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Note 823.10 Civil War M I A 10 of 12
DELTAQ::WARD "Prayer requests accepted anytime." 96 lines 8-JUL-1991 07:57
-< New book on Cahaba prison and the 'Sultana'... >-
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New Book Recalls the Sultana Disaster
by James V. Swift
Copyright, The Waterways Journal
June 24, 1991
One of the great marine disasters of all time has been recalled in an
unusual way. It has been retold as part of a book about a Civil War
prison run by the Confederates in Alabama. The installation at
Cahaba, Ala. was one of the principal detention centers for Union
troops and is known along with Andersonville, Ga. as a major prison.
Cahaba was near Selma, Ala., and since it was on the Alabama River,
steamboats played a part in transporting men and supplies to Cahaba.
The prison there did not have the terrible reputation of
Andersonville, but conditions were not of the best, and food was not
plentiful either. The details were gathered by William O. Bryant, who
studied the memoirs of Union prisoners who had been at Cahaba and
Union and confederate records.
When the Civil War was ended, the prisoners at Cahaba were sent to the
Mississippi River to find transportation north and to their homes. As
the reader had undoubtedly guessed already, they were put on the
SULTANA. To facilitate this movement, Camp Fisk was set up outside of
Vicksburg; it was a neutral area maintained by the South but received
Federal food and supplies. To Camp Fisk came the men from Cahaba
prison.
Enter the SULTANA
The SULTANA had come south with the news of Lincoln's assasination; it
was the first many people knew about it because, fearing trouble in
the South over the event, the Union telegraph had been silenced, and
the news had been suppressed. However, the SULTANA carried newspapers
and a crew that knew what had happened.
When she got to Vicksburg, many of the prisoners had already gone
north on the steamers HENRY AMES and OLIVE BRANCH, but efforts were
made to clear the rest out of the camp by putting them on the SULTANA,
although the PAULINE CARROLL and LADT GAY were also expected at
Vicksburg. The HENRY AMES had left with 1,300 troops, but Capt.
Frederick Speed, in charge of the camp, did not know how many men were
left to be shipped.
How many were actually loaded on the SULTANA will never be known, and
therefore it is not sure how many died later; government records show
1,866. However, F.A. Roziene of the 72nd Illinois and Joseph Elliott
from Indiana counted the people going aboard out of curiosity and said
they counted 2,134 and 2,200 respectively. The contingent from Cahaba
alone amounted to nearly 1,000.
Tragedy strikes the SULTANA
The SULTANA left Vicksburg about one in the morning of April 24, 1865.
Some 30 hours later she was at Helena, Ark., where the picture shown
here [if interested in a copy, let me know -R.W.] was taken. The
photographer almost caused the boat to capsize, as the men started
pushing toward the port side to get in the picture. She took a
28-degree list, and Capt. J. Cass Mason and his crew had to do some
powerful shouting and pushing to get the men off the port side.
The SULTANA pushed on upriver and got to Memphis at 7 p.m. on April
26. Leaving there, she was eight miles upriver when 2 a.m. on April
27 she exploded. One bpoler let go and two others followed suit
immediately. The destruction of life and property was terrible. In
the end, the U.S. Customs Service put the death toll at 1,547, but the
true number may have been more than 1,600. The combined death toll of
all previous accidents on the Mississippi had not reached that number.
Help came from small boats rowed out from shore; the steamer BOSTONIA
anchored near the wreck and pulled hundreds on board. The gunboat
ESSEX at Memphis sent its crew in small boats. The JENNY LIND went to
the scene from Memphis daily for two weeks looking for bodies. Many
of the injured were taken to Memphis for aid in the hospitals there.
Chester D. Berry, who was on the SULTANA, published a story on the
tragedy in 1892, entitled 'Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscences of
Survivors'.
Just in the nick of time, as the saying goes, we have a notice from
the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County that an index to
the Rev. Berry's book on the loss of the SULTANA has been published.
It was edited by Kim S. Harrison and includes sections on names,
military units and subjects. It has 35 pages and may be purchased
from the author at 55832 Pontiac Trail Court, Hew Hudson, Mich.
48165-9703.
About the Book
'Cahaba Prison and the Sultana Disaster', by William O. Bryant, was
published by the University of Alabama Press, Box 870380, Tuscaloosa,
Ala. 35487-0380. It has 190 pages and sells for $21.95.
[The article continues with details of the book, and technical info on
the SULTANA. -R.W.]
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| RE .2:
While the fall of New Orleans was certainly a major blow to the
Confederacy, I think it is stretching things to claim that it "lost"
the war. For that to be true, you would have to show that the event
either made all subsequent military outcomes "inevitable" (which is a
difficult proposition to prove!), or that it somehow placed the
Confederacy in a position from which no recovery was possible.
As to the second, while New Orleans was a major port, it was not the
only one the South had. Wilmington, N.C. actually saw more tonnage
during the war, I think. You might even make a case that the South
benefited more with N.O. in Federal hands, because while it was
blockaded _no_ cotton moved through it, but once the North took it a
thriving cotton/salt trade started running across Lake Ponchartrain.
MikeR
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