the Sultanna

[Shorty]

On this day, 1865, the steamboat Sultanna exploded on the Mississippi River killing some 1400 "Union POW's".  I read this in the paper.
I'm confused.  If that boat was under Confederate command, the meaning would be clear.  If the boat were under US command, would not "Union POW's" be Confederates?  Otherwise, they would be "former POW's" being repatriated to the North.  Semantics can be fun.  I wish it were taught in journalism school.
   :roll:

[Jim N Mo.]

The Sultana was a privately owned ship that was paid per head to return Union Soldiers , who had spent months to 1 1/2 years in Confederate prisons camps , to the North . Most of these Soldiers were from the MidWest . The ship was suppose to handle about 375 passengers but was loaded with over 2,200 soldiers and civilians . About 2:00A.M. just north of Memphis the boilers exploded and caught the boat on fire . To make matters worse , the river was beyond flood stage and pitch dark . Between the explosion , the steam , the fire , the cold water and the fact that many people did not know how to swim during that period over 1,700 died . Hundreds of these died of their burns after being rescued . A real tragedy but as it was just weeks after Lee surrendered and Lincoln's death the story did not make the news it should of . A great book on this is "Disaster on the Mississippi " by Gene Eric Salecker .
  Jim N Mo.

[doc_kreipke]

I first learned about this incident just a couple of years ago in an unusual way. Every Halloween up here in Zionsville, we have a ghost walk similar to the thingeys you can do in Gettysburg. Ghosts of regional real people, of course. That year, a hapless local Union soldier who perished on the Sultana showed up as a character and related the tale of the doomed vessel. I hadn't heard about it until then.

[nabob]

Come all you young fellows where'er you be.
Come sit down awhile and listen to me.
It's of a great riverboat, Sultana her name.
She's sunk to the bottom and death brought her fame.

It was April 24th of 1865.
On the Father Of Waters, side-wheelers did glide.
From New Orleans to St. Louis town,
Right on her schedule, she glided on down.

Yes, the month it was April, the day 24.
Brave Union soldiers at Vicksburg did board,
All sick and pale but happy at last,
To be out of their prisons and goin' home fast.

They jammed into corners and slept side by side,
As they talked about home and the warm fireside,
All bound for Cairo in old Illinois,
2000 soldiers, some women, and boys.

Now, the old Mississippi had risen so high,
That o'er the big valley, flood waters did rise.
Trees and houses adrift in the stream.
Could be seen only faintly in the dull moonbeams.

She landed at Memphis on April 26th,
Gave care to the wounded and care to the sick.
Some stronger soldiers unloaded her hold,
Carried out canned goods and bodies so cold.

Then all hell broke loose as on they did sail.
The boilers gave way and their bindings did fail.
As great an explosion as ever was seen
Coursed through the night 'mid yells and 'mid screams.

Now, some said the boiler just failed to hold.
Some said that the rebels torpedoed the coal.
No true explanation could ever be found,
And the moans of the 1900 still sound.

This story is true, I swear to you all.
None can deny it, no one at all.
The mighty Mississippi was destined to be
The scene of the greatest disaster at sea.