THE SULTANA TRAGEDY THE WORST MARITIME DISASTER IN U.S. HISTORY
1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast
Jon Hagadorn
4.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2024
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On April 27th, 1865, the steamboat Sultana, carrying over 2000 passengers, including over 1900 recently released Union soldiers, many of them weak and haggard from imprisonment at Andersonville and other camps, blew three boilers and caught fire, causing those aboard to die instantly or jump overboard. Also aboard were paid passengers, confederate soldiers, and a team of Christian nurses tending to the weakest and sickest prisoners. Less than half of the passengers survived. Corruption, mismanagement, greed, and very likely sabotage were responsible for this tragic incident. This is the story, with eyewitness accounts.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Oh, Welcome back everyone to one thousand one heroes, legends, histories and mysteries |
| 0:36.2 | podcast this is your host John Hagadorn. Today we begin the story of the |
| 0:41.4 | tragic sinking of the steamboat sultana on April 27th, |
| 0:45.6 | 1865, which was carrying 1,960 Union prisoners of war who had been released from the Confederate prisons at Andersonville, Georgia and Kahaba, Alabama, and a full crew, as well as a group of Christian women who accompanied the men to provide care for the weak and malnourished prisoners who needed help the most. |
| 1:05.2 | Of the 2,128 persons who were jammed aboard the overcrowded steamer when the boilers exploded, |
| 1:12.4 | 1,169 of them lost their lives after being tossed or forced to jump from the fiery boat into the frigid waters of the Mississippi River. |
| 1:20.0 | Many bodies were never found. The disaster was quickly overshadowed by historic events |
| 1:26.8 | as General Lee had surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appamatics on April night, and the newspapers were focused on that as well as on the |
| 1:36.1 | assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington DC a |
| 1:40.4 | story which became more intense every day as the plot was revealed and the search for |
| 1:45.7 | John Wilkes Booth on his colleagues intensified. |
| 1:50.0 | To a nation which had been pounded with news of war and death and now the loss of a beloved |
| 1:54.8 | president. |
| 1:56.2 | The news of the sinking of a boat full of pre-union prisoners? |
| 1:59.8 | Unfortunately and sadly was just a passing headline |
| 2:04.8 | We'll tell the whole story here and it's a story not only of the will to survive but of greed |
| 2:11.0 | corruption mismanagement and very possibly sabotage. |
| 2:15.3 | And yes, there are a number of theories which account for that, as well as a deathbed confession |
| 2:20.2 | from a southern agent who claimed responsibility for the sinking of a number of Union boats, including the sultana. |
| 2:27.0 | We will also bring into survivor accounts which recall a panic and fear experienced by those who lived through the explosion and the aftermath. |
| 2:36.1 | Men who were already severely weakened by malnutrition in deadly Confederate prison camps. |
| 2:42.2 | The Sultana tragedy is an incredible story of survival |
... |
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