Letters

Sultana tragedy holds record, not Eastland disaster

To the editor:

Today I received the November-December Illinois Heritage and the 2007 "Illinois Visions" calendar. While I really enjoy the calendar, I did find one glaring error. The Eastland is featured for the month of July with this notation: "More than 800 people...lost their lives in the accident, the worst maritime disaster on the inland waterways."

Most accounts put the Eastland death toll at 812. However, it is not the worst maritime disaster on the inland waterways. That unfortunate distinction belongs to the Sultana disaster.

The Sultana was a sidewheeler built in 1863 in Cincinnati to haul cotton. She carried a crew of 85 and following the fall of Vicksburg had a regular run between St. Louis and New Orleans. On April 21, 1865, the Sultana left New Orleans with about 100 passengers (she was registered to carry a maximum of 376 people, including crew) and a cargo of sugar and cattle.

At Vicksburg, repairs were made to a badly leaking boiler. There, Union soldiers recently released from Confederate prisons began to board the boat. Captain J.C. Mason, who was a part owner of the boat, was paid $5 for each enlisted man and $10 for each officer by the War Department. He never objected when more than 2,000 men crowded aboard his boat. The boat did make Memphis the night of April 26, 1865, and then took on coal at a station on the Arkansas side of the river. At about 2 a.m., a boiler exploded. Many died instantly, while others died while jumping or drowned. The U.S. Census put the death toll at 1,547, but many estimates set the toll as high as 1,700. The World Book Almanac for 2007 gives the death count as 1,450. In any event, the Sultana disaster far exceeds the Eastland tragedy and ranks as the worst maritime disaster on the inland waterways.

Sadly the Sidtana all too often is ignored. I would ask that you help rectify this in a small way by running a correction in the next issue of Illinois Heritage. The men who died on the Sultana deserve no less.

Thank you for your consideration. Leigh Morris
Arenzville

Editor's note: Thanks much for your letter and the correction. The Illinois Visions caption for the Eastland Disaster also mistakenly states that most of the Eastland victims were employees of the General Electric Company. They were employees of the Western Electric Company.

3 Illinois Heritage