Sultana Disaster

 ship wreck, steamboat, interesting place, historical layer / disappeared object, American Civil War 1861-1865

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Somewhere in this soybean field lie the remains of the steamboat Sultana. April 27, 1865 the steamboat departed Memphis grossly overloaded. Headed north for Cairo, IL. Most of the passengers were former POWs recently released from Confederate prison camps at Andersonville, GA and Cahaba, AL. Normally carrying 350 passengers and 80 crew, she was this night loaded with nearly 2500 passengers, plus cargo. Exact figures uncertain. At 2:00am about 8 miles above Memphis her boilers exploded. That and the subsequent fire destroyed much of the ship. Over 1500 are believed to have been killed, either through the explosion, fire, or drowning. Remains of the vessel drifted to this area, where they were gradually covered over by the shifting course of the Mississippi River.