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Washington, DC – Today U.S. Representative Vic Snyder (AR-02) spoke on the House floor regarding H.Res. 329, the resolution he introduced recognizing the anniversary of the tragic accident of the steamboat ship SS Sultana. It passed this evening by a unanimous vote of 393 to 0.
April 27 marks the 144th anniversary of this tragic historic event in America. Americans are very familiar with the sinking of the Titanic and its loss of 1,522 lives; but the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history was in fact the sinking of the Sultana on April 27, 1865. Approximately 1800 died.
Because the Sultana disaster occurred during the pivotal month of April, 1865, it never received the attention it deserved. On April 9, at Appomattox Courthouse General Robert E. Lee surrendered. Five days later President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. On April 26, John Wilkes Booth was caught and killed. The long Civil War was over; America was tired of the carnage of war and focused its energy on restoring a wounded nation.
The Sultana, designed to hold less than 400 people, was loaded with over 2400 people, most whom were Union prisoners of war recently released from Andersonville and Cahaba POW camps. The disaster occurred at 2 a.m. just north of Memphis, shortly after loading additional coal in Hopefield, Arkansas, when one of the steamship's boilers exploded spreading fire that soon engulfed the entire vessel.
"As we continue to enhance the care we provide to our troops, improve military and civilian oversight, and pay tribute to our veterans, the anniversary of the SS Sultana sinking is a reminder that our nation has long benefited from the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, and we must support them with the best resources, equipment and services." said Congressman Vic Snyder.
There are three books on the subject, Disaster on the Mississippi (Naval Institute Press, 1996) by Gene Eric Salecker, The Sultana Tragedy (Pelican Publishing, 1992) by Jerry O. Potter, and Sultana (Smithsonian Books, 2009) by Alan Huffman.
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