metal casing that would be filled with 271 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 1: gunpowder and then it would be rolled in wax and 272 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: coal dust, so it could basically masquerade as a lump 273 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: of coal and be tossed into a regular coal bin 274 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: and nobody would notice it. The incendiary would then be 275 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: shoveled into a boiler with the rest of the coal 276 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: in the course of regular travel for a steamship, and 277 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: this would cause the boiler to explode once it was heated. 278 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 1: Of course, naturally, there's no definitive evidence on this alternate version, 279 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: so it's really unlikely we'll ever know for certain whether 280 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: sabotage was involved. And as for the follow up to 281 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: the official investigation, the ship's captain was killed in the incident, 282 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: and the only charges that were filed were against a 283 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: Federal Army officer, Captain Frederick Speed, and he had basically 284 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,000 Speaker 1: been one of the people that took the dollar fifteen 285 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: in kickbacks to allow the overloading of troops onto the 286 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 1: Sultana at Vicksburg. On January ninth, eighteen sixty six. His 287 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: court martial began in Vicksburg, and in the January thirty, 288 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: first night, eighteen sixty six edition of The Daily Empire, 289 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: which was a newspaper out of Dayton, Ohio, an article 290 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: ran entitled heavy charge Oney one hundred and ten murders. 291 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: In this article detailed Captain Speed's court martial trial. The 292 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: article states, quote, it is alleged that in April last 293 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: he chartered the steamer Sultana for private speculative purposes, placing 294 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,919 Speaker 1: one thousand, eight hundred eighty six paroled prisoners on board, 295 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 1: and thus did overload the said steamer Sultana, whose legal 296 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:13,959 Speaker 1: carrying capacity was three hundred seventy six passengers. The article 297 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: goes on to describe the accident, quote, about seven miles 298 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: above Memphis, Tennessee, was destroyed by an explosion of her 299 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 1: boiler or boilers, and by fire, and thereupon a large 300 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: number to it one thousand, one hundred ten or thereabouts 301 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 1: of the paroled prisoners on board, whose names are unknown, 302 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 1: lost their lives by drowning, scalding, and burning. And that 303 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: the one thousand, one hundred ten paroled prisoners would not 304 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,919 Speaker 1: have so lost their lives but for the misconduct of 305 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:47,119 Speaker 1: the said Captain Speed and the overloading said steamer Sultana. 306 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: And on June ninth of eighteen sixty six, so this 307 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,879 Speaker 1: was more than a year after the tragedy took place, 308 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:57,479 Speaker 1: Captain Speed was indeed found guilty of neglect and he 309 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: was dismissed from the army. However, aside from being disgraced 310 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: and being booted from the service, there wasn't a whole 311 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: lot in the way of punishment. When Brigadier General Joseph Holt, 312 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,680 Speaker 1: who was Judge Advocate General of the US Army, when 313 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: he received the case file and the court martial findings, 314 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: he actually dismissed the charges against Speed and the case 315 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: was closed on September first of eighteen sixty six. And 316 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: there's some speculation that really it was a case where 317 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 1: he came to understand that this was not an uncommon thing, 318 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: that many other officers did similar things and let ships 319 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: be overloaded, and he didn't want this one man to 320 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: become sort of the example to be made of the situation, 321 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: even though clearly there was a lot of horrible aftermath 322 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,160 Speaker 1: of his poor decision making. While the incident was reported 323 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: in the Ohio newspapers because of the large number of 324 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,160 Speaker 1: Ohio residents on board, and in the Saint Louis papers 325 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: because that was the sultana's home port, of the rest 326 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:04,119 Speaker 1: of the country was so engaged with the news surrounding 327 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: President Lincoln's assassination in the end of the war that 328 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,639 Speaker 1: the event was barely noted in a lot of papers. 329 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: It was several pages in before the incident was even mentioned. 330 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: And the Mississippi River has actually shifted course throughout the years, 331 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: as most people know. If you don't know, it is 332 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: actually about two miles east now of where it ran 333 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: by Memphis in eighteen sixty five, so it's really shifted 334 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: quite a bit. And in nineteen eighty two an archaeological 335 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: expedition located what is believed to be deck planks and 336 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:39,680 Speaker 1: timbers from the Sultana, and these artifacts were actually found 337 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: under a soybean field on the Arkansas side of the river, 338 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: so where it would have sunk. But then the river 339 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 1: has since shifted over quite a bit. While the Titanic 340 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:53,160 Speaker 1: disaster was also incredibly tragic, unlike the Sultana, it has 341 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: a cemented place in history and its story is really 342 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: widely known. But for comparison, the Sultana was left than 343 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,159 Speaker 1: half the size of the Titanic and it lost between 344 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: seventeen hundred and eighteen hundred passengers compared to the Titanic's 345 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 1: oney five hundred and seventeen deceased. Both of these are, 346 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: of course terrible, but it's sad that the Sultana tragedy 347 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: was eclipsed by other news at the time and largely forgotten. Yeah, 348 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,640 Speaker 1: it really did kind of not get a fair shake 349 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: in terms of being reported. There are many theories about 350 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: why that go beyond the sort of heavy news cycle 351 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: that was going on. Some people have kind of hinted 352 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: that perhaps because the Titanic had a lot of rich 353 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:37,639 Speaker 1: and famous people on it, that was a more sensational 354 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: story to report and that kind of seated it as 355 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: a historical marker, whereas with this it was unfortunate and 356 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: it was a lot of Union troops, but we didn't 357 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,639 Speaker 1: even know many of their names. Truly sad, and I 358 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 1: am very sad that it kind of gets left out 359 00:20:53,240 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: of the story a lot of the time. Thanks so 360 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 1: much for joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode 361 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: is out of the archive, if you heard an email 362 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: address or a Facebook RL or something similar over the 363 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: course of the show, that could be obsolete now. Our 364 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 1: current email address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 365 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,440 Speaker 1: You can find us all over social media at misst Dhistory, 366 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, 367 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 1: Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever else you listen 368 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 369 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 370 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 371 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: favorite shows.