1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:02,690 - [Announcer] Funding for "Remember the Sultana" 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:02,690 --> 00:00:04,620 is made possible by a gift 4 00:00:04,620 --> 00:00:06,760 from the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection 5 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,250 and Insurance Company, part of Munich RE 6 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 7 00:00:09,250 --> 00:00:12,460 and founded in 1866 to help business, 8 00:00:12,460 --> 00:00:16,950 industry, and institutions reduce risk and prevent loss, 9 00:00:16,950 --> 00:00:19,190 by a gift from First Tennessee, 10 00:00:19,190 --> 00:00:20,880 a financial services company 11 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,020 celebrating its next 150 years, 12 00:00:24,020 --> 00:00:25,660 and by the generous support 13 00:00:25,660 --> 00:00:28,193 of nearly 1,000 Kickstarter backers. 14 00:00:29,180 --> 00:00:30,542 (metallic clanging) 15 00:00:30,542 --> 00:00:33,502 (waves lapping) 16 00:00:33,502 --> 00:00:36,335 (paddle thumping) 17 00:00:37,403 --> 00:00:40,736 (ship's bells clanging) 18 00:00:43,631 --> 00:00:46,464 (whistle hooting) 19 00:00:47,770 --> 00:00:51,530 - [Narrator] Early on the morning of April 27th, 1865, 20 00:00:51,530 --> 00:00:53,800 the sidewheeler steamboat, Rodolf, 21 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,750 navigated its way northward on the Mississippi River. 22 00:00:56,750 --> 00:01:00,930 Standing at the bow: 13-year-old deckhand, Louis Rosche, 23 00:01:00,930 --> 00:01:03,143 gazed out on the waters before him. 24 00:01:04,330 --> 00:01:06,530 - [Louis] The war had ended. 25 00:01:06,530 --> 00:01:08,400 The great cotton fields of Dixie, 26 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,120 rutted by the wheels of caisson cannons, 27 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,453 once more were being marked with neat furrows. 28 00:01:15,230 --> 00:01:17,700 Normal passenger traffic was being reestablished 29 00:01:17,700 --> 00:01:19,520 between the North and South, 30 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,490 and people weary by four long, bloody years 31 00:01:22,490 --> 00:01:23,483 sought to forget. 32 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,560 Many of the victorious regiments were now returning home 33 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:29,761 by steamboat. 34 00:01:29,761 --> 00:01:30,950 (whistle tooting) 35 00:01:30,950 --> 00:01:33,280 The weather was perfect that day. 36 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:34,973 We were just below Memphis. 37 00:01:35,820 --> 00:01:37,440 I had developed a boatman's habit 38 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:38,720 of keeping a weather-eye ahead 39 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:40,650 for anything on the river, 40 00:01:40,650 --> 00:01:44,330 and suddenly, I spotted a floating object. 41 00:01:44,330 --> 00:01:46,637 I shaded my eyes with my hands and watched it. 42 00:01:46,637 --> 00:01:47,878 (angelic vocalizing) 43 00:01:47,878 --> 00:01:50,023 It was the body of a boy, face down. 44 00:01:51,290 --> 00:01:53,400 I was about to signal the pilothouse 45 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:55,763 when I saw the body of a woman, too. 46 00:01:56,740 --> 00:02:00,611 One of her legs was hanging downward into the water, bare. 47 00:02:00,611 --> 00:02:02,683 The other leg had a stocking on it. 48 00:02:03,710 --> 00:02:06,860 Then suddenly, a call, a shout. 49 00:02:06,860 --> 00:02:09,673 The river was full of bodies floating like cordwood, 50 00:02:10,870 --> 00:02:12,510 all of them dressed in the uniform 51 00:02:12,510 --> 00:02:15,630 of Union soldiers. 52 00:02:15,630 --> 00:02:18,547 (whistle blasting) 53 00:02:25,759 --> 00:02:28,426 (bell clanging) 54 00:02:29,950 --> 00:02:33,670 - [Narrator] The Sultana is a story of endings, 55 00:02:33,670 --> 00:02:38,260 the last days of war, the end of slavery, 56 00:02:38,260 --> 00:02:39,573 the death of a president, 57 00:02:40,410 --> 00:02:43,943 and the end of terrible suffering and captivity. 58 00:02:45,130 --> 00:02:48,050 The river was supposed to take them home. 59 00:02:48,050 --> 00:02:52,120 At war for over four years, battle after battle, 60 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:56,303 by the end of April, 1865, over half a million dead. 61 00:02:57,534 --> 00:02:58,450 (military drumming music) 62 00:02:58,450 --> 00:03:01,410 By the early spring of 1861, 63 00:03:01,410 --> 00:03:03,060 it appeared that the United States 64 00:03:03,060 --> 00:03:05,053 was inexorably headed to war. 65 00:03:05,930 --> 00:03:08,920 However, this time, the nation was going 66 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:11,790 to war against itself. 67 00:03:11,790 --> 00:03:14,170 Ironically known as the Civil War, 68 00:03:14,170 --> 00:03:16,390 it would set neighbor against neighbor, 69 00:03:16,390 --> 00:03:19,973 father against son, and brother against brother. 70 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,213 They were from the Heartland, the Bluegrass, Appalachia, 71 00:03:26,330 --> 00:03:29,983 from deep in the Hoosiers' nest, and homes made of buckeye. 72 00:03:30,950 --> 00:03:34,640 First-, second-, and third-generation Americans, 73 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:36,695 true born Sons of Liberty who would, 74 00:03:36,695 --> 00:03:41,560 in the Spring of 1861, answer President Lincoln's call 75 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:42,913 to preserve the Union. 76 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,580 - My great-great-grandfather was Adam Schneider. 77 00:03:46,580 --> 00:03:50,340 He came to Cincinnati in 1854, with his wife 78 00:03:50,340 --> 00:03:52,080 sort of under a cloud. 79 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,790 He lived in Ingelheim am Rhein in Germany, 80 00:03:54,790 --> 00:03:57,100 and he was a part of a conspiracy 81 00:03:57,100 --> 00:03:59,540 to assassinate the prince of Prussia 82 00:03:59,540 --> 00:04:01,950 as he rode through Ingelheim. 83 00:04:01,950 --> 00:04:04,170 My great-great-grandfather drew the short straw 84 00:04:04,170 --> 00:04:06,580 and it was his job to assassinate him. 85 00:04:06,580 --> 00:04:09,698 So, he took a shot at him from the side of the road, 86 00:04:09,698 --> 00:04:11,990 and missed. 87 00:04:11,990 --> 00:04:16,165 There was a big trial, and he ended up being judged 88 00:04:16,165 --> 00:04:18,310 (speaks in foreign language), not guilty, 89 00:04:18,310 --> 00:04:22,010 but that was because he was tried in his home territory. 90 00:04:22,010 --> 00:04:23,930 And obviously, things got a little hot 91 00:04:23,930 --> 00:04:26,800 for him over there, and they immigrated to Cincinnati. 92 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,210 - [Narrator] At age 42, Adam Schneider was drafted 93 00:04:30,210 --> 00:04:32,660 into the 183rd Ohio. 94 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:35,080 He was captured at the Battle of Franklin, 95 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:36,903 in November, 1864. 96 00:04:38,170 --> 00:04:39,860 George Washington Carney, 97 00:04:39,860 --> 00:04:42,860 originally conscripted into the Confederate Army, 98 00:04:42,860 --> 00:04:45,113 switched sides during the war. 99 00:04:46,220 --> 00:04:48,650 - My great-great-grandfather actually was mustered 100 00:04:48,650 --> 00:04:52,150 into the 59th Infantry 101 00:04:52,150 --> 00:04:55,120 of the Confederate States Army, initially, 102 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:56,880 and so he lived in East Tennessee. 103 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,240 He was an orphan, and as an orphan, 104 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:00,620 you were a ward of the state, 105 00:05:00,620 --> 00:05:03,910 and so we believe the state kind of provoked him 106 00:05:03,910 --> 00:05:07,920 into joining the Confederate states, initially. 107 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,130 He came here and was captured at Champion Hill 108 00:05:11,130 --> 00:05:13,300 in the early fighting, 1862, 109 00:05:13,300 --> 00:05:15,930 by Grant's Army, and then our records show 110 00:05:15,930 --> 00:05:18,210 that he basically disappeared for about 12 months, 111 00:05:18,210 --> 00:05:22,760 probably laid low before being coerced 112 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:24,957 to join the Union forces, 113 00:05:26,164 --> 00:05:29,850 the 3rd Cavalry of Tennessee, Company K. 114 00:05:29,850 --> 00:05:32,590 - My Sultana ancestor was Daniel Garber, 115 00:05:32,590 --> 00:05:34,880 102nd Ohio, Company E. 116 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,570 There's a story that was in one of the Ohio newspapers 117 00:05:38,570 --> 00:05:41,970 and it featured Daniel, and his picture 118 00:05:41,970 --> 00:05:44,130 with a rifle, when he joined up, 119 00:05:44,130 --> 00:05:46,360 leaving a wife and six children. 120 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,150 And the phrase was, "going to see the elephant," 121 00:05:49,150 --> 00:05:50,930 and I think you still see it occasionally, 122 00:05:50,930 --> 00:05:53,700 about looking for a sense of adventure, 123 00:05:53,700 --> 00:05:57,950 that this was gonna to be a short-term lark, 124 00:05:57,950 --> 00:05:59,223 something exciting. 125 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:01,573 And of course, it wasn't, 126 00:06:02,620 --> 00:06:04,663 not in the way they maybe thought. 127 00:06:05,570 --> 00:06:07,090 - [Narrator] They marched to the front, 128 00:06:07,090 --> 00:06:09,740 unit by unit, cavalry and infantry 129 00:06:09,740 --> 00:06:12,750 covering hundreds of miles on foot and horseback, 130 00:06:12,750 --> 00:06:14,800 preparing for the fight. 131 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,530 And fight they did, 132 00:06:16,530 --> 00:06:21,320 at Chickamauga, Stones River, Missionary Ridge, 133 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:26,083 Sulphur Trestle, the Battle of Franklin, Gettysburg, 134 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,157 Beyond the victorious, the wounded, 135 00:06:29,157 --> 00:06:31,430 and those killed in action, 136 00:06:31,430 --> 00:06:33,537 thousands of soldiers on both sides 137 00:06:33,537 --> 00:06:35,423 were captured in battle. 138 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,558 For the Union soldiers seized, 139 00:06:38,558 --> 00:06:41,080 there were two final destinations: 140 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,550 Confederate prison camps in Andersonville, Georgia 141 00:06:44,550 --> 00:06:46,790 and Cahaba, Alabama. 142 00:06:46,790 --> 00:06:49,410 - We know they were holding prisoners here 143 00:06:49,410 --> 00:06:50,550 from the Battle of Shiloh, 144 00:06:50,550 --> 00:06:53,040 which was 1862, and we have a lot of accounts 145 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,020 left by those men. 146 00:06:55,020 --> 00:06:58,320 Course, it was a very different situation in '62. 147 00:06:58,320 --> 00:06:59,420 Some of the men that were here said 148 00:06:59,420 --> 00:07:01,590 they were allowed to walk around town. 149 00:07:01,590 --> 00:07:02,930 They went into the some of the stores. 150 00:07:02,930 --> 00:07:03,880 They went into the press. 151 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,530 They borrowed books, like a lending library 152 00:07:06,530 --> 00:07:09,490 at the newspaper editor's office. 153 00:07:09,490 --> 00:07:11,710 They flirted with the girls. 154 00:07:11,710 --> 00:07:16,070 A girl threw flowers at them and blew them a kiss. 155 00:07:16,070 --> 00:07:19,670 Very different than if the prisoners that where here in '65, 156 00:07:19,670 --> 00:07:20,840 much more difficult. 157 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:22,920 Not the same situation at all. 158 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:24,390 The attitude to the war at the beginning 159 00:07:24,390 --> 00:07:26,260 was very different in this community 160 00:07:26,260 --> 00:07:28,020 than it was towards the end, also. 161 00:07:28,020 --> 00:07:30,960 - Well, at the high points of Andersonville's operation, 162 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,550 August of 1864, there was more than 33,000 men 163 00:07:34,550 --> 00:07:37,340 held in an area that was 26-and-a-half acres. 164 00:07:37,340 --> 00:07:38,940 At that point of the war, 165 00:07:38,940 --> 00:07:41,560 had it been established an actual city, 166 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:42,950 it would've been the fifth largest city 167 00:07:42,950 --> 00:07:44,470 in the Confederacy. 168 00:07:44,470 --> 00:07:46,410 The disease was rampant, 169 00:07:46,410 --> 00:07:49,450 because of the large area and the latrine area 170 00:07:49,450 --> 00:07:53,290 was at such a low spot, so far from so many of the prisoners 171 00:07:53,290 --> 00:07:55,400 that with the sickness of diarrhea and dysentery, 172 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,020 that just getting there was a huge issue, and just... 173 00:08:00,290 --> 00:08:03,983 You can only imagine the ground conditions. 174 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,490 As far as the individuals, the lack of food, 175 00:08:07,490 --> 00:08:09,230 dying men everywhere, in August. 176 00:08:09,230 --> 00:08:11,560 At the high point, there was more than 100 a day dying, 177 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,010 so you can imagine just the corpses to be carried. 178 00:08:15,010 --> 00:08:16,760 - [Narrator] With dwindling rations, 179 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,870 facing the rain and occasional winter snowfall, 180 00:08:19,870 --> 00:08:23,183 each day in the camps became a brutal fight for survival. 181 00:08:24,450 --> 00:08:26,880 - [J. Walter] Oh, the suffering from cold, 182 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,700 hunger, and the petty tyranny of cowards, 183 00:08:30,700 --> 00:08:33,770 clothed with a little brief authority. 184 00:08:33,770 --> 00:08:35,740 The stench of rotten meat, 185 00:08:35,740 --> 00:08:38,470 of which we had not half enough to eat, 186 00:08:38,470 --> 00:08:41,570 the bitter, bitter feeling that our country 187 00:08:41,570 --> 00:08:44,330 had abandoned us to our fate, 188 00:08:44,330 --> 00:08:47,000 refusing to exchange because it would be 189 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,830 exchanging able-bodied soldiers for us 190 00:08:49,830 --> 00:08:52,493 who were starved until we could be of no service. 191 00:08:53,550 --> 00:08:57,550 J. Walter Elliott, Company E, 10th Regiment, Indiana, 192 00:08:57,550 --> 00:08:58,773 Volunteer Infantry. 193 00:09:00,170 --> 00:09:02,330 - [Narrator] As the weeks and months dragged on, 194 00:09:02,330 --> 00:09:04,000 casualties mounted. 195 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,330 From February to October, 1864, 196 00:09:07,330 --> 00:09:09,420 over 10,000 were lost, 197 00:09:09,420 --> 00:09:12,960 nearly a third of the camp's population. 198 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,950 One of the prisoners, Lieutenant John Clark Ely 199 00:09:15,950 --> 00:09:20,950 of the 183rd Ohio, kept a diary during his confinement. 200 00:09:21,100 --> 00:09:23,693 - [John] December 27th, 1864. 201 00:09:24,810 --> 00:09:27,163 Prison life has commenced in dim form, 202 00:09:28,140 --> 00:09:31,683 all its dirt, dullness, and eagerness for food. 203 00:09:32,940 --> 00:09:34,363 December 31st. 204 00:09:35,230 --> 00:09:37,793 The usual scenes: catching lice. 205 00:09:39,060 --> 00:09:40,833 Someone stole our mess last night. 206 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,163 January 3rd, rain, again. 207 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,373 January 26th, so cold. 208 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:51,863 Men die, every day. 209 00:09:53,523 --> 00:09:56,190 (birds singing) 210 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,030 - [Eliza] My heart aches for the poor wretches, 211 00:10:03,030 --> 00:10:04,603 Yankees though they are, 212 00:10:06,090 --> 00:10:09,570 and I am afraid God will suffer some terrible retribution 213 00:10:09,570 --> 00:10:12,893 to fall upon us for letting such things happen. 214 00:10:14,370 --> 00:10:17,410 If the Yankees ever come to Southwest Georgia 215 00:10:17,410 --> 00:10:20,683 and to Andersonville, and see the graves there, 216 00:10:21,900 --> 00:10:23,773 God have mercy on the land. 217 00:10:25,170 --> 00:10:27,333 Eliza Frances Andrews. 218 00:10:30,630 --> 00:10:33,100 - [Narrator] By early March, 1865, 219 00:10:33,100 --> 00:10:36,560 it was evident that the South was losing the war. 220 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:38,670 With Union forces preparing to move 221 00:10:38,670 --> 00:10:42,170 against the Confederate stronghold at Petersburg, Virginia, 222 00:10:42,170 --> 00:10:45,120 Cahaba and Andersonville prison camps began 223 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,200 to give up their occupants. 224 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,300 - In the Spring we had the first flood 225 00:10:49,300 --> 00:10:50,990 that inundated this town. 226 00:10:50,990 --> 00:10:53,220 The whole town was under water. 227 00:10:53,220 --> 00:10:55,770 We had 3,000 men held captive in the space 228 00:10:55,770 --> 00:10:59,040 that was only 200 feet by 125 feet, 229 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:00,870 so they were practically shoulder-to-shoulder, 230 00:11:00,870 --> 00:11:03,450 and now the water has come up, 231 00:11:03,450 --> 00:11:06,480 and they had to cook their own meals, 232 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,310 and mostly what they got was cornmeal. 233 00:11:09,310 --> 00:11:11,450 So, they're standing in water. 234 00:11:11,450 --> 00:11:13,450 They all have diarrhea. 235 00:11:13,450 --> 00:11:15,560 It was just a horrible, horrible situation, 236 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:18,220 and so that's when they decided to move them 237 00:11:18,220 --> 00:11:20,610 away from here and take them to a parole camp 238 00:11:20,610 --> 00:11:21,920 in Vicksburg. 239 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,910 - Well, I picture in my mind having 240 00:11:24,910 --> 00:11:28,150 to experience the end of the war myself. 241 00:11:28,150 --> 00:11:31,810 the joy that was in their heart and the expectation 242 00:11:31,810 --> 00:11:35,470 of going home and seeing their friends, and their family, 243 00:11:35,470 --> 00:11:37,030 and rejoicing together, 244 00:11:37,030 --> 00:11:42,010 even though they were in a miserable state a lot of 'em, 245 00:11:42,010 --> 00:11:43,877 but they were happy to be out of the prison 246 00:11:43,877 --> 00:11:46,040 and on the way home. 247 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,160 - [Joseph] There was never a happier lot of men 248 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:50,260 that marched out of Andersonville Prison 249 00:11:50,260 --> 00:11:54,193 on March 20th, 1865 on the way to freedom, 250 00:11:55,870 --> 00:11:58,340 not that any of them were in a physical condition 251 00:11:58,340 --> 00:11:59,880 to cause happiness, 252 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:01,787 but because of the horrors they were leaving 253 00:12:01,787 --> 00:12:05,200 and the comforts they hoped soon to find. 254 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,010 The rosiest dreams of children on Christmas Eve 255 00:12:08,010 --> 00:12:09,590 are no fairer than the visions 256 00:12:09,590 --> 00:12:12,050 that floated through their minds. 257 00:12:12,050 --> 00:12:13,073 I was one of them. 258 00:12:14,470 --> 00:12:17,300 There was no ceremony about our release, 259 00:12:17,300 --> 00:12:19,070 we were simply told that the hour 260 00:12:19,070 --> 00:12:20,990 of our deliverance had come, 261 00:12:20,990 --> 00:12:22,700 and were marched up to the railroad 262 00:12:22,700 --> 00:12:24,423 to await the train to Montgomery. 263 00:12:25,950 --> 00:12:28,210 Coming like cattle across an open field 264 00:12:28,210 --> 00:12:32,110 were scores of men, nothing but skin and bones 265 00:12:32,110 --> 00:12:34,023 hobbling along as best they could. 266 00:12:35,060 --> 00:12:37,480 Every gaunt face with its staring eyes 267 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,740 told the story of the suffering. 268 00:12:39,740 --> 00:12:42,923 Protruding bones showed through their tattered garments. 269 00:12:44,180 --> 00:12:46,090 One might have thought that the grave 270 00:12:46,090 --> 00:12:49,010 and the sea had given up their dead. 271 00:12:49,010 --> 00:12:51,020 There was hardly a station on the road 272 00:12:51,020 --> 00:12:53,990 where we did not leave the remains of some poor fellow 273 00:12:53,990 --> 00:12:55,883 to be buried by strangers. 274 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,370 How hard to die in the morning of their deliverance. 275 00:13:01,370 --> 00:13:04,503 After a wearisome march, we came to the Big Black. 276 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,760 We had to wait till the ferryman had orders 277 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:09,350 to take us over. 278 00:13:09,350 --> 00:13:11,660 We were probably more patient in doing so 279 00:13:11,660 --> 00:13:13,910 because we could see the Stars and Stripes 280 00:13:13,910 --> 00:13:15,283 floating over the camp. 281 00:13:16,210 --> 00:13:19,310 It was too far away to even see the stripes, 282 00:13:19,310 --> 00:13:21,790 but we knew it was the old flag, 283 00:13:21,790 --> 00:13:23,300 and as it floated out, 284 00:13:23,300 --> 00:13:26,393 I felt that I loved it as I never had before. 285 00:13:27,460 --> 00:13:29,730 Long may it wave. 286 00:13:29,730 --> 00:13:31,920 Lieutenant Joseph Taylor Elliott, 287 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,423 124th Indiana Infantry, Company C. 288 00:13:38,262 --> 00:13:39,095 (bugle tooting) 289 00:13:39,095 --> 00:13:41,100 - [Narrator] Waiting on the other side of the river 290 00:13:41,100 --> 00:13:44,580 was Camp Fisk, designated as a holding area 291 00:13:44,580 --> 00:13:47,250 for 5,000 Union soldiers released 292 00:13:47,250 --> 00:13:49,250 by Confederate forces. 293 00:13:49,250 --> 00:13:51,130 - These men were in horrible shape. 294 00:13:51,130 --> 00:13:53,870 Many of them weighed less than 100 pounds, 295 00:13:53,870 --> 00:13:55,860 and they had all sorts of diseases, 296 00:13:55,860 --> 00:13:58,570 especially those from Andersonville. 297 00:13:58,570 --> 00:14:01,240 And when they got to Vicksburg, and Camp Fisk, 298 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,100 even though they were still prisoners, 299 00:14:03,100 --> 00:14:05,820 they were under control of the Union Army, 300 00:14:05,820 --> 00:14:09,830 so they got new uniforms, they were fed. 301 00:14:09,830 --> 00:14:11,100 - [Narrator] Eight days later, 302 00:14:11,100 --> 00:14:14,320 Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered 303 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:18,200 to the Union forces commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant 304 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:20,643 at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. 305 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,810 The news would not reach the soldiers 306 00:14:23,810 --> 00:14:27,893 at Camp Fisk until April 13th, four days later. 307 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,340 To celebrate, the Union forces at Camp Fisk 308 00:14:32,340 --> 00:14:34,533 joined in a 100-gun salute. 309 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,560 Four years of devastating Civil War 310 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,513 were at long last, finally over. 311 00:14:42,850 --> 00:14:44,650 Now it fell to the Union commander 312 00:14:44,650 --> 00:14:47,750 of the Department of Mississippi, in Vicksburg, 313 00:14:47,750 --> 00:14:51,480 Major General Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana, 314 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:53,610 to get the men home. 315 00:14:53,610 --> 00:14:56,520 With the rail lines throughout the South in tatters, 316 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:01,070 it was decided to send them North by steamboat. 317 00:15:01,070 --> 00:15:04,660 On April 13th, the boat, which would ultimately transport 318 00:15:04,660 --> 00:15:09,520 the most POWs was leaving its home port in St. Louis 319 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:11,270 for the journey South. 320 00:15:11,270 --> 00:15:13,823 It was called the Sultana. 321 00:15:18,870 --> 00:15:23,870 In 1862, a former steamboat captain named Preston Lodwick 322 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:28,290 commissioned the Litherbury Boatyard in Cincinnati, Ohio 323 00:15:28,290 --> 00:15:30,770 to build two steamboats, 324 00:15:30,770 --> 00:15:34,913 the most prestigious ever built by owner, John Litherbury. 325 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,120 One would be named the Luminary. 326 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,240 Her big sister would be called Sultana. 327 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:45,520 - Because Sultana means a beautiful sultan woman. 328 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,493 He wanted it to be the most beautiful steamboat ever built. 329 00:15:49,570 --> 00:15:52,100 He funded the Sultana, 330 00:15:52,100 --> 00:15:54,960 took $80,000 out of his own pocket. 331 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,510 Through his experience of building 332 00:15:57,510 --> 00:15:59,830 and designing steamboats, 333 00:15:59,830 --> 00:16:01,603 he designed the Sultana. 334 00:16:02,580 --> 00:16:04,240 - [Narrator] Like Lodwick's former boat, 335 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,150 the Northern Belle, the new boat 336 00:16:06,150 --> 00:16:08,750 would be a side paddle-wheel steamer, 337 00:16:08,750 --> 00:16:12,850 large and elegant with a 1,000 ton capacity. 338 00:16:12,850 --> 00:16:13,900 When completed, 339 00:16:13,900 --> 00:16:17,400 the boat would carry up to 376 passengers 340 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:19,060 and a crew of 80. 341 00:16:19,060 --> 00:16:21,780 - A round-trip from Cincinnati to Wheeling 342 00:16:21,780 --> 00:16:23,083 would cost you $12, 343 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,870 and that was in the prestigious suites. 344 00:16:26,870 --> 00:16:28,210 Preston Lodwick furnished it 345 00:16:28,210 --> 00:16:31,873 with the most prestigious chandeliers of the time, 346 00:16:32,730 --> 00:16:33,973 actual silver. 347 00:16:34,870 --> 00:16:37,210 They had to have a Saturday 348 00:16:37,210 --> 00:16:40,890 where they took the Sultana downtown 349 00:16:40,890 --> 00:16:44,530 to the public landing to show the Sultana to the world. 350 00:16:44,530 --> 00:16:47,560 All the major newspapers from St. Louis, 351 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,580 Chicago, New York, 352 00:16:50,580 --> 00:16:55,053 they all come to Cincinnati to see the Sultana. 353 00:16:56,460 --> 00:17:00,300 - [Narrator] The Sultana was fifth boat to carry that name. 354 00:17:00,300 --> 00:17:03,090 The previous four Sultanas were all lost 355 00:17:03,090 --> 00:17:05,750 in fires and various accidents. 356 00:17:05,750 --> 00:17:08,480 Captain Lodwick was certain that his Sultana 357 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,060 would have better luck than the others. 358 00:17:11,060 --> 00:17:15,080 She was 260 feet long, 42 feet wide, 359 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:16,740 and ran the river at an average 360 00:17:16,740 --> 00:17:18,920 of nine to 10 miles per hour. 361 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,890 Preston Lodwick had big plans for his steamboat. 362 00:17:22,890 --> 00:17:24,240 - He constructed the Sultan 363 00:17:25,110 --> 00:17:28,330 for a run up the river to Pittsburgh. 364 00:17:28,330 --> 00:17:30,220 Actually it's a pleasure boat, 365 00:17:30,220 --> 00:17:33,740 to sometimes take cotton, sugar, pigs. 366 00:17:33,740 --> 00:17:37,210 His initial trial run to Pittsburgh, 367 00:17:37,210 --> 00:17:39,993 his smokestacks wouldn't clear Wheeling, West Virginia. 368 00:17:41,940 --> 00:17:45,470 - [Narrator] In 1864, the Sultana settled in 369 00:17:45,470 --> 00:17:48,490 to a St. Louis to New Orleans run 370 00:17:48,490 --> 00:17:51,490 under the command of J. Cass Mason, 371 00:17:51,490 --> 00:17:53,443 an early investor in the steamboat. 372 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:55,960 - When I finally found that photograph, 373 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,110 he looks like a kid instead of the villain I was expecting, 374 00:17:59,110 --> 00:18:00,750 but he was a daredevil. 375 00:18:00,750 --> 00:18:04,150 He like have the elk antlers on his boat, 376 00:18:04,150 --> 00:18:06,660 indicating that he was the fastest boat. 377 00:18:06,660 --> 00:18:09,900 He liked to get there the quickest. 378 00:18:09,900 --> 00:18:13,330 - [Narrator] The Sultana was one of 4,000 steamboats 379 00:18:13,330 --> 00:18:15,580 in operation during the war. 380 00:18:15,580 --> 00:18:18,700 Although indispensable to the American economy, 381 00:18:18,700 --> 00:18:22,510 they were notorious for having a relatively short lifespan, 382 00:18:22,510 --> 00:18:25,490 often lost to accidents. 383 00:18:25,490 --> 00:18:29,800 - [Jerry] The problem with steamboats during the Civil War 384 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,090 was that there were regulations, 385 00:18:32,090 --> 00:18:36,050 but during the war, those regulations were put aside 386 00:18:36,050 --> 00:18:38,170 for the urgency of the Army, 387 00:18:38,170 --> 00:18:40,633 in order to transport materials and men. 388 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,400 - [Narrator] The river many colorful characters 389 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,000 and all of them knew how unforgiving the river can be, 390 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:50,843 especially in the Spring. 391 00:18:51,990 --> 00:18:55,010 April, 1865 would also bring 392 00:18:55,010 --> 00:18:57,810 the pivotal closing events of the war. 393 00:18:57,810 --> 00:19:00,850 Throughout the conflict, Mississippi steamboats 394 00:19:00,850 --> 00:19:02,403 had played a critical role. 395 00:19:03,340 --> 00:19:06,110 - The Sultana had been used as a troop transport 396 00:19:06,110 --> 00:19:07,790 during the Vicksburg campaign, 397 00:19:07,790 --> 00:19:09,260 and there was a Confederate deserter 398 00:19:09,260 --> 00:19:11,270 that had deserted from Vicksburg, 399 00:19:11,270 --> 00:19:13,310 come over to Grant's lines, 400 00:19:13,310 --> 00:19:15,890 told him how many men General Pemberton had, 401 00:19:15,890 --> 00:19:18,900 and then he was sent North on the Sultana. 402 00:19:18,900 --> 00:19:20,280 It had been fired on a few times 403 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:21,740 by Confederate soldiers. 404 00:19:21,740 --> 00:19:23,610 Never really any bad damage, 405 00:19:23,610 --> 00:19:26,093 but just enough to give 'em a scare. 406 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:28,930 - [Narrator] Since the Union capture 407 00:19:28,930 --> 00:19:30,830 of Vicksburg the year before, 408 00:19:30,830 --> 00:19:33,790 river traffic resumed in earnest. 409 00:19:33,790 --> 00:19:36,430 The boats had become even more indispensable 410 00:19:36,430 --> 00:19:39,190 since the South's telegraph lines had been cut 411 00:19:39,190 --> 00:19:41,453 and its railroad corridors destroyed. 412 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,430 Having just been re-inspected in St. Louis, 413 00:19:45,430 --> 00:19:48,130 the Sultana was heading downriver for stop 414 00:19:48,130 --> 00:19:50,350 at Cairo, Illinois. 415 00:19:50,350 --> 00:19:54,250 It would arrive early on April 14th, Good Friday, 416 00:19:54,250 --> 00:19:59,076 and continue on the next morning, April 15th, 1865. 417 00:19:59,076 --> 00:20:00,300 (ship's bells ringing) 418 00:20:00,300 --> 00:20:02,183 The day was fateful. 419 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,180 The Sultana departed Cairo on the morning of April 15th, 420 00:20:10,180 --> 00:20:14,723 draped in black, its flag at half-staff, tolling its bell. 421 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,210 Arriving in Vicksburg, Captain Mason's runners 422 00:20:19,210 --> 00:20:21,440 immediately jumped ashore and ran 423 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,600 into the streets with the news. 424 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:25,943 Church bells soon began to ring. 425 00:20:27,540 --> 00:20:28,900 - [Alonzo] As we got up in the morning, 426 00:20:28,900 --> 00:20:32,390 we found the colors at half-mast. 427 00:20:32,390 --> 00:20:36,050 It was some time before we learned that the president 428 00:20:36,050 --> 00:20:38,130 had been assassinated. 429 00:20:38,130 --> 00:20:40,670 All thought of home was banished, 430 00:20:40,670 --> 00:20:42,653 and every man swore revenge. 431 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:46,320 - [Samuel] It caused greater grief than any defeat 432 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,820 we'd received while on the battlefield. 433 00:20:48,820 --> 00:20:51,300 For the remaining time, the assassination 434 00:20:51,300 --> 00:20:54,070 was the subject of heated conversation, 435 00:20:54,070 --> 00:20:56,993 and Southern sympathizers kept well out of our way. 436 00:20:59,860 --> 00:21:01,810 - [Narrator] As debate of the likely villains 437 00:21:01,810 --> 00:21:03,760 of the assassination began, 438 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,260 the first person to step aboard the Sultana in Vicksburg 439 00:21:07,260 --> 00:21:09,140 was Colonel Reuben Hatch, 440 00:21:09,140 --> 00:21:11,420 Quartermaster of the Mississippi Department 441 00:21:11,420 --> 00:21:13,210 for the Union Army. 442 00:21:13,210 --> 00:21:16,180 - He was from Springfield, Illinois. 443 00:21:16,180 --> 00:21:19,400 In Cairo, Illinois, early in the war, 444 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,690 he was an assistant quartermaster. 445 00:21:21,690 --> 00:21:24,640 He got caught taking bribes, 446 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,220 and Grant, who was the commander at Cairo 447 00:21:27,220 --> 00:21:28,740 at that particular time, 448 00:21:28,740 --> 00:21:30,470 was ready to court-martial him. 449 00:21:30,470 --> 00:21:31,610 They had evidence. 450 00:21:31,610 --> 00:21:32,580 Something happened, though. 451 00:21:32,580 --> 00:21:36,320 He never appeared before a military tribunal 452 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,520 to be court-martialed, because his brother. 453 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:41,780 O. M. Hatch was the Secretary of State 454 00:21:41,780 --> 00:21:43,550 for the State of Illinois, 455 00:21:43,550 --> 00:21:47,490 and was one of Lincoln's primary financial supporters 456 00:21:47,490 --> 00:21:50,220 during Lincoln's presidential campaigns, 457 00:21:50,220 --> 00:21:53,570 and it was O. M. Hatch that contacted President Lincoln 458 00:21:53,570 --> 00:21:57,420 and asked for Lincoln to intervene, which Lincoln did. 459 00:21:57,420 --> 00:22:00,200 He appointed a civilian commission. 460 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:01,720 Two of the three commissioners 461 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,030 were from the State of Illinois, 462 00:22:04,030 --> 00:22:06,850 and after they did their investigation, 463 00:22:06,850 --> 00:22:08,470 they concluded that Reuben Hatch 464 00:22:08,470 --> 00:22:11,750 was nothing more than an honest person. 465 00:22:11,750 --> 00:22:14,990 In January of 1865, Hatch appeared 466 00:22:14,990 --> 00:22:17,850 before an investigative committee in New Orleans 467 00:22:17,850 --> 00:22:20,390 to determine whether or not he was qualified 468 00:22:20,390 --> 00:22:22,340 to be an assistant quartermaster. 469 00:22:22,340 --> 00:22:25,180 He was tested on regulations and rules, 470 00:22:25,180 --> 00:22:27,850 and found to be just totally ignorant 471 00:22:27,850 --> 00:22:29,400 of all the regulations, 472 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,850 and they concluded, the board concluded 473 00:22:31,850 --> 00:22:34,970 that either he had had some type of mental disability 474 00:22:34,970 --> 00:22:38,530 or someone had been negligent in allowing him 475 00:22:38,530 --> 00:22:42,800 to remain in the Union Army as an assistant quartermaster. 476 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,900 Within a few weeks, he was appointed Chief Quartermaster 477 00:22:45,900 --> 00:22:47,690 for the Department of Mississippi 478 00:22:47,690 --> 00:22:49,840 and sent to Vicksburg. 479 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,040 - [Narrator] With the fall of the Confederate Army, 480 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,910 the Union prisoners at Camp Fisk were reclassified. 481 00:22:55,910 --> 00:22:59,080 No longer parolees, they were free men 482 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:00,840 to be mustered out of the military 483 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,220 at Camp Chase, Ohio as soon as possible. 484 00:23:04,220 --> 00:23:07,000 The responsibility for drawing up these rolls 485 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:11,490 fell to a senior adjutant, Captain Frederick Speed. 486 00:23:11,490 --> 00:23:13,330 - Frederick Speed volunteered 487 00:23:13,330 --> 00:23:17,250 to take over Captain Williams' place at Camp Fisk 488 00:23:17,250 --> 00:23:20,170 of organizing the prisoners and taking care of the prisoners 489 00:23:20,170 --> 00:23:23,910 and notifying Northern newspapers who was there. 490 00:23:23,910 --> 00:23:26,460 Captain Williams had gone up to Cairo, Illinois 491 00:23:26,460 --> 00:23:28,630 to the nearest telegraph in order 492 00:23:28,630 --> 00:23:30,300 to try to get some information 493 00:23:30,300 --> 00:23:31,847 about the exchange of prisoners. 494 00:23:31,847 --> 00:23:33,867 "Are they gonna send any Confederate soldiers 495 00:23:33,867 --> 00:23:36,187 "down to Vicksburg so that I can get them 496 00:23:36,187 --> 00:23:39,790 "to release the Northern soldiers, a man-to-man exchange?" 497 00:23:39,790 --> 00:23:41,870 While he was away, Speed volunteers. 498 00:23:41,870 --> 00:23:43,340 Speed does an admirable job. 499 00:23:43,340 --> 00:23:46,570 He sends lists of the prisoners up to St. Louis 500 00:23:46,570 --> 00:23:48,690 and they're published in the St. Louis newspapers. 501 00:23:48,690 --> 00:23:50,070 - [Narrator] Captain George Williams 502 00:23:50,070 --> 00:23:52,550 had his own dubious past. 503 00:23:52,550 --> 00:23:55,130 - George Williams had been kicked out of the Army 504 00:23:55,130 --> 00:23:57,140 in Memphis when he was in charge 505 00:23:57,140 --> 00:23:58,820 of a Confederate prison here, 506 00:23:58,820 --> 00:24:01,300 and when they made a surprise inspection, 507 00:24:01,300 --> 00:24:03,040 the conditions were so horrible, 508 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,000 they immediately booted him out of the Army. 509 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,330 But he was was a West Point graduate, 510 00:24:08,330 --> 00:24:11,280 and General Grant and General Sherman 511 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:15,810 came to his aid and he was allowed to rejoin the Army, 512 00:24:15,810 --> 00:24:17,720 and sent to Vicksburg. 513 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,070 - [Narrator] While Frederick Speed prepared his rolls, 514 00:24:20,070 --> 00:24:22,860 the Sultana left Vicksburg for New Orleans, 515 00:24:22,860 --> 00:24:25,570 bringing first word of Lincoln's assassination 516 00:24:25,570 --> 00:24:29,973 to the Crescent City upon its arrival, early on April 19th. 517 00:24:30,930 --> 00:24:34,260 While in port, Chief Engineer Nathan Wintringer 518 00:24:34,260 --> 00:24:37,200 supervised a routine cleaning and scraping 519 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,453 of the Sultana's troublesome boilers. 520 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,220 Meanwhile, other steamboats were working their way 521 00:24:43,220 --> 00:24:47,374 back up the river a day or two ahead of the Sultana. 522 00:24:47,374 --> 00:24:49,000 (boat whistle hooting) 523 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,460 Miles away, in the nation's capital, 524 00:24:51,460 --> 00:24:55,424 the body of Abraham Lincoln was leaving in a funeral train 525 00:24:55,424 --> 00:24:57,773 bound for the American Heartland. 526 00:24:58,900 --> 00:25:01,440 Back in New Orleans, with 40 passengers 527 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,030 and 80 crew members safely boarded, 528 00:25:04,030 --> 00:25:07,646 the Sultana's final, fateful voyage had also just begun. 529 00:25:07,646 --> 00:25:10,590 (whistle hooting) 530 00:25:10,590 --> 00:25:13,720 - When the Sultana arrived in Vicksburg 531 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,150 on the evening of April 23rd, 532 00:25:16,150 --> 00:25:20,100 the metal larboard boiler had developed a leak. 533 00:25:20,100 --> 00:25:22,000 - [Narrator] Aware of two recent repairs 534 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,410 on the Sultana's taxed boilers, 535 00:25:24,410 --> 00:25:26,550 Chief Engineer Nathan Wintringer 536 00:25:26,550 --> 00:25:28,520 informed Captain Mason 537 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:33,200 the boat could not depart Vicksburg without a third repair. 538 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,560 Captain Mason knew this could mean 539 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,770 losing the soldier transport job. 540 00:25:37,770 --> 00:25:41,370 - A section of the boiler had buckled 541 00:25:41,370 --> 00:25:43,580 and steam was escaping, 542 00:25:43,580 --> 00:25:46,760 so when the boat landed at Vicksburg, 543 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,420 the chief engineer and the captain 544 00:25:49,420 --> 00:25:52,390 got a local boilermaker by the name of R. G. Taylor 545 00:25:52,390 --> 00:25:54,230 to come and look at the boiler, 546 00:25:54,230 --> 00:25:56,900 And he told Captain Mason it would take several days 547 00:25:56,900 --> 00:25:59,290 to do a complete repair job, 548 00:25:59,290 --> 00:26:02,163 and Mason knew that if he didn't leave the following day 549 00:26:02,163 --> 00:26:04,810 that he would not get a load of prisoners. 550 00:26:04,810 --> 00:26:06,880 - Captain Mason wanted money. 551 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,230 The government was paying $5 per enlisted man 552 00:26:10,230 --> 00:26:12,810 and $10 per officer for the steamboat captains 553 00:26:12,810 --> 00:26:14,190 to carry them home. 554 00:26:14,190 --> 00:26:15,080 He wanted the money. 555 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:17,700 He needed the money, 'cause his boat was in ill repair 556 00:26:17,700 --> 00:26:19,820 and had bad boilers. 557 00:26:19,820 --> 00:26:23,150 He cuts a deal with Colonel Reuben Hatch, 558 00:26:23,150 --> 00:26:25,723 the chief quartermaster at Vicksburg. 559 00:26:26,667 --> 00:26:28,621 "If you give me enough men, I will make sure you 560 00:26:28,621 --> 00:26:30,077 "get a little bit of, 561 00:26:30,077 --> 00:26:31,520 "grease your palm." 562 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,470 - So he tried to convince R. G. Taylor 563 00:26:33,470 --> 00:26:36,980 to place a temporary patch over the buckled area, 564 00:26:36,980 --> 00:26:40,480 and initially, Taylor refused. 565 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:42,700 He actually walked off the boat, 566 00:26:42,700 --> 00:26:44,870 but for some reason, he came back, 567 00:26:44,870 --> 00:26:48,400 and he agreed, finally, to put a very small, thin patch 568 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,190 over the buckled area. 569 00:26:50,190 --> 00:26:53,270 And he was repairing, doing the repair work, 570 00:26:53,270 --> 00:26:55,940 as the men were being loaded on the Sultana 571 00:26:55,940 --> 00:26:58,340 during the day of April 24th. 572 00:26:58,340 --> 00:26:59,610 - At the time, R. G. Taylor 573 00:26:59,610 --> 00:27:03,060 noted that the the sheets on either side of the patch 574 00:27:03,060 --> 00:27:04,230 were in bad shape. 575 00:27:04,230 --> 00:27:06,040 They were burnt plates, 576 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:08,430 and he recommended that they be replaced. 577 00:27:08,430 --> 00:27:09,680 These were not replaced. 578 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,700 So therefore, we know that when the Sultana returned 579 00:27:12,700 --> 00:27:15,200 to service, the bulge was still there. 580 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:16,710 They just replaced the patch over it, 581 00:27:16,710 --> 00:27:18,790 and the two burnt plates that were suggested 582 00:27:18,790 --> 00:27:20,840 to be replaced were not. 583 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:22,000 (man shouting) 584 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:23,920 - [Narrator] The steamboat Henry Ames 585 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,990 departed Vicksburg prior to the Sultana's arrival 586 00:27:26,990 --> 00:27:29,590 with 1,300 soldiers onboard. 587 00:27:29,590 --> 00:27:31,800 Early on the morning of April 23rd, 588 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,677 Frederick Speed was surprised to discover the appearance 589 00:27:34,677 --> 00:27:37,920 of the Olive Branch, despite his orders 590 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,780 that he be notified of all steamboats docking in Vicksburg. 591 00:27:41,780 --> 00:27:46,150 Colonel Hatch had purposefully failed to notify Speed. 592 00:27:46,150 --> 00:27:48,270 By the end of the day, the Olive Branch 593 00:27:48,270 --> 00:27:51,990 would head North with another 700 prisoners. 594 00:27:51,990 --> 00:27:55,530 - Probably close to 2,000 people had already 595 00:27:55,530 --> 00:27:58,470 been shipped North, 2,000 men. 596 00:27:58,470 --> 00:28:03,160 When the Sultana arrived, the officer that was in charge 597 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,610 of the prisoner transfer, Captain Frederick Speed, 598 00:28:07,610 --> 00:28:11,450 had decided not to ship any men on the Sultana 599 00:28:11,450 --> 00:28:13,490 because he didn't have the records, 600 00:28:13,490 --> 00:28:17,300 which greatly angered Captain J. Cass Mason, 601 00:28:17,300 --> 00:28:19,560 and Mason went into Vicksburg and met 602 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,810 with Lieutenant Colonel Reuben Hatch, 603 00:28:22,810 --> 00:28:25,950 who had already promised Mason on his downriver trip 604 00:28:25,950 --> 00:28:29,430 a large load of prisoners for his upriver trip. 605 00:28:29,430 --> 00:28:32,250 And on the evening of April 23rd, 606 00:28:32,250 --> 00:28:36,540 Captain George Williams arrived back in Vicksburg. 607 00:28:36,540 --> 00:28:40,540 Now Williams had met with Speed that evening 608 00:28:40,540 --> 00:28:43,560 and convinced Speed that there really wasn't any reason 609 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,920 to prepare the paperwork in advance 610 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:47,880 of loading the men on the boat, 611 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,123 and the records could be prepared after the boat left. 612 00:28:52,170 --> 00:28:54,700 - [Narrator] At Camp Fisk, boarding of the first train 613 00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:57,140 to the Vicksburg wharf had begun. 614 00:28:57,140 --> 00:29:00,670 One by one, the name of each soldier was called. 615 00:29:00,670 --> 00:29:03,270 It took over two hours. 616 00:29:03,270 --> 00:29:06,730 - When Williams returns, he will take over the loading 617 00:29:06,730 --> 00:29:09,000 of the Sultana at the dock. 618 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,760 Captain Williams stands at the dock and counts the men 619 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:13,560 as the go on board. 620 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:17,350 Speed was out at Camp Fisk putting the men on trains 621 00:29:17,350 --> 00:29:19,890 that were taking them into Vicksburg. 622 00:29:19,890 --> 00:29:21,390 He goes off to lunch. 623 00:29:21,390 --> 00:29:23,800 In the meantime, a second train showed up. 624 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,760 He misses that train, which carried about 700 men. 625 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:28,720 He is around for the third train, 626 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:30,440 but the same thing happened on the other end. 627 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,880 Captain Williams was that the Sultana 628 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:34,940 when the first trainload arrives. 629 00:29:34,940 --> 00:29:37,240 He then hears that there's bribery taking place, 630 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,270 and he believes that it's Speed taking the bribe, 631 00:29:40,270 --> 00:29:42,350 and thinks he's delaying people at Camp Fisk 632 00:29:42,350 --> 00:29:44,270 until another steamboat can come up. 633 00:29:44,270 --> 00:29:46,690 So, George Williams leaves the Sultana 634 00:29:46,690 --> 00:29:50,200 to go into town to make a formal complaint to General Dana. 635 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,240 In the meantime, the second train arrives, 636 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,660 and those 700 men are now put onboard the Sultana. 637 00:29:55,660 --> 00:29:57,880 So, Speed did not know they were there. 638 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,280 Neither did Williams know that they were there. 639 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:02,840 Speed then finishes up with the last of the soldiers, 640 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:07,140 believing there's about 1,400, maybe 1,500 men 641 00:30:07,140 --> 00:30:08,300 on board the Sultana, 642 00:30:08,300 --> 00:30:11,203 when really there's about 2,200, 2,300. 643 00:30:12,340 --> 00:30:14,370 - [Narrator] Mason return to the Sultana 644 00:30:14,370 --> 00:30:17,660 just as Frederick Speed dutifully sent a telegram 645 00:30:17,660 --> 00:30:21,060 to Camp Fisk that summarized the agreement: 646 00:30:21,060 --> 00:30:23,810 Special Order 140. 647 00:30:23,810 --> 00:30:26,280 - Mason, the part-owner of the Sultana, 648 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,750 and master of the Sultana had bribed 649 00:30:28,750 --> 00:30:31,620 some of the military officers at Vicksburg 650 00:30:31,620 --> 00:30:34,350 in order to be certain that he was gonna get 651 00:30:34,350 --> 00:30:36,670 not only a large load of prisoners, 652 00:30:36,670 --> 00:30:39,840 but all the remaining prisoners at Vicksburg. 653 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,730 There were two other steamboats at Vicksburg, 654 00:30:42,730 --> 00:30:44,850 they were actually larger than the Sultana, 655 00:30:44,850 --> 00:30:47,160 that wanted a portion of the men, 656 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,480 and those two steamboats went North 657 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:51,860 with a total of 17 passengers. 658 00:30:51,860 --> 00:30:54,450 And the Sultana left Vicksburg 659 00:30:54,450 --> 00:30:57,610 with probably closer to 2,500. 660 00:30:57,610 --> 00:31:00,650 Prisoner after prisoner talked about hearing the sound 661 00:31:00,650 --> 00:31:03,860 of hammering coming from the boiler area 662 00:31:03,860 --> 00:31:05,400 of the boat, and they were concerned. 663 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:07,070 And well they should have been, 664 00:31:07,070 --> 00:31:08,610 because when he finished the work, 665 00:31:08,610 --> 00:31:12,810 R. G. Taylor told Mason the boiler was not safe, 666 00:31:12,810 --> 00:31:15,000 but Mason assured Taylor 667 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,080 that he would have a complete repair job 668 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,220 when the boat arrived in St. Louis. 669 00:31:20,220 --> 00:31:22,980 - [Narrator] Despite the crowding, a handful of new, 670 00:31:22,980 --> 00:31:24,880 paying customers came aboard, 671 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:27,870 including 30-year-old Ann Annis, 672 00:31:27,870 --> 00:31:30,453 traveling with her husband and young daughter. 673 00:31:31,310 --> 00:31:35,120 - Harvey and Ann had a private quarters 674 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,280 but the Army paid for it. 675 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,530 On his way in, Harvey did tell them 676 00:31:40,530 --> 00:31:42,480 that the upper deck was sagging 677 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:44,020 and they should put more supports, 678 00:31:44,020 --> 00:31:45,110 and they did that, 679 00:31:45,110 --> 00:31:47,490 which means that it was already loaded. 680 00:31:47,490 --> 00:31:51,480 - One man, John Clark Ely, was with the 115th Ohio. 681 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:53,620 He kept a diary during the war. 682 00:31:53,620 --> 00:31:57,560 On April 24th, 1865, he wrote 683 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,570 that he was boarding the Sultana, 684 00:31:59,570 --> 00:32:02,760 a large but not very nice boat. 685 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:04,520 - [Gene] At one point, I think Captain Mason 686 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:05,640 does get a little worried 687 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:07,990 because when his decks start to sag 688 00:32:07,990 --> 00:32:10,120 and they have to put bracing under the decks, 689 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:12,740 I think he's worried that his Sultana's gonna fall apart 690 00:32:12,740 --> 00:32:15,170 because it was in ill repair to begin with. 691 00:32:15,170 --> 00:32:17,957 But at that point, the Union officers in charge say, 692 00:32:17,957 --> 00:32:18,790 "We're loading this. 693 00:32:18,790 --> 00:32:20,107 "We're putting everybody on board. 694 00:32:20,107 --> 00:32:22,000 "It's out of your hands now." 695 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,790 I think Captain Williams was very culpable 696 00:32:24,790 --> 00:32:26,830 for overloading it. 697 00:32:26,830 --> 00:32:29,940 Again, he did not know how many people were on board 698 00:32:29,940 --> 00:32:31,790 'cause he had missed the second train, 699 00:32:31,790 --> 00:32:34,570 but he was the one who got his dander up 700 00:32:34,570 --> 00:32:36,767 and said, "I'm loading this and every last soldier 701 00:32:36,767 --> 00:32:37,877 "is going on board. 702 00:32:37,877 --> 00:32:39,397 "They're not going on any other vessel. 703 00:32:39,397 --> 00:32:41,477 "I don't care who's bribing who." 704 00:32:42,550 --> 00:32:44,060 - [Narrator] Major William Fidler, 705 00:32:44,060 --> 00:32:46,770 a commander with the 6th Kentucky Cavalry 706 00:32:46,770 --> 00:32:49,950 launched a formal complaint on behalf of the soldiers 707 00:32:49,950 --> 00:32:51,930 to Captain George Williams. 708 00:32:51,930 --> 00:32:53,810 - And Williams ignores him 709 00:32:53,810 --> 00:32:55,067 and basically says, "I'm in charge. 710 00:32:55,067 --> 00:32:56,957 "I'm putting everybody on board." 711 00:32:56,957 --> 00:32:58,437 "You can't put them on the other boats 712 00:32:58,437 --> 00:33:00,960 "because the other boats have smallpox." 713 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,160 And of course, the prisoners in their weakened condition 714 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:07,520 were more afraid of disease than being crowded on a vessel. 715 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,430 - A lot of the prisoners didn't feel comfortable 716 00:33:10,430 --> 00:33:12,860 with the very crowded conditions 717 00:33:12,860 --> 00:33:15,270 because there was really very little room 718 00:33:15,270 --> 00:33:18,510 to lie down to sleep, and there was one one cook stove 719 00:33:18,510 --> 00:33:21,130 for all the soldiers on board the boat. 720 00:33:21,130 --> 00:33:24,060 The Army really didn't provide a doctor, 721 00:33:24,060 --> 00:33:26,200 and a lot of these men were sick. 722 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:27,730 And a lot of them had written home 723 00:33:27,730 --> 00:33:29,200 that they were going home, 724 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:30,610 and they were anticipating, 725 00:33:30,610 --> 00:33:33,090 as bad as the conditions were, 726 00:33:33,090 --> 00:33:34,823 they looked at that boat, many of them, 727 00:33:34,823 --> 00:33:37,277 most of them, as their salvation 728 00:33:37,277 --> 00:33:39,810 from the horrors of war, 729 00:33:39,810 --> 00:33:41,140 and it was gonna to take 'em home 730 00:33:41,140 --> 00:33:43,734 to be with their family and friends again. 731 00:33:43,734 --> 00:33:45,100 (gentle piano music) 732 00:33:45,100 --> 00:33:47,710 - [Narrator] With the sun setting and loading of the Sultana 733 00:33:47,710 --> 00:33:48,980 nearly complete, (bosun's whistle tweets) 734 00:33:48,980 --> 00:33:52,640 the Pauline Carroll put on steam and left Vicksburg 735 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:55,334 with only 17 civilian passengers. 736 00:33:55,334 --> 00:33:56,370 (ship's bell clangs) 737 00:33:56,370 --> 00:33:59,410 The Lady Gay, docked next to the Sultana, 738 00:33:59,410 --> 00:34:01,583 departed carrying no one. 739 00:34:03,980 --> 00:34:06,680 One hour, later at nine p.m., 740 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,500 the Sultana was finally underway 741 00:34:09,500 --> 00:34:12,440 with over 2,500 souls aboard, 742 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,180 including a seven-foot alligator 743 00:34:15,180 --> 00:34:16,613 housed in a wooden crate. 744 00:34:17,750 --> 00:34:21,670 Sergeant Alexander Brown, 2nd Cavalry Ohio, 745 00:34:21,670 --> 00:34:25,460 struck up a conversation with the Sultana's first clerk, 746 00:34:25,460 --> 00:34:27,450 William Gambrel. 747 00:34:27,450 --> 00:34:29,010 - [Alexander] We had quite a chat, 748 00:34:29,010 --> 00:34:31,040 and he seemed to take quite an interest 749 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,210 in my prison experiences. 750 00:34:34,210 --> 00:34:36,420 I broke in on his questioning to find out 751 00:34:36,420 --> 00:34:38,820 how many they were on the boat. 752 00:34:38,820 --> 00:34:42,897 He replied, "2,400 soldiers, 100 citizens, 753 00:34:42,897 --> 00:34:45,807 "and a crew of about 80. 754 00:34:45,807 --> 00:34:48,607 "In all, over 2500." 755 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,163 If we arrived safe at Cairo, 756 00:34:53,570 --> 00:34:55,640 it would be the greatest trip ever made 757 00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:59,243 on western waters, as there were more people on board 758 00:34:59,243 --> 00:35:03,283 than were ever carried on one boat on the Mississippi River. 759 00:35:04,940 --> 00:35:09,223 It is well, my friends, that we cannot see into the future. 760 00:35:11,457 --> 00:35:14,320 - [Narrator] "The main thing that occupied every mind," 761 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:19,277 wrote Chester Berry, "was home, the dearest spot on Earth." 762 00:35:20,450 --> 00:35:23,500 From his stateroom, Captain Will Friesner 763 00:35:23,500 --> 00:35:27,813 of Ohio's 58th Company K, took in the view. 764 00:35:27,813 --> 00:35:29,000 (steam hissing) 765 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:30,790 - [Will] We went merrily up the river, 766 00:35:30,790 --> 00:35:35,460 past homes with wide verandas, dark with shade, 767 00:35:35,460 --> 00:35:38,770 groups of deserted Negro cabins near, 768 00:35:38,770 --> 00:35:42,090 past the ugly miles of swampy bayous, 769 00:35:42,090 --> 00:35:45,200 miles of cottonwood brakes that could only raise 770 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,710 their leafy tops above the water, 771 00:35:47,710 --> 00:35:51,530 hamlets; rich, cotton land filled with the litter 772 00:35:51,530 --> 00:35:54,270 of former crops, and tumbled fences 773 00:35:54,270 --> 00:35:57,570 spun past us like a flood crest. 774 00:35:57,570 --> 00:36:00,449 We seemed sailing along the edge of the world. 775 00:36:00,449 --> 00:36:02,356 (whistle blasts) 776 00:36:02,356 --> 00:36:04,160 - I can't imagine what it must have been like 777 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,243 when they had nothing more than river water to drink, 778 00:36:08,210 --> 00:36:11,593 when there was no facilities that they could use. 779 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,693 Food was difficult to find, 780 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:20,773 but that didn't matter to them because they were going home. 781 00:36:22,690 --> 00:36:24,050 - [Narrator] While the prisoners grappled 782 00:36:24,050 --> 00:36:26,730 with life on the overcrowded boat, 783 00:36:26,730 --> 00:36:29,523 the Sultana confronted its own challenges. 784 00:36:30,610 --> 00:36:32,530 - Now, it's struggling against a flood current 785 00:36:32,530 --> 00:36:34,930 because the snows and such up in the North 786 00:36:34,930 --> 00:36:36,350 had started to melt. 787 00:36:36,350 --> 00:36:37,310 They go into the rivers. 788 00:36:37,310 --> 00:36:38,513 The rivers all flow into the Mississippi, 789 00:36:38,513 --> 00:36:43,410 and the Mississippi really is raging, a flood. 790 00:36:43,410 --> 00:36:46,060 At points, the river was three miles wide, 791 00:36:46,060 --> 00:36:48,330 because the levees had broken. 792 00:36:48,330 --> 00:36:51,050 The Chief Engineer Nathan Wintringer, 793 00:36:51,050 --> 00:36:54,620 and his assistant, a man named Samuel Clemens, 794 00:36:54,620 --> 00:36:57,830 who was not the famous Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens 795 00:36:57,830 --> 00:36:59,430 are working on the boilers. 796 00:36:59,430 --> 00:37:02,450 They're trying to keep the Sultana going at its usual rate, 797 00:37:02,450 --> 00:37:04,370 which to me is showing that they're 798 00:37:04,370 --> 00:37:07,440 really putting higher pressure on the boilers. 799 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,150 When you're fighting against the flood current 800 00:37:09,150 --> 00:37:12,420 and you're trying to maintain an average speed, 801 00:37:12,420 --> 00:37:14,060 you've gotta be pushing a little harder. 802 00:37:14,060 --> 00:37:16,810 It's just like a car trying to go up a hill. 803 00:37:16,810 --> 00:37:18,110 - [Narrator] Earlier that morning, 804 00:37:18,110 --> 00:37:21,170 the Sultana's itinerary included a brief stop 805 00:37:21,170 --> 00:37:24,660 in the small city of Helena, Arkansas. 806 00:37:24,660 --> 00:37:27,540 - At that point, an enterprising photographer, 807 00:37:27,540 --> 00:37:29,170 a man named T. W. Banks, 808 00:37:29,170 --> 00:37:30,497 sees the Sultana, and says, 809 00:37:30,497 --> 00:37:32,820 "Oh, my God, this is a fantastic sight." 810 00:37:32,820 --> 00:37:34,980 He goes to set up his camera 811 00:37:34,980 --> 00:37:37,480 and the soldiers saw this onboard, 812 00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:39,430 and of course, they all wanna be in the photograph, 813 00:37:39,430 --> 00:37:41,287 so they crowd to one side of the boat. 814 00:37:41,287 --> 00:37:43,040 The boat starts to tip. 815 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,717 Captain Mason of the Sultana had enough sense to say, 816 00:37:45,717 --> 00:37:47,647 "Be careful, we're gonna flip us over 817 00:37:47,647 --> 00:37:49,670 "or you're gonna cause an explosion." 818 00:37:49,670 --> 00:37:52,417 And Fidler went throughout the men telling them, 819 00:37:52,417 --> 00:37:55,370 "Keep in, keep in spot, don't move around." 820 00:37:55,370 --> 00:37:57,130 - [Erastus] Put yourself in our place 821 00:37:57,130 --> 00:37:59,830 and you may begin to realize what a happy lot we were. 822 00:38:01,130 --> 00:38:04,250 Those of us from Cahaba were used to being overcrowded, 823 00:38:04,250 --> 00:38:06,520 men who had suffered from hunger, disease, 824 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:10,253 and exposure of all kinds, all these things were forgotten. 825 00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:14,530 Each of us had sought some place of repose, 826 00:38:14,530 --> 00:38:16,860 whiled away the time gazing at the shifting scenes 827 00:38:16,860 --> 00:38:20,760 along the shore, playing little tricks on each other, 828 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:23,570 singing little songs, laughing and talking 829 00:38:23,570 --> 00:38:26,090 about the happy times we expected when we reached our homes, 830 00:38:26,090 --> 00:38:30,650 the warm and welcoming caresses of fathers, mothers, 831 00:38:30,650 --> 00:38:34,893 brothers, sisters, wives, sweethearts and friends. 832 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:37,760 Few of us dreamed of danger. 833 00:38:39,830 --> 00:38:42,280 - [Narrator] As the Sultana approached Memphis, 834 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,050 a group of 200 Union Cavalry men 835 00:38:45,050 --> 00:38:49,170 stationed on the bluffs above the city gave a loud cheer, 836 00:38:49,170 --> 00:38:51,134 and the men on the boat cheered back. 837 00:38:51,134 --> 00:38:52,880 (men cheering) 838 00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:55,480 - When the Sultana reaches Memphis, Tennessee, 839 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:59,030 it will unload 400,000 pounds of sugar 840 00:38:59,030 --> 00:39:00,080 from the hold. 841 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,400 Unfortunately Captain Mason, 842 00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:05,050 the chief mate, a man named Rowberry, 843 00:39:05,050 --> 00:39:08,000 and Nathan Wintringer, the chief engineer, 844 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,080 should've known that you need to replace that ballast. 845 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:13,907 You need to switch your load a little bit. 846 00:39:13,907 --> 00:39:17,640 The Sultana is top-heavy with all these soldiers on board. 847 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:19,110 It was top-heavy before. 848 00:39:19,110 --> 00:39:23,980 - When they landed at Memphis, my great-great-grandfather 849 00:39:23,980 --> 00:39:27,153 got off, along without about 200 other men, 850 00:39:28,582 --> 00:39:31,090 and according to oral history from the family, 851 00:39:31,090 --> 00:39:33,090 I don't have documentation, 852 00:39:33,090 --> 00:39:35,660 he didn't get back on the Sultana, 853 00:39:35,660 --> 00:39:39,197 but he stayed in town that night at a bar, 854 00:39:39,197 --> 00:39:40,030 where he was drinking. 855 00:39:40,030 --> 00:39:42,060 So, he missed the boat. 856 00:39:42,060 --> 00:39:43,940 - [Narrator] The Sultana was docked in Memphis 857 00:39:43,940 --> 00:39:47,800 for only a few hours while its cargo was unloaded. 858 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,360 Before leaving, the Sultana took on a handful 859 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:51,890 of additional passengers, 860 00:39:51,890 --> 00:39:54,330 including a newly-elected United States senator 861 00:39:54,330 --> 00:39:58,210 from Arkansas, and Private Epenetus McIntosh 862 00:39:58,210 --> 00:40:00,110 who had been assigned to the Henry Ames 863 00:40:00,110 --> 00:40:03,290 in Vicksburg two days before but was left behind 864 00:40:03,290 --> 00:40:06,060 during its brief stop in Memphis. 865 00:40:06,060 --> 00:40:08,960 A survivor of Andersonville, McIntosh weighed 866 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:12,547 less than 100 pounds, but he later noted, 867 00:40:12,547 --> 00:40:14,947 "could set a rebel back as quickly 868 00:40:14,947 --> 00:40:18,137 "as I could when in possession of all my powers." 869 00:40:18,990 --> 00:40:21,713 He'd soon need everything he had. 870 00:40:22,750 --> 00:40:24,410 - About 10 o'clock at night, 871 00:40:24,410 --> 00:40:27,000 the Sultana will go about a mile upriver 872 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,700 to some coal barges, where they will load up 873 00:40:29,700 --> 00:40:32,120 on 1,000 bushels of coal. 874 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:33,690 - [Narrator] There was one last passenger 875 00:40:33,690 --> 00:40:36,850 yet to come aboard: Private George Downing, 876 00:40:36,850 --> 00:40:39,070 who had written home from Camp Fisk 877 00:40:39,070 --> 00:40:42,460 and just received money from his family in Indiana 878 00:40:42,460 --> 00:40:46,070 had lost track of time and been left behind. 879 00:40:46,070 --> 00:40:47,870 - He had paid a couple of dollars 880 00:40:47,870 --> 00:40:49,190 for somebody to row him down. 881 00:40:49,190 --> 00:40:50,023 When he gets onboard, he says, 882 00:40:50,023 --> 00:40:51,787 "It's a good thing I had sent for that money 883 00:40:51,787 --> 00:40:54,900 "from my family, otherwise I would've been left behind." 884 00:40:54,900 --> 00:40:57,413 - [Narrator] It would cost him his life. 885 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:01,410 Shortly after midnight, the Sultana eased away 886 00:41:01,410 --> 00:41:04,540 from the coal barge and started upriver. 887 00:41:04,540 --> 00:41:07,550 An hour later, Captain Mason turned command 888 00:41:07,550 --> 00:41:11,010 over to his chief mate and went to bed. 889 00:41:11,010 --> 00:41:15,320 Meanwhile, passengers settled into an uneasy sleep. 890 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:17,270 - It's about two o'clock in the morning. 891 00:41:17,270 --> 00:41:20,470 The pilot in charge, George Cayton, at the pilot wheel, 892 00:41:20,470 --> 00:41:22,540 with this guy, William Rowberry, behind him, 893 00:41:22,540 --> 00:41:24,490 the chief mate. 894 00:41:24,490 --> 00:41:27,430 - [Narrator] Stephen Gaston, a veteran at age 15, 895 00:41:27,430 --> 00:41:30,540 having enlisted at 13, was on the top deck 896 00:41:30,540 --> 00:41:32,630 with his friend, William Block. 897 00:41:32,630 --> 00:41:35,060 They were gorging on the sugar they'd scraped up 898 00:41:35,060 --> 00:41:37,983 from a split barrel at the dock in Memphis. 899 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:40,630 - [Stephen] We filled everything we could find, 900 00:41:40,630 --> 00:41:42,800 intending to eat the sugar with our hardtack 901 00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:44,450 while going up the river. 902 00:41:44,450 --> 00:41:47,090 We'd stored it in front of the pilothouse at our heads, 903 00:41:47,090 --> 00:41:48,900 for we had made this place our bunk 904 00:41:48,900 --> 00:41:50,300 and turned in for the night. 905 00:41:51,710 --> 00:41:55,974 Our evening dreams were sweet, of home and loved ones. 906 00:41:55,974 --> 00:41:58,119 (soft snoring) 907 00:41:58,119 --> 00:42:01,270 - [Narrator] Erastus Winters slept alongside his comrades 908 00:42:01,270 --> 00:42:03,340 in the 50th Ohio. 909 00:42:03,340 --> 00:42:04,820 - [Erastus] We bunk together close to a spot 910 00:42:04,820 --> 00:42:07,990 just forward of the smokestacks on the cabin deck. 911 00:42:07,990 --> 00:42:09,680 At that drowsy time of early morning, 912 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:11,920 the majority of us were sleeping peacefully, 913 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,320 dreaming of home and the joys awaiting us there. 914 00:42:16,580 --> 00:42:18,410 - [Narrator] Major Will Fidler said goodnight 915 00:42:18,410 --> 00:42:20,653 to Captain Friesner under his command. 916 00:42:21,770 --> 00:42:24,690 - [Will] He assured me that he and another major 917 00:42:24,690 --> 00:42:28,410 were going to remain up and would attend to anything 918 00:42:28,410 --> 00:42:29,513 that might come up. 919 00:42:30,530 --> 00:42:33,903 We shook hands, and never met again. 920 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:37,400 - [Narrator] Private Phillip Horn of Ohio 921 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:39,860 was already deep in his slumber, somehow, 922 00:42:39,860 --> 00:42:41,980 at the base of a flight of stairs. 923 00:42:41,980 --> 00:42:45,750 - [Phillip] After I fell asleep, I knew but little, 924 00:42:45,750 --> 00:42:46,583 and then, 925 00:42:47,810 --> 00:42:52,080 I seem to live 1,000 years in a minute. 926 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:56,233 - At two o'clock in the morning, on April 27th, 1865, 927 00:42:56,233 --> 00:42:59,313 (high-pitched whistling) 928 00:42:59,313 --> 00:43:01,153 (explosive booming) 929 00:43:01,153 --> 00:43:04,070 (flames crackling) 930 00:43:11,571 --> 00:43:13,260 Out of the four boilers on board the Sultana, 931 00:43:13,260 --> 00:43:15,590 three of 'em will explode. 932 00:43:15,590 --> 00:43:16,890 - [Narrator] For the passengers, 933 00:43:16,890 --> 00:43:19,163 all is chaos and confusion. 934 00:43:20,550 --> 00:43:22,240 - [Joseph] Hurled into the river, 935 00:43:22,240 --> 00:43:24,930 covered with ashes, cinders of timber, 936 00:43:24,930 --> 00:43:26,160 I thought the rebels had fired us. 937 00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:27,650 - [Simeon] All those around me were skulls. 938 00:43:27,650 --> 00:43:29,700 - [George] Steam, brickbats, chunks of coal, 939 00:43:29,700 --> 00:43:31,310 came thick and fast. 940 00:43:31,310 --> 00:43:32,620 I gasped for breath. 941 00:43:32,620 --> 00:43:35,230 - The blast comes not from the weakened spot 942 00:43:35,230 --> 00:43:37,760 where the patch was, which was down below, 943 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:41,650 in the middle left-hand boiler, but from the back. 944 00:43:41,650 --> 00:43:44,070 Which boiler it was, nobody knows for sure 945 00:43:44,070 --> 00:43:46,780 'cause they disintegrate with the explosion, 946 00:43:46,780 --> 00:43:50,160 but the blast comes upward from the back of the boilers 947 00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:52,090 at about a 45-degree angle. 948 00:43:52,090 --> 00:43:52,960 - [William] A piece of timber ran 949 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:55,360 through my partner on deck, killing him instantly. 950 00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:57,890 - [Phillip] Lost, whirled into the air. 951 00:43:57,890 --> 00:44:00,920 - It tears through the bottom of the cabin deck 952 00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:02,300 where the staterooms are, 953 00:44:02,300 --> 00:44:04,240 rips up through the hurricane deck, 954 00:44:04,240 --> 00:44:06,200 rips up through the texas deck, 955 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:08,000 does not tear off the first part of it 956 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:10,550 'cause it's going at about a 45-degree angle. 957 00:44:10,550 --> 00:44:13,330 - [Dan] I was blown to the outer edge of the crater. 958 00:44:13,330 --> 00:44:16,290 Both my legs were broken at the ankle. 959 00:44:16,290 --> 00:44:20,060 All near the bow went up and down into the chasm. 960 00:44:20,060 --> 00:44:21,760 - Nathan Wintringer, who was off duty, 961 00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:23,040 is in the second stateroom. 962 00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:24,260 He survives. 963 00:44:24,260 --> 00:44:26,360 The blast hits the pilothouse, 964 00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:28,540 tears the pilothouse completely off. 965 00:44:28,540 --> 00:44:30,620 Chief mate Rowberry, who was sitting on a bench 966 00:44:30,620 --> 00:44:33,490 inside that pilothouse is blown outward 967 00:44:33,490 --> 00:44:35,410 and lands in the water. 968 00:44:35,410 --> 00:44:38,260 Pilot George Cayton, instead of going outward, 969 00:44:38,260 --> 00:44:41,530 goes straight up because he is at the edge 970 00:44:41,530 --> 00:44:43,190 of this 45-degree blast. 971 00:44:43,190 --> 00:44:44,780 He's blown up with the pilothouse, 972 00:44:44,780 --> 00:44:47,680 comes down with the wreckage, and lands in the hole 973 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:49,070 where the boilers were. 974 00:44:49,070 --> 00:44:51,720 - The entire center the boat was destroyed, 975 00:44:51,720 --> 00:44:53,430 almost like a volcano, 976 00:44:53,430 --> 00:44:56,630 and around the boilers, a lot of the sick man 977 00:44:56,630 --> 00:44:59,420 had been placed because it was warm, 978 00:44:59,420 --> 00:45:02,520 and a lot of those men were killed instantly. 979 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:05,800 The upper decks collapsed like a house of cards, 980 00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,710 trapping hundreds of men in the wreckage. 981 00:45:08,710 --> 00:45:10,620 - Clouds of steam were rolled back 982 00:45:10,620 --> 00:45:12,490 into the stern cargo area 983 00:45:12,490 --> 00:45:15,520 and down the cavernous salon. 984 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:18,840 In fact, the officers had been sleeping on their bunk beds 985 00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:19,900 in these salons. 986 00:45:19,900 --> 00:45:23,210 One of them, William McCown, will stand up, 987 00:45:23,210 --> 00:45:26,440 and as he sees this coming, his face is scalded, 988 00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:27,610 his arm is scalded. 989 00:45:27,610 --> 00:45:28,930 He takes a breath of air 990 00:45:28,930 --> 00:45:31,430 and he sucks in this superheated air, 991 00:45:31,430 --> 00:45:35,010 and ends up burning his lips and the mucus membrane 992 00:45:35,010 --> 00:45:36,000 off of his tongue. 993 00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:40,780 - Within 20 minutes, that entire superstructure was on fire, 994 00:45:40,780 --> 00:45:42,900 and there's story after story of men 995 00:45:42,900 --> 00:45:46,060 that could hear their friends screaming 996 00:45:46,060 --> 00:45:48,840 as the flames were drawing closer, 997 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:50,750 and there wasn't anything they could do, 998 00:45:50,750 --> 00:45:53,503 and they were relieved when the screaming stopped. 999 00:45:55,208 --> 00:45:57,500 - [William] I saw 100 sink through the roof 1000 00:45:57,500 --> 00:45:58,600 into the flames. 1001 00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:01,280 - [William] Agonizing shrieks, the stench of burning flesh. 1002 00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:03,530 - [Will] A mass of wreckage, kindling, 1003 00:46:03,530 --> 00:46:06,280 the boilers lay scattered in a bed of fire. 1004 00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:08,760 - [Arthur] Such hissing of steam, the crash of decks, 1005 00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:12,023 red-tongued flames bursting up through the mass of humanity. 1006 00:46:12,900 --> 00:46:15,830 - William McCown and Captain William Fidler 1007 00:46:15,830 --> 00:46:17,850 will go down to the lower decks, 1008 00:46:17,850 --> 00:46:19,300 looking for the fire buckets. 1009 00:46:19,300 --> 00:46:21,310 They figure they can put the fire out 1010 00:46:21,310 --> 00:46:24,260 before the fire gets out of control, 1011 00:46:24,260 --> 00:46:25,870 they can just float on the Sultana. 1012 00:46:25,870 --> 00:46:27,790 They can't find them because the soldiers 1013 00:46:27,790 --> 00:46:30,590 had used those fire buckets for fetching water 1014 00:46:30,590 --> 00:46:31,830 out of the Mississippi River. 1015 00:46:31,830 --> 00:46:34,240 They're not in the racks where they should be. 1016 00:46:34,240 --> 00:46:38,320 The soldiers, in that case, added to their own demise. 1017 00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:39,810 - [Joseph] I looked up to the ceiling 1018 00:46:39,810 --> 00:46:42,610 and saw the fire jumping from one cross-piece 1019 00:46:42,610 --> 00:46:44,920 to another in a way that made me think 1020 00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:47,240 of a lizard running along a fence. 1021 00:46:47,240 --> 00:46:48,540 - [Erastus] All was confusion. 1022 00:46:48,540 --> 00:46:50,280 Pandemonium reigned supreme. 1023 00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:51,860 - [Manley] I heard the officers give orders, 1024 00:46:51,860 --> 00:46:54,030 but soon saw that it was every man for himself. 1025 00:46:54,030 --> 00:46:56,630 - [William] I told my mates the boat was on fire. 1026 00:46:56,630 --> 00:46:59,930 Kenny got up, stepped backwards, and fell into the river. 1027 00:46:59,930 --> 00:47:01,073 Meade did likewise. 1028 00:47:02,050 --> 00:47:03,400 I've never seen them since. 1029 00:47:05,087 --> 00:47:09,270 - And the men that survived the initial explosion, 1030 00:47:09,270 --> 00:47:12,530 they had two choices: they could stay on the boat, 1031 00:47:12,530 --> 00:47:16,007 face the flames or they could try to jump into the river. 1032 00:47:16,007 --> 00:47:17,640 - The smokestacks are standing there, 1033 00:47:17,640 --> 00:47:20,940 and without any support, they start to tilt a little bit. 1034 00:47:20,940 --> 00:47:22,590 There's a bracing in between, 1035 00:47:22,590 --> 00:47:26,220 so as they start to tilt, one goes forward, one goes back. 1036 00:47:26,220 --> 00:47:27,690 The bracing eventually gives way. 1037 00:47:27,690 --> 00:47:32,290 The one smokestack falls backwards into the hole 1038 00:47:32,290 --> 00:47:34,020 where the explosion has occurred, 1039 00:47:34,020 --> 00:47:35,440 where the pilothouse used to be. 1040 00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:37,450 - [Narrator] Young Stephen Gaston and his friend, 1041 00:47:37,450 --> 00:47:40,490 William Block, saw the smokestack fall. 1042 00:47:40,490 --> 00:47:42,410 - [Stephen] I felt for Block and called his name, 1043 00:47:42,410 --> 00:47:43,453 but no answer came. 1044 00:47:44,330 --> 00:47:47,140 - The forward-falling smokestack falls directly 1045 00:47:47,140 --> 00:47:48,337 onto the center of the hurricane deck. 1046 00:47:48,337 --> 00:47:50,100 There was a bell in the center, 1047 00:47:50,100 --> 00:47:51,670 at the very front of the hurricane deck. 1048 00:47:51,670 --> 00:47:55,510 It hits this bell, splits in half, crushes that deck, 1049 00:47:55,510 --> 00:47:58,130 down onto the second deck, the cabin deck. 1050 00:47:58,130 --> 00:47:59,970 - [John] I was on the upper deck, 1051 00:47:59,970 --> 00:48:01,320 close to the bell. 1052 00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:04,170 A smokestack fell across it, split, and fell over, 1053 00:48:04,170 --> 00:48:07,490 killing Sergeant Smith, who laid by me. 1054 00:48:07,490 --> 00:48:10,740 - [P.S.] Hundreds of souls ushered into eternity. 1055 00:48:10,740 --> 00:48:12,810 - [Walter] Women and little children in night clothes, 1056 00:48:12,810 --> 00:48:15,670 confusion and horror, wringing their hands, 1057 00:48:15,670 --> 00:48:18,330 tossing their arms wildly in the air. 1058 00:48:18,330 --> 00:48:20,530 - Anybody behind the Flames is now worried 1059 00:48:20,530 --> 00:48:22,920 about catching fire, and they panicked. 1060 00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:24,910 So, you've got people from three different decks 1061 00:48:24,910 --> 00:48:28,060 jumping on top of each other, colliding, hitting, 1062 00:48:28,060 --> 00:48:30,070 grabbing once they get into the water. 1063 00:48:30,070 --> 00:48:32,070 - [Narrator] Harvey Annis, his wife, Ann, 1064 00:48:32,070 --> 00:48:34,170 and their four-year-old daughter, Belle, 1065 00:48:34,170 --> 00:48:36,810 watched the disaster unfold before them. 1066 00:48:36,810 --> 00:48:40,160 - Harvey Annis, the husband, looks outside of the stateroom, 1067 00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:42,920 sees the disaster, comes back into the stateroom, 1068 00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:45,720 ties a belt around himself, and a life belt 1069 00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:47,910 around his wife, Ann. 1070 00:48:47,910 --> 00:48:49,560 Put his child, Belle, on his back, 1071 00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:50,640 told her to hang on. 1072 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:53,690 - And he went to the stern and tied a rope, 1073 00:48:53,690 --> 00:48:57,210 and went down carrying the little girl, 1074 00:48:57,210 --> 00:49:00,210 and told Ann to follow. 1075 00:49:00,210 --> 00:49:04,900 Ann went down, and she was, 1076 00:49:04,900 --> 00:49:07,250 someone else jumped on top of her, 1077 00:49:07,250 --> 00:49:09,920 and she was knocked into the hole. 1078 00:49:09,920 --> 00:49:11,850 - Her life belt was knocked askew, 1079 00:49:11,850 --> 00:49:14,030 so she took some time to straighten it out. 1080 00:49:14,030 --> 00:49:16,020 In the meantime, Harvey Annis and Belle, 1081 00:49:16,020 --> 00:49:17,530 with Belle hanging onto his back, 1082 00:49:17,530 --> 00:49:19,490 climbed down, got into the water. 1083 00:49:19,490 --> 00:49:21,160 And he was peddling his way through the water 1084 00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:23,680 when other soldiers grabbed him 1085 00:49:23,680 --> 00:49:25,010 and little four-year-old Belle 1086 00:49:25,010 --> 00:49:26,190 and pulled them under. 1087 00:49:26,190 --> 00:49:28,870 And Ann Annis, standing on the lowest deck 1088 00:49:28,870 --> 00:49:30,770 of the Sultana, and fixing her life belt, 1089 00:49:30,770 --> 00:49:33,740 witnessed the death of her husband and four-year-old child. 1090 00:49:33,740 --> 00:49:37,360 - There's story after story of men jumping into the river, 1091 00:49:37,360 --> 00:49:39,330 and of course, it was dark, 1092 00:49:39,330 --> 00:49:42,670 and there was just a mass of drowning people. 1093 00:49:42,670 --> 00:49:47,120 The wise men actually waited until the people 1094 00:49:47,120 --> 00:49:49,190 that had initially jumped off the boat 1095 00:49:49,190 --> 00:49:52,010 had drowned or floated on past the wreckage, 1096 00:49:52,010 --> 00:49:54,906 then they broke things off the boat, 1097 00:49:54,906 --> 00:49:58,700 and floated towards Memphis, downstream. 1098 00:49:58,700 --> 00:50:00,470 - [Narrator] The explosion and fire 1099 00:50:00,470 --> 00:50:03,480 loosened the two paddle-wheel housings. 1100 00:50:03,480 --> 00:50:05,200 - One of them, I believe the left-hand side, 1101 00:50:05,200 --> 00:50:08,330 falls away first, and it's laying in the water. 1102 00:50:08,330 --> 00:50:10,880 It doesn't burn completely away from the hull, 1103 00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:12,660 and that's a problem because now, 1104 00:50:12,660 --> 00:50:14,350 the flood current hits that 1105 00:50:14,350 --> 00:50:16,430 and it gives the Sultana the appearance 1106 00:50:16,430 --> 00:50:18,930 of a bizarre outrigger canoe, 1107 00:50:18,930 --> 00:50:20,250 where the current is hitting that, 1108 00:50:20,250 --> 00:50:23,140 and now it's starting to spin the Sultana. 1109 00:50:23,140 --> 00:50:26,930 And with the flames being blown towards the stern, 1110 00:50:26,930 --> 00:50:29,920 the good thing was, is if you survive the initial rush 1111 00:50:29,920 --> 00:50:32,660 off of the bow, if you weren't pushed over or something, 1112 00:50:32,660 --> 00:50:34,527 you've realized, "Hey, wait, the flames 1113 00:50:34,527 --> 00:50:35,360 "aren't coming this way. 1114 00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:37,860 "We could just stand here and everything will be safe," 1115 00:50:37,860 --> 00:50:40,960 but now, as the Sultana starts to turn, 1116 00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:43,270 the Flames are still being blown, 1117 00:50:43,270 --> 00:50:44,830 we'll say, towards the south, 1118 00:50:44,830 --> 00:50:47,970 but with the Sultana turning and facing the south, 1119 00:50:47,970 --> 00:50:51,120 now that bow is downriver, and the flames 1120 00:50:51,120 --> 00:50:52,300 are blowing towards you. 1121 00:50:52,300 --> 00:50:54,290 - [Nathan] The boat was swinging around, 1122 00:50:54,290 --> 00:50:56,960 which would bring the heat from the fire near me. 1123 00:50:56,960 --> 00:51:00,640 I got a plank, eight feet long, eight inches wide, 1124 00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:03,883 held it a short time, thinking what was best to do. 1125 00:51:04,820 --> 00:51:08,120 Made up my mind I could swim better with my clothes off, 1126 00:51:08,120 --> 00:51:09,470 so off they came. 1127 00:51:09,470 --> 00:51:11,320 - [Adam] I was standing near the jackstaff 1128 00:51:11,320 --> 00:51:13,450 when the wind veered and set the flames 1129 00:51:13,450 --> 00:51:16,830 in a solid mass against us, sending us, 1130 00:51:16,830 --> 00:51:18,363 in a body, overboard. 1131 00:51:19,370 --> 00:51:20,913 I could not swim at all. 1132 00:51:22,090 --> 00:51:25,390 - Captain Mason, who survives the explosion, 1133 00:51:25,390 --> 00:51:29,720 will be seen on the top deck throwing some debris over, 1134 00:51:29,720 --> 00:51:31,980 seen on the second deck, or the cabin deck, 1135 00:51:31,980 --> 00:51:33,230 throwing some stuff over, 1136 00:51:33,230 --> 00:51:36,290 and actually on the lowest deck, throwing stuff over. 1137 00:51:36,290 --> 00:51:38,470 Some of the men will say, "Come on, it's time to get off," 1138 00:51:38,470 --> 00:51:40,617 and he's like, "No, no, no, I still have to help out. 1139 00:51:40,617 --> 00:51:42,050 "I still have to help out." 1140 00:51:42,050 --> 00:51:44,930 Whether he eventually jumped off or not, nobody knows, 1141 00:51:44,930 --> 00:51:47,660 'cause he will die in the disaster 1142 00:51:47,660 --> 00:51:50,010 and his body will never be found. 1143 00:51:50,010 --> 00:51:50,843 - [Joseph] I remained on the boat 1144 00:51:50,843 --> 00:51:52,540 until the fire burned me off. 1145 00:51:52,540 --> 00:51:55,620 Falling in, I sank, never expecting to rise again, 1146 00:51:55,620 --> 00:51:58,263 but by some mean, I came to the surface again. 1147 00:51:59,240 --> 00:52:01,840 I saw the Captain tearing off window shutters 1148 00:52:01,840 --> 00:52:04,480 and throwing them into the river for the boys. 1149 00:52:04,480 --> 00:52:06,510 I commenced swimming, dog fashion. 1150 00:52:06,510 --> 00:52:09,020 - About 400 people that had crowded onto the bow 1151 00:52:09,020 --> 00:52:10,600 thought it was safe. 1152 00:52:10,600 --> 00:52:14,090 - [Narrator] Soon, the right-hand paddle wheel burned away 1153 00:52:14,090 --> 00:52:16,380 causing a second panic. 1154 00:52:16,380 --> 00:52:19,380 - This time, however, there are no longer any debris, 1155 00:52:19,380 --> 00:52:22,470 any pieces, no gangplank, nothing to grab onto, 1156 00:52:22,470 --> 00:52:24,860 and now it becomes a life-or-death struggle 1157 00:52:24,860 --> 00:52:26,670 for these guys down below. (people shouting) 1158 00:52:26,670 --> 00:52:28,800 These are the guys that probably couldn't swim, 1159 00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:30,410 didn't want to get off the boat, 1160 00:52:30,410 --> 00:52:32,040 didn't have anything to grab onto, 1161 00:52:32,040 --> 00:52:34,470 and now, they have to get off. 1162 00:52:34,470 --> 00:52:36,550 - [Michael] I noticed Charlie Ogden of my company 1163 00:52:36,550 --> 00:52:37,870 who appeared dazed. 1164 00:52:37,870 --> 00:52:40,680 I told him he must go or he'd burn, 1165 00:52:40,680 --> 00:52:43,032 but he appeared to take no notice of what I said. 1166 00:52:43,032 --> 00:52:43,930 - [Soldier] No! 1167 00:52:43,930 --> 00:52:45,280 - [Michael] I felt the deck tottering, 1168 00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:47,730 ran, then sprang into the river, 1169 00:52:47,730 --> 00:52:49,800 and as I came to the surface, 1170 00:52:49,800 --> 00:52:53,850 the deck had fallen in and I have no doubt 1171 00:52:53,850 --> 00:52:56,010 Charlie perished in the flames. 1172 00:52:56,010 --> 00:52:58,410 - [Narrator] The massive inferno finally forced 1173 00:52:58,410 --> 00:53:01,610 the remaining survivors into the frigid waters. 1174 00:53:01,610 --> 00:53:03,000 - [William] It seemed to me as if the boat 1175 00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:04,880 were lying on its side. 1176 00:53:04,880 --> 00:53:06,780 - [Joseph] It looked like a huge bonfire 1177 00:53:06,780 --> 00:53:08,450 in the middle of the river. 1178 00:53:08,450 --> 00:53:10,600 The man who were afraid to take to the water 1179 00:53:10,600 --> 00:53:13,290 could be seen clinging to the sides of the boat 1180 00:53:13,290 --> 00:53:16,250 till they were singed off like flies. 1181 00:53:16,250 --> 00:53:17,887 Shrieks and cries for mercy-- 1182 00:53:17,887 --> 00:53:20,470 - Over here! - Were all the could be heard. 1183 00:53:20,470 --> 00:53:22,680 - Please! - My great-great-grandfather 1184 00:53:22,680 --> 00:53:25,860 jumped in the river and he was never seen again, 1185 00:53:25,860 --> 00:53:29,230 and my great-great-uncle made his way 1186 00:53:29,230 --> 00:53:30,600 to the front of the boat, 1187 00:53:30,600 --> 00:53:33,800 and they said there was a rope hanging down, 1188 00:53:33,800 --> 00:53:36,160 and he lowered himself down into the water. 1189 00:53:36,160 --> 00:53:38,740 There were a lot of people there, you know, 1190 00:53:38,740 --> 00:53:42,540 fighting for survival and clamoring with each other, 1191 00:53:42,540 --> 00:53:44,200 trying to stay afloat. 1192 00:53:44,200 --> 00:53:45,650 - [Manley] I went to the edge of the boat, 1193 00:53:45,650 --> 00:53:48,520 removed my shoes, pull my cap down, 1194 00:53:48,520 --> 00:53:50,550 and plunged into the water. 1195 00:53:50,550 --> 00:53:52,920 - Most of the debris will burn away, 1196 00:53:52,920 --> 00:53:55,180 and the flames do subside a little bit. 1197 00:53:55,180 --> 00:53:58,490 Some of these guys will climb back onto the bow, 1198 00:53:58,490 --> 00:54:01,670 and even pull some other people out of trees and such 1199 00:54:01,670 --> 00:54:06,013 until there's about 25 guys back onboard the bow. 1200 00:54:06,850 --> 00:54:08,450 - [Narrator] The remaining survivors 1201 00:54:08,450 --> 00:54:12,900 floated downriver clinging to any debris they could find. 1202 00:54:12,900 --> 00:54:15,410 - One soldier from 3rd Tennessee Cavalry 1203 00:54:15,410 --> 00:54:17,350 had gotten him off the boat 1204 00:54:17,350 --> 00:54:21,012 and was holding onto the tail of a swimming horse. 1205 00:54:21,012 --> 00:54:23,070 (horse whinnying) The swimming horse kept going 1206 00:54:23,070 --> 00:54:25,680 back towards the flaming wreckage, 1207 00:54:25,680 --> 00:54:27,620 and a dead mule floated by, 1208 00:54:27,620 --> 00:54:29,580 and this soldier got the dead mule, 1209 00:54:29,580 --> 00:54:31,000 and floated to Memphis. 1210 00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:32,490 And for the rest of his life, 1211 00:54:32,490 --> 00:54:35,403 he said that was the best horse trade he'd ever made. 1212 00:54:36,340 --> 00:54:40,750 - Private William Lugenbeal, Ohio 135th Infantry, 1213 00:54:40,750 --> 00:54:44,290 discovered the crate housing the Sultana's alligator 1214 00:54:44,290 --> 00:54:45,690 in a closet. 1215 00:54:45,690 --> 00:54:48,320 Running the alligator through with his bayonet, 1216 00:54:48,320 --> 00:54:51,070 Lugenbeal shoved the creature overboard, 1217 00:54:51,070 --> 00:54:54,193 grabbed the crate, and jumped into the flooded river. 1218 00:54:55,100 --> 00:54:56,680 - [William] I drew myself in it with my feet 1219 00:54:56,680 --> 00:54:58,720 out behind so that I could kick, 1220 00:54:58,720 --> 00:55:00,660 the edges of the box coming under each arm 1221 00:55:00,660 --> 00:55:02,740 as it was just wide enough for my breast, 1222 00:55:02,740 --> 00:55:04,830 and my arms coming over each edge. 1223 00:55:04,830 --> 00:55:08,580 So, you see, I was about as large as the alligator, 1224 00:55:08,580 --> 00:55:10,620 - [Jacob] I made a leap, diving head-first, 1225 00:55:10,620 --> 00:55:13,310 getting away without anyone catching hold of me. 1226 00:55:13,310 --> 00:55:16,140 Coming to the surface and getting my hair out of my face, 1227 00:55:16,140 --> 00:55:17,950 I looked back and could see quite a number 1228 00:55:17,950 --> 00:55:19,500 leaping from the boat. 1229 00:55:19,500 --> 00:55:21,010 As I drifted out of sight, 1230 00:55:21,010 --> 00:55:22,770 I could still see by the light of the boat, 1231 00:55:22,770 --> 00:55:24,150 persons clinging to her. 1232 00:55:24,150 --> 00:55:26,170 - [Nathan] It is as fresh in my memory today 1233 00:55:26,170 --> 00:55:29,010 as it was years ago, and I suppose 1234 00:55:29,010 --> 00:55:31,650 to you survivors, it is also. 1235 00:55:31,650 --> 00:55:33,310 - [William] I could hear the cries of those burned 1236 00:55:33,310 --> 00:55:34,781 and scalded, screaming all along the river-- 1237 00:55:34,781 --> 00:55:36,243 - I can't swim! - No! 1238 00:55:36,243 --> 00:55:38,930 - [William] Away in the distance, the burning boat. 1239 00:55:38,930 --> 00:55:40,660 - [J. Walter] We parted company with the wreck 1240 00:55:40,660 --> 00:55:44,140 and drifted into the darkness, alone. 1241 00:55:44,140 --> 00:55:46,830 - [Joseph] Icy cold, in every direction, 1242 00:55:46,830 --> 00:55:49,120 men shivering, calling for help, 1243 00:55:49,120 --> 00:55:51,730 the water carrying us swiftly downstream. 1244 00:55:51,730 --> 00:55:53,900 - [Narrator] Having survived the explosion, 1245 00:55:53,900 --> 00:55:56,520 the scalding steam, and intense fire, 1246 00:55:56,520 --> 00:55:59,240 the hundreds of sick and injured soldiers 1247 00:55:59,240 --> 00:56:02,313 now fought a new enemy: hypothermia. 1248 00:56:03,170 --> 00:56:06,900 - This is flood waters, winter runoff from the North 1249 00:56:06,900 --> 00:56:08,500 that has now flooded in Mississippi. 1250 00:56:08,500 --> 00:56:09,390 It's icy cold. 1251 00:56:09,390 --> 00:56:12,210 A lot of the soldiers that jumped into the water 1252 00:56:12,210 --> 00:56:14,000 did not realize how cold it was. 1253 00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:15,859 It saps what little strength they have. 1254 00:56:15,859 --> 00:56:18,560 Other soldiers are starting to fall asleep. 1255 00:56:18,560 --> 00:56:20,280 That's hypothermia setting in. 1256 00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:21,200 They don't realize it, 1257 00:56:21,200 --> 00:56:23,763 but they're starting to die from hypothermia. 1258 00:56:24,920 --> 00:56:29,430 - [George] The river, outer banks, the levees overflowed. 1259 00:56:29,430 --> 00:56:30,440 - [William] The dark prevented us 1260 00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:31,850 from seeing each other. 1261 00:56:31,850 --> 00:56:33,990 We couldn't tell which way to go. 1262 00:56:33,990 --> 00:56:35,370 - [William] And some were swimming, 1263 00:56:35,370 --> 00:56:38,290 others floating on driftwood, 1264 00:56:38,290 --> 00:56:40,660 and all conceivable kinds of raft, 1265 00:56:40,660 --> 00:56:41,960 anything that would float. 1266 00:56:43,210 --> 00:56:48,210 Praying, singing, laughing, swearing. 1267 00:56:48,750 --> 00:56:51,060 - [Narrator] Over an hour after the explosion, 1268 00:56:51,060 --> 00:56:53,273 help was finally on the way. 1269 00:56:54,170 --> 00:56:55,880 - There is a rescue boat that does come along, 1270 00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:57,970 the Bostonia II, to on its maiden voyage 1271 00:56:57,970 --> 00:56:59,290 on the Mississippi River. 1272 00:56:59,290 --> 00:57:00,620 They see a flame ahead of 'em. 1273 00:57:00,620 --> 00:57:02,050 As they get closer and closer, 1274 00:57:02,050 --> 00:57:03,690 they realize, oh, it looks like it's moving. 1275 00:57:03,690 --> 00:57:05,050 Maybe it's a steamboat. 1276 00:57:05,050 --> 00:57:06,630 As they got closer, they saw it 1277 00:57:06,630 --> 00:57:08,560 was not only a steamboat on fire, 1278 00:57:08,560 --> 00:57:11,140 but hundreds of heads and men in the water, 1279 00:57:11,140 --> 00:57:12,480 and leaping overboard. 1280 00:57:12,480 --> 00:57:15,047 Captain Watson will give the order, 1281 00:57:15,047 --> 00:57:17,160 "Throw anything overboard that can float." 1282 00:57:17,160 --> 00:57:20,910 When they eventually get about 250 people rescued, 1283 00:57:20,910 --> 00:57:22,537 Captain Watson decides, 1284 00:57:22,537 --> 00:57:25,327 "I'm gonna break off my rescue attempts. 1285 00:57:25,327 --> 00:57:27,567 "There's more people than I could ever rescue, 1286 00:57:27,567 --> 00:57:29,897 "and I'm gonna race downriver to Memphis 1287 00:57:29,897 --> 00:57:31,747 "and let other steamboats know." 1288 00:57:32,660 --> 00:57:34,700 - [Narrator] Captain Watson was unaware 1289 00:57:34,700 --> 00:57:37,280 that other rescue boats had already been alerted 1290 00:57:37,280 --> 00:57:38,273 to the disaster. 1291 00:57:39,440 --> 00:57:43,160 - One man, Wesley Lee from 102nd Ohio Infantry 1292 00:57:43,160 --> 00:57:45,860 had already floated seven miles downriver, 1293 00:57:45,860 --> 00:57:49,820 and as he floated past the darkened Memphis waterfront, 1294 00:57:49,820 --> 00:57:52,090 he started shouting and screaming for help, 1295 00:57:52,090 --> 00:57:54,130 and some guys on a steamboat hear him, 1296 00:57:54,130 --> 00:57:56,217 and will fish him out of the water and say, 1297 00:57:56,217 --> 00:57:57,427 "Gee, did you get caught in a flood? 1298 00:57:57,427 --> 00:57:58,260 "What happened?" 1299 00:57:58,260 --> 00:57:59,347 He says, "No, I was on the Sultana. 1300 00:57:59,347 --> 00:58:02,290 "The Sultana has exploded, and is burning, 1301 00:58:02,290 --> 00:58:03,710 and everybody's dying." 1302 00:58:03,710 --> 00:58:06,560 So, they start ringing their bells on their steamboats, 1303 00:58:06,560 --> 00:58:09,150 and up and down the river, suddenly bells are going off, 1304 00:58:09,150 --> 00:58:11,280 and the steamers are trying to build up their steam 1305 00:58:11,280 --> 00:58:13,230 in their boilers to get out into the river 1306 00:58:13,230 --> 00:58:15,670 to go up to rescue the Sultana victims. 1307 00:58:15,670 --> 00:58:17,580 In the meantime, they're sending rowboats, 1308 00:58:17,580 --> 00:58:19,740 and yawls, and stuff out into the water 1309 00:58:19,740 --> 00:58:22,160 to try to pick up these people that are now starting 1310 00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:24,803 to float past the Memphis waterfront. 1311 00:58:25,800 --> 00:58:27,970 - [Narrator] Aboard the Union steamer, Tyler, 1312 00:58:27,970 --> 00:58:30,880 deck officer William Michael was among those 1313 00:58:30,880 --> 00:58:33,540 who raced to rescue the remaining survivors 1314 00:58:34,450 --> 00:58:37,870 - [William] Of the 65 persons saved by my cutter, 1315 00:58:37,870 --> 00:58:42,450 not one was free from severe bruises or scalds. 1316 00:58:42,450 --> 00:58:44,733 Most of them were nearly nude. 1317 00:58:45,900 --> 00:58:48,590 One poor boy clutched the limb of a tree so tightly 1318 00:58:48,590 --> 00:58:52,053 that we could not force him to let go of his maniacal grip. 1319 00:58:53,490 --> 00:58:57,240 We took him and the limb aboard together. 1320 00:58:57,240 --> 00:58:59,070 The flesh sloughed off another 1321 00:58:59,070 --> 00:59:01,463 when we pulled him over the gunnel of the boat. 1322 00:59:02,870 --> 00:59:05,300 A young lad, reduced to a skeleton 1323 00:59:05,300 --> 00:59:07,570 by his confinement in prison, 1324 00:59:07,570 --> 00:59:10,670 had his sight destroyed by steam. 1325 00:59:10,670 --> 00:59:13,800 He thanked God that he was saved, 1326 00:59:13,800 --> 00:59:15,163 and within moments, 1327 00:59:17,420 --> 00:59:20,143 breathed his last in the arms of one of my sailors. 1328 00:59:21,390 --> 00:59:24,857 His last words were, "Tell Mother." 1329 00:59:25,790 --> 00:59:27,880 How often I have wished some angel 1330 00:59:27,880 --> 00:59:30,640 would tell me where to find that bereft mother 1331 00:59:31,760 --> 00:59:35,439 that I might break to her the unfinished sentence. 1332 00:59:35,439 --> 00:59:39,290 (somber instrumental music) 1333 00:59:39,290 --> 00:59:41,290 - [Narrator] In the closing days of the war, 1334 00:59:41,290 --> 00:59:43,890 Union forces had gone up and down the river 1335 00:59:43,890 --> 00:59:46,400 sinking boats, skiffs, and canoes 1336 00:59:46,400 --> 00:59:48,630 belonging to Confederate landholders 1337 00:59:48,630 --> 00:59:52,380 in an effort to prevent retaliatory raids. 1338 00:59:52,380 --> 00:59:54,830 A handful of families had hidden theirs, 1339 00:59:54,830 --> 00:59:57,530 and came out to assist in the rescues, 1340 00:59:57,530 --> 01:00:01,690 including Frank Barton's great-great-grandfather. 1341 01:00:01,690 --> 01:00:04,000 - You got to remember the war was over. 1342 01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:06,280 There's people out there in the river 1343 01:00:06,280 --> 01:00:07,113 and at that point in time, 1344 01:00:07,113 --> 01:00:09,010 they were probably just people to him. 1345 01:00:09,880 --> 01:00:12,267 He might have known that they were former Union soldiers, 1346 01:00:12,267 --> 01:00:13,660 but they still had uniforms 1347 01:00:13,660 --> 01:00:16,490 'cause they'd just issue fresh uniforms. 1348 01:00:16,490 --> 01:00:19,410 He had one of the few boats available 1349 01:00:20,520 --> 01:00:21,590 It's just speculation. 1350 01:00:21,590 --> 01:00:24,370 I just think they were people in need of help. 1351 01:00:24,370 --> 01:00:27,730 - This is where some rescuers from Fogelman's Landing, 1352 01:00:27,730 --> 01:00:29,930 a man named John Fogleman and his son 1353 01:00:29,930 --> 01:00:33,040 will tie together some rails to form a raft. 1354 01:00:33,040 --> 01:00:36,480 - And managed to go back and forth to the remains 1355 01:00:36,480 --> 01:00:40,010 of the burning hull and pick some people up from the boat, 1356 01:00:40,010 --> 01:00:42,030 transport them over to treetops. 1357 01:00:42,030 --> 01:00:44,000 The river, of course, was out of its banks, 1358 01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:45,760 but hadn't covered all the trees, 1359 01:00:45,760 --> 01:00:46,770 and the quick thing to do was 1360 01:00:46,770 --> 01:00:48,220 to get as many people off. 1361 01:00:48,220 --> 01:00:51,530 And rather than take them all the way back to the dry land, 1362 01:00:51,530 --> 01:00:53,090 deposit 'em in the treetops. 1363 01:00:53,090 --> 01:00:54,527 - After about five or six trips, 1364 01:00:54,527 --> 01:00:58,600 he'll get the last guy off and be, maybe, 30 feet away 1365 01:00:58,600 --> 01:01:01,840 when the Sultana will give a shudder and finally sink. 1366 01:01:01,840 --> 01:01:03,890 The hull burns through, and it sinks 1367 01:01:03,890 --> 01:01:06,310 below the waters of the Mississippi. 1368 01:01:06,310 --> 01:01:08,060 The only thing that stays above water 1369 01:01:08,060 --> 01:01:11,420 is the jackstaff, sticking up with, presumably, 1370 01:01:11,420 --> 01:01:13,236 the American Flag still onboard. 1371 01:01:13,236 --> 01:01:15,810 (gentle piano music) 1372 01:01:15,810 --> 01:01:18,390 - [Narrator] By sunrise, the people of Memphis 1373 01:01:18,390 --> 01:01:21,070 had awakened to a tragedy on a scale 1374 01:01:21,070 --> 01:01:22,853 it had never witnessed before. 1375 01:01:23,740 --> 01:01:26,200 Members of the U.S. Sanitary Commission 1376 01:01:26,200 --> 01:01:29,840 were first on the scene with clothes and blankets. 1377 01:01:29,840 --> 01:01:32,650 Medics and ambulances were ordered to the wharf 1378 01:01:32,650 --> 01:01:36,520 and immediately began pulling survivors from the water. 1379 01:01:36,520 --> 01:01:38,440 - There are bodies just lined up 1380 01:01:38,440 --> 01:01:39,940 that had been pulled from the water. 1381 01:01:39,940 --> 01:01:41,950 Caskets, wooden caskets, will be brought down 1382 01:01:41,950 --> 01:01:43,900 to the waterfront, and the people of Memphis 1383 01:01:43,900 --> 01:01:45,650 start putting the bodies in there. 1384 01:01:45,650 --> 01:01:47,950 Eventually, Memphis runs out of caskets. 1385 01:01:47,950 --> 01:01:50,810 They just don't have enough, there's too many bodies. 1386 01:01:50,810 --> 01:01:53,570 The bodies are then brought up onto those levy 1387 01:01:53,570 --> 01:01:55,910 and they're covered with blankets. 1388 01:01:55,910 --> 01:01:57,780 - [Narrator] With daylight to help them, now, 1389 01:01:57,780 --> 01:02:00,840 the rescue flotilla continued to pick up the living 1390 01:02:00,840 --> 01:02:03,450 still strewn along the river. 1391 01:02:03,450 --> 01:02:05,930 Once ashore, the injured survivors 1392 01:02:05,930 --> 01:02:08,260 would fill almost every available bed 1393 01:02:08,260 --> 01:02:10,320 in Memphis' hospitals: 1394 01:02:10,320 --> 01:02:11,153 Gayoso, 1395 01:02:12,150 --> 01:02:13,800 Adams, 1396 01:02:13,800 --> 01:02:15,480 Washington, 1397 01:02:15,480 --> 01:02:16,313 Overton. 1398 01:02:17,250 --> 01:02:18,620 - [Lewis] I was supplied with a blanket, 1399 01:02:18,620 --> 01:02:20,621 which I kept wrapped around me, 1400 01:02:20,621 --> 01:02:23,230 and I was given hot stimulants. 1401 01:02:23,230 --> 01:02:24,940 We were landed at Memphis and taken 1402 01:02:24,940 --> 01:02:26,690 to Gayoso Hospital in carriages sent 1403 01:02:26,690 --> 01:02:28,830 to the war for that purpose. 1404 01:02:28,830 --> 01:02:31,370 - [Narrator] Of the 700 or so who were rescued, 1405 01:02:31,370 --> 01:02:34,620 it's estimated a third died within days, 1406 01:02:34,620 --> 01:02:36,403 mostly from burns. 1407 01:02:37,250 --> 01:02:40,650 - Of the 560 or -70 people that survived, 1408 01:02:40,650 --> 01:02:44,070 about 35 of those are crewmen or passengers 1409 01:02:44,070 --> 01:02:45,580 that were onboard the Sultana. 1410 01:02:45,580 --> 01:02:48,980 So, it's about 550 ex-prisoners-of-war 1411 01:02:48,980 --> 01:02:50,740 that still have to get home. 1412 01:02:50,740 --> 01:02:52,453 Now, they're stranded in Memphis. 1413 01:02:53,310 --> 01:02:55,750 - [Narrator] The lucky few who escaped unharmed 1414 01:02:55,750 --> 01:02:58,550 were fed and housed at the Soldier's Home. 1415 01:02:58,550 --> 01:03:01,563 Others were taken in by the good people of Memphis. 1416 01:03:02,450 --> 01:03:04,440 - Now soldiers are looking for relatives. 1417 01:03:04,440 --> 01:03:05,273 They're looking for friends. 1418 01:03:05,273 --> 01:03:06,950 They're looking for comrades. 1419 01:03:06,950 --> 01:03:10,080 So, it must have really been a horrendous scene 1420 01:03:10,080 --> 01:03:11,920 of these guys, broken-hearted, 1421 01:03:11,920 --> 01:03:13,900 some of them finding their relatives, 1422 01:03:13,900 --> 01:03:17,230 others never able to find a relative or a friend 1423 01:03:17,230 --> 01:03:18,450 that they've known for years 1424 01:03:18,450 --> 01:03:23,450 and really got camaraderie in camp, in battle, 1425 01:03:23,630 --> 01:03:25,930 in prison, and onboard the Sultana. 1426 01:03:25,930 --> 01:03:27,560 To suddenly loose them like that 1427 01:03:27,560 --> 01:03:31,083 is just amazing, devastating. 1428 01:03:32,130 --> 01:03:35,130 - [Narrator] Recovery for some would take weeks. 1429 01:03:35,130 --> 01:03:37,400 Just two days after the disaster, 1430 01:03:37,400 --> 01:03:41,260 those who could travel were boarded onto other steamboats 1431 01:03:41,260 --> 01:03:43,233 and resumed the journey North. 1432 01:03:44,800 --> 01:03:47,560 - As they're getting on this second steamboat, 1433 01:03:47,560 --> 01:03:50,050 they're understandably jittery. 1434 01:03:50,050 --> 01:03:51,000 They've just been through one 1435 01:03:51,000 --> 01:03:53,470 of the most horrendous experiences of their life: 1436 01:03:53,470 --> 01:03:55,840 the largest maritime disaster in American history, 1437 01:03:55,840 --> 01:03:57,390 even to this day. 1438 01:03:57,390 --> 01:03:59,733 And these guys are understandably worried. 1439 01:04:00,720 --> 01:04:03,180 - [Narrator] The long journey ahead included a stop 1440 01:04:03,180 --> 01:04:05,790 in Cairo, Illinois, then a train ride 1441 01:04:05,790 --> 01:04:08,713 to Camp Chase, Ohio for the surviving soldiers 1442 01:04:08,713 --> 01:04:11,803 to be mustered out and find their way home. 1443 01:04:12,660 --> 01:04:15,880 But first, they would have to pass the spot 1444 01:04:15,880 --> 01:04:18,150 where the Sultana had sunk, 1445 01:04:18,150 --> 01:04:21,400 its jackstaff still rising above the surface 1446 01:04:21,400 --> 01:04:24,600 as a final marker. (whistle hooting) 1447 01:04:24,600 --> 01:04:26,480 Survivor, Will McFarland, 1448 01:04:26,480 --> 01:04:30,560 a private in the 42nd Infantry from Indiana was uneasy 1449 01:04:30,560 --> 01:04:35,560 at the prospect, like a burnt child dreading the fire. 1450 01:04:35,630 --> 01:04:38,060 He spent the entire trip in a lifeboat, 1451 01:04:38,060 --> 01:04:41,930 never leaving his quarters, as he called it, 1452 01:04:41,930 --> 01:04:44,350 until the Saint Patrick safely arrived 1453 01:04:44,350 --> 01:04:46,407 in Evansville, Indiana. 1454 01:04:46,407 --> 01:04:48,437 "Every time the boat would escape steam 1455 01:04:48,437 --> 01:04:50,797 "or blow the whistle," he wrote, 1456 01:04:50,797 --> 01:04:53,560 "I prepared to jump." 1457 01:04:53,560 --> 01:04:57,210 Others vowed never to board a steamboat again. 1458 01:04:57,210 --> 01:04:58,960 - Some of the boy from the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry 1459 01:04:58,960 --> 01:05:01,080 that came from the Knoxville area, 1460 01:05:01,080 --> 01:05:02,447 they figure, "We're already in Tennessee. 1461 01:05:02,447 --> 01:05:03,747 "We're up here in Memphis. 1462 01:05:03,747 --> 01:05:04,807 "We can walk home. 1463 01:05:04,807 --> 01:05:07,177 "Yes, it's hundreds of miles, but we've marched 1464 01:05:07,177 --> 01:05:08,457 "this far in the Army, 1465 01:05:08,457 --> 01:05:10,417 "and if we can make it, probably, to Nashville, 1466 01:05:10,417 --> 01:05:13,090 "we can catch the train from Nashville to Knoxville." 1467 01:05:13,090 --> 01:05:15,550 And so they start walking home. 1468 01:05:15,550 --> 01:05:20,113 - [Narrator] Still, home, God's country, awaited them. 1469 01:05:21,060 --> 01:05:25,050 Back in Memphis, the true scale of the disaster 1470 01:05:25,050 --> 01:05:26,650 was becoming clear. 1471 01:05:26,650 --> 01:05:28,290 - For days after the Sultana, 1472 01:05:28,290 --> 01:05:30,240 bodies were floating downriver. 1473 01:05:30,240 --> 01:05:32,550 The people of Memphis will send some steamboats 1474 01:05:32,550 --> 01:05:33,700 up to the site of the wreck 1475 01:05:33,700 --> 01:05:35,420 and they will actually fire a couple cannons 1476 01:05:35,420 --> 01:05:37,120 over the top of the Sultana 1477 01:05:37,120 --> 01:05:39,330 to try to shake the bodies that are lodged 1478 01:05:39,330 --> 01:05:40,660 within the wreckage, up. 1479 01:05:40,660 --> 01:05:42,980 When they do come up, they do fish 'em out of the water, 1480 01:05:42,980 --> 01:05:44,400 and they will try to bury 'em. 1481 01:05:44,400 --> 01:05:46,100 Some of 'em are buried after the river 1482 01:05:46,100 --> 01:05:47,730 goes down a little bit. 1483 01:05:47,730 --> 01:05:49,470 They're burned on Hen Island, 1484 01:05:49,470 --> 01:05:52,330 which is where the Sultana actually hit and sank. 1485 01:05:52,330 --> 01:05:54,640 - [Narrator] As word of the disaster spread, 1486 01:05:54,640 --> 01:05:56,900 the enormity of what had happened 1487 01:05:56,900 --> 01:06:01,670 curiously failed to take hold in the national consciousness. 1488 01:06:01,670 --> 01:06:04,930 - The nation had just incurred four horrible years 1489 01:06:04,930 --> 01:06:05,870 of Civil War. 1490 01:06:05,870 --> 01:06:09,710 Over 600,000 lives had been lost, 1491 01:06:09,710 --> 01:06:14,500 and people were accustomed to reading about death. 1492 01:06:14,500 --> 01:06:18,310 And so, the stories in the newspapers at the time, 1493 01:06:18,310 --> 01:06:22,240 very few newspapers carried front-page stories. 1494 01:06:22,240 --> 01:06:26,140 The New York Times carried a very small article 1495 01:06:26,140 --> 01:06:27,540 on, like, the fifth page. 1496 01:06:27,540 --> 01:06:29,140 - President Lincoln's death train 1497 01:06:29,140 --> 01:06:30,930 was making its way across the country 1498 01:06:30,930 --> 01:06:33,550 and everyone wanted to know about the train. 1499 01:06:33,550 --> 01:06:35,760 It was front page news. 1500 01:06:35,760 --> 01:06:39,210 Secondly, also on April 26th, 1501 01:06:39,210 --> 01:06:41,930 John Wilkes Booth was cornered in a barn 1502 01:06:41,930 --> 01:06:45,020 by group of Army officers as the barn was burning. 1503 01:06:45,020 --> 01:06:49,400 John Wilkes Booth's death was also very, very newsworthy. 1504 01:06:49,400 --> 01:06:52,690 - Senator John Covode, from out in the East, 1505 01:06:52,690 --> 01:06:56,590 will go down to Memphis to find out what has happened. 1506 01:06:56,590 --> 01:06:59,570 He reports back that the victims onboard 1507 01:06:59,570 --> 01:07:02,230 were from the states of Ohio, Indiana, 1508 01:07:02,230 --> 01:07:04,667 Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee, 1509 01:07:04,667 --> 01:07:06,590 and a sprinkling from West Virginia. 1510 01:07:06,590 --> 01:07:08,590 In other words, at the time of Civil War, 1511 01:07:08,590 --> 01:07:10,140 the Western states. 1512 01:07:10,140 --> 01:07:14,607 At this point, he writes back to the newspapers and said, 1513 01:07:14,607 --> 01:07:17,107 "The only people onboard were from the Western states. 1514 01:07:17,107 --> 01:07:19,700 "Really, we got no more reason to cover this." 1515 01:07:19,700 --> 01:07:21,753 - History remembers the famous, 1516 01:07:22,660 --> 01:07:26,740 and so often, history doesn't record those stories 1517 01:07:26,740 --> 01:07:28,840 of the common people. 1518 01:07:28,840 --> 01:07:31,840 And these man were basically enlisted man, 1519 01:07:31,840 --> 01:07:34,960 Union soldiers, very few officers were on the boat. 1520 01:07:34,960 --> 01:07:37,780 These men had really not made a mark in life. 1521 01:07:37,780 --> 01:07:39,840 - But there was also another reason, 1522 01:07:39,840 --> 01:07:42,870 a more economic reason why the Sultana's story 1523 01:07:42,870 --> 01:07:45,750 may never have been told as it should have, 1524 01:07:45,750 --> 01:07:47,100 and that is the relationship 1525 01:07:47,100 --> 01:07:49,600 between the great steamboat corporations 1526 01:07:49,600 --> 01:07:52,250 and the newspapers up and down the Mississippi River. 1527 01:07:53,120 --> 01:07:55,530 A great amount of money, vast amounts of money 1528 01:07:55,530 --> 01:07:56,970 were spent with these newspapers 1529 01:07:56,970 --> 01:07:58,880 by the steamboat corporations 1530 01:07:58,880 --> 01:08:01,400 and they themselves did not want this story out 1531 01:08:01,400 --> 01:08:04,630 because it would frighten people from buying tickets 1532 01:08:04,630 --> 01:08:06,393 and traveling aboard steamboats. 1533 01:08:07,790 --> 01:08:10,200 - [Narrator] The investigation into the disaster 1534 01:08:10,200 --> 01:08:12,653 began that very morning in Memphis. 1535 01:08:13,710 --> 01:08:18,330 The initial focus: the loading of the boat. 1536 01:08:18,330 --> 01:08:20,420 - General Washburn of the United States government 1537 01:08:20,420 --> 01:08:22,990 is sent down to look into what happened 1538 01:08:22,990 --> 01:08:23,823 with the Sultana. 1539 01:08:23,823 --> 01:08:25,940 He goes down to Memphis where there's already 1540 01:08:25,940 --> 01:08:28,560 an investigation by a man named Hoffman. 1541 01:08:28,560 --> 01:08:30,880 Hoffman has interviewed some people. 1542 01:08:30,880 --> 01:08:32,590 When he finds out that Washburn is there, 1543 01:08:32,590 --> 01:08:36,090 he will turn his papers over to the Washburn Commission. 1544 01:08:36,090 --> 01:08:38,340 Down in Vicksburg, General Dana has also 1545 01:08:38,340 --> 01:08:40,440 started looking into what's going on. 1546 01:08:40,440 --> 01:08:43,350 When he hears that there are two investigations, 1547 01:08:43,350 --> 01:08:45,680 he then stops his investigation 1548 01:08:45,680 --> 01:08:47,160 and turns over all the information 1549 01:08:47,160 --> 01:08:49,343 to Washburn and Hoffman. 1550 01:08:50,210 --> 01:08:52,450 - [Narrator] Reuben Hatch is subpoenaed, 1551 01:08:52,450 --> 01:08:55,770 but having resigned his post and slipped into Arkansas, 1552 01:08:55,770 --> 01:08:57,890 he fails to appear. 1553 01:08:57,890 --> 01:09:01,030 - He realizes what could happen, 1554 01:09:01,030 --> 01:09:03,640 and he quickly resigns from the Army. 1555 01:09:03,640 --> 01:09:05,150 He becomes a civilian again. 1556 01:09:05,150 --> 01:09:07,500 And in those days, a military court 1557 01:09:07,500 --> 01:09:10,280 had no jurisdiction over a civilian at all. 1558 01:09:10,280 --> 01:09:13,690 George Williams is a West Point graduate. 1559 01:09:13,690 --> 01:09:16,890 He's part of an elite group among the other officers, 1560 01:09:16,890 --> 01:09:18,110 the generals, and such, 1561 01:09:18,110 --> 01:09:19,830 and they just don't go after him 1562 01:09:19,830 --> 01:09:22,270 even though he was really responsible 1563 01:09:22,270 --> 01:09:24,530 for making sure that the Sultana 1564 01:09:24,530 --> 01:09:27,390 is the only boat that gets people. 1565 01:09:27,390 --> 01:09:29,560 He was not involved in the bribery at all, 1566 01:09:29,560 --> 01:09:30,587 but he was the guy that said, 1567 01:09:30,587 --> 01:09:34,470 "They're all going on the Sultana, and that's that." 1568 01:09:34,470 --> 01:09:37,500 Morgan Smith, he's in charge of Hatch. 1569 01:09:37,500 --> 01:09:39,440 He's in charge of the quartermaster. 1570 01:09:39,440 --> 01:09:41,970 He does not come down to the boat at all 1571 01:09:41,970 --> 01:09:43,840 and see what is happening, 1572 01:09:43,840 --> 01:09:46,260 even though William Kerns, the quartermaster 1573 01:09:46,260 --> 01:09:47,740 in charge of transportation, 1574 01:09:47,740 --> 01:09:50,190 and should've been the person that picked the Sultana, 1575 01:09:50,190 --> 01:09:52,120 complained to both Morgan Smith 1576 01:09:52,120 --> 01:09:55,670 and General Dana, and neither of them get out 1577 01:09:55,670 --> 01:09:57,240 of their chairs and come down to the wharf 1578 01:09:57,240 --> 01:09:58,150 to see what's happening. 1579 01:09:58,150 --> 01:10:01,340 So in that regard, yes, Morgan L. Smith 1580 01:10:01,340 --> 01:10:03,170 should be held accountable for that. 1581 01:10:03,170 --> 01:10:06,290 - The fall guy was Captain Speed, Frederick Speed 1582 01:10:06,290 --> 01:10:07,827 who volunteered to help out 1583 01:10:07,827 --> 01:10:09,820 and was in Camp Fisk loading up the troops 1584 01:10:09,820 --> 01:10:11,180 to send them to the Sultana. 1585 01:10:11,180 --> 01:10:15,190 And he had no idea what the status of the Sultana was 1586 01:10:15,190 --> 01:10:17,760 till came on the last train and saw 1587 01:10:17,760 --> 01:10:20,160 how heavily overloaded it was, 1588 01:10:20,160 --> 01:10:22,660 and then he could've stepped in, but he didn't. 1589 01:10:22,660 --> 01:10:24,410 But he was pretty much the fall guy. 1590 01:10:24,410 --> 01:10:26,600 There was a couple of charges against him, 1591 01:10:26,600 --> 01:10:29,250 dereliction of duty, that kind of thing. 1592 01:10:29,250 --> 01:10:31,490 - In January of 1866, 1593 01:10:31,490 --> 01:10:34,940 he is put on trial for negligence, 1594 01:10:34,940 --> 01:10:37,750 for grossly overloading the Sultana. 1595 01:10:37,750 --> 01:10:39,777 He, at first, says, "I have no problem. 1596 01:10:39,777 --> 01:10:40,817 "I think I'm gonna beat this. 1597 01:10:40,817 --> 01:10:42,987 "I wasn't the guy that selected the Sultana. 1598 01:10:42,987 --> 01:10:45,557 "I didn't physically put the people onboard the Sultana, 1599 01:10:45,557 --> 01:10:46,777 "and in fact, at one point, 1600 01:10:46,777 --> 01:10:47,997 "I asked Captain Williams, 1601 01:10:47,997 --> 01:10:51,530 "'Should these people be moved to a second boat?'" 1602 01:10:51,530 --> 01:10:53,950 So, he thinks he's gonna get off scot-free. 1603 01:10:53,950 --> 01:10:55,610 - There was a six months trial, 1604 01:10:55,610 --> 01:10:57,880 and he was found guilty on one 1605 01:10:57,880 --> 01:11:00,220 of those really minor charges, 1606 01:11:00,220 --> 01:11:01,990 but then, that was later overturned 1607 01:11:01,990 --> 01:11:03,993 by The Advocate General for the Army 1608 01:11:03,993 --> 01:11:06,650 because it was pretty plain that he was a scapegoat. 1609 01:11:06,650 --> 01:11:09,400 He was just one cog in the wheel 1610 01:11:09,400 --> 01:11:10,860 that created this disaster. 1611 01:11:10,860 --> 01:11:14,600 - And when the military finished all their investigation, 1612 01:11:14,600 --> 01:11:16,900 they concluded that while the Sultana 1613 01:11:16,900 --> 01:11:20,240 may have been overcrowded, it was not overloaded. 1614 01:11:20,240 --> 01:11:22,530 - Once he was exonerated, 1615 01:11:22,530 --> 01:11:25,550 actually there's nobody that was responsible for this, 1616 01:11:25,550 --> 01:11:27,950 the worst maritime disaster in American history. 1617 01:11:29,910 --> 01:11:32,290 - [Narrator] Frederick Speed remained in Vicksburg 1618 01:11:32,290 --> 01:11:33,970 where he practiced law. 1619 01:11:33,970 --> 01:11:37,490 In 1871, he married Esther Adele Hillyer 1620 01:11:37,490 --> 01:11:39,600 with whom he had five children. 1621 01:11:39,600 --> 01:11:41,930 He remained active in local politics 1622 01:11:41,930 --> 01:11:44,173 until his death in 1911. 1623 01:11:45,270 --> 01:11:49,780 Reuben Hatch died on July 18th, 1871 1624 01:11:49,780 --> 01:11:52,860 in Griggsville, Illinois, having never answered 1625 01:11:52,860 --> 01:11:55,333 for his part in the Sultana tragedy. 1626 01:11:56,620 --> 01:11:58,630 In response to the disaster, 1627 01:11:58,630 --> 01:12:01,770 the Hartford Steam Boiler Company was formed 1628 01:12:01,770 --> 01:12:04,910 to vastly improve and regulate the manufacture 1629 01:12:04,910 --> 01:12:08,040 of boilers used in the steamboat industry. 1630 01:12:08,040 --> 01:12:09,880 - Although there were thousands of boilers 1631 01:12:09,880 --> 01:12:11,750 in operation in the United States, 1632 01:12:11,750 --> 01:12:14,520 there was estimated an explosion 1633 01:12:14,520 --> 01:12:16,810 one every four days. 1634 01:12:16,810 --> 01:12:20,740 Industry itself viewed it as an act of God, 1635 01:12:20,740 --> 01:12:24,210 and businessmen viewed it as just a course 1636 01:12:24,210 --> 01:12:29,210 of doing business, and so it was a very tumultuous period. 1637 01:12:29,600 --> 01:12:32,400 - The Sultana disaster was the seminal event 1638 01:12:32,400 --> 01:12:35,130 that led to the formation of Hartford Steam Boiler. 1639 01:12:35,130 --> 01:12:37,760 The problem of catastrophic boiler explosions 1640 01:12:37,760 --> 01:12:40,740 had existed for some time, 1641 01:12:40,740 --> 01:12:44,880 but this was the thing that really propelled the founders 1642 01:12:44,880 --> 01:12:48,200 of our company to create Hartford Steam Boiler 1643 01:12:48,200 --> 01:12:52,466 just about a year after the Sultana disaster. 1644 01:12:52,466 --> 01:12:54,890 - Hartford Steam Boiler developed the Hartford standards, 1645 01:12:54,890 --> 01:12:56,310 the first technical standards 1646 01:12:56,310 --> 01:13:00,383 adopted by the U.S. boilers manufacturers in 1869, 1647 01:13:00,383 --> 01:13:02,730 They were mathematical calculations 1648 01:13:02,730 --> 01:13:07,730 that defined materials used, spacing between rivets, 1649 01:13:09,560 --> 01:13:12,440 seams, welding seams, et cetera, 1650 01:13:12,440 --> 01:13:16,220 that ultimately became the core standard 1651 01:13:16,220 --> 01:13:17,870 for boiler manufacturing. 1652 01:13:17,870 --> 01:13:19,770 - It's important because Hartford Steam Boiler 1653 01:13:19,770 --> 01:13:22,190 one of the first organizations in the United States 1654 01:13:22,190 --> 01:13:26,464 formed for the purpose of preventing industrial accidents 1655 01:13:26,464 --> 01:13:29,690 and things like catastrophic boiler explosions. 1656 01:13:29,690 --> 01:13:33,680 And while we look back at the Sultana 1657 01:13:33,680 --> 01:13:36,900 and the catastrophic loss of life, 1658 01:13:36,900 --> 01:13:41,900 the fact is that today's technology also presents risks, 1659 01:13:42,150 --> 01:13:44,340 and it's important that we remain vigilant, 1660 01:13:44,340 --> 01:13:47,520 aware of those risks and focus on how to manage them. 1661 01:13:47,520 --> 01:13:50,670 - After the disaster, life had to go on 1662 01:13:50,670 --> 01:13:52,830 for these people that were onboard, 1663 01:13:52,830 --> 01:13:56,000 the rescuers, for just the Mississippi in itself. 1664 01:13:56,000 --> 01:13:59,730 The Civil War was a much greater disaster than the Sultana 1665 01:13:59,730 --> 01:14:03,280 and the whole nation had to heal the wounds, 1666 01:14:03,280 --> 01:14:06,290 and forget about this, and try to come back together again. 1667 01:14:06,290 --> 01:14:07,860 So, with the Sultana disaster, 1668 01:14:07,860 --> 01:14:09,260 these men are in the same position. 1669 01:14:09,260 --> 01:14:11,560 These people, I should say, 'cause there was men, women, 1670 01:14:11,560 --> 01:14:13,400 and, well, no children lived, 1671 01:14:13,400 --> 01:14:16,250 but the men and women that survive the disaster, 1672 01:14:16,250 --> 01:14:18,310 their life has to go on. 1673 01:14:18,310 --> 01:14:19,560 - [Narrator] For the survivors, 1674 01:14:19,560 --> 01:14:22,340 the questions would remain unanswered 1675 01:14:22,340 --> 01:14:25,350 and fade as they returned home. 1676 01:14:25,350 --> 01:14:27,600 In the next election, their leader, 1677 01:14:27,600 --> 01:14:30,544 Ulysses S. Grant would become the 18th President 1678 01:14:30,544 --> 01:14:32,173 of the United States. 1679 01:14:33,100 --> 01:14:34,230 For eight years, 1680 01:14:34,230 --> 01:14:37,350 with the help of a reconstituted Congress, 1681 01:14:37,350 --> 01:14:40,193 he would oversee the reconstruction of the South. 1682 01:14:42,390 --> 01:14:44,090 Returned to their families, 1683 01:14:44,090 --> 01:14:46,810 the surviving passengers of the Sultana 1684 01:14:46,810 --> 01:14:50,390 in the towns and fields of Ohio, Indiana, 1685 01:14:50,390 --> 01:14:53,800 Kentucky, Tennessee, and Michigan 1686 01:14:53,800 --> 01:14:57,030 would become carpenters, grocers, 1687 01:14:57,030 --> 01:15:01,400 carriage men and cobblers, masons and miners, 1688 01:15:01,400 --> 01:15:05,330 blacksmiths, postmen, pastors, 1689 01:15:05,330 --> 01:15:09,223 physicians, bankers, clerks, and tailors. 1690 01:15:10,200 --> 01:15:13,030 Most of them were farmers. 1691 01:15:13,030 --> 01:15:15,950 - Romulus Tolbert was mustered out on 19th, 1692 01:15:15,950 --> 01:15:18,140 I believe, at Camp Chase. 1693 01:15:18,140 --> 01:15:20,540 He was from Saluda, Indiana. 1694 01:15:20,540 --> 01:15:22,440 His family farmed there, 1695 01:15:22,440 --> 01:15:24,417 and he went home in 1875 or so 1696 01:15:24,417 --> 01:15:26,320 and he bought a farm in Chelsea, 1697 01:15:26,320 --> 01:15:28,260 which is right in that same area, 1698 01:15:28,260 --> 01:15:30,623 and that's where he was the rest of his life. 1699 01:15:31,690 --> 01:15:33,930 - [Narrator] Some were unable to work, 1700 01:15:33,930 --> 01:15:35,823 living on modest pensions. 1701 01:15:37,091 --> 01:15:40,110 - Some of these veterans were damaged physically 1702 01:15:40,110 --> 01:15:41,960 and emotionally, and they just weren't able 1703 01:15:41,960 --> 01:15:45,570 to hold a job, so they did the best they could. 1704 01:15:45,570 --> 01:15:48,304 And there were several of them who had little cards 1705 01:15:48,304 --> 01:15:53,060 written up, said, so-and-so, "Survivor of the Sultana," 1706 01:15:53,060 --> 01:15:56,770 and then would go out on street corners like beggars, 1707 01:15:56,770 --> 01:15:59,250 and tell their stories and hope that people 1708 01:15:59,250 --> 01:16:01,670 would put change in their box. 1709 01:16:01,670 --> 01:16:04,410 - Epenetus McIntosh, of Illinois unit, 1710 01:16:04,410 --> 01:16:05,690 one of the few Illinois guys 1711 01:16:05,690 --> 01:16:07,780 that accidentally got on board the Sultana, 1712 01:16:07,780 --> 01:16:12,230 he will be so emaciated and so physically beaten 1713 01:16:12,230 --> 01:16:15,760 from his time in the prison, and onboard the Sultana, 1714 01:16:15,760 --> 01:16:19,500 and in the water that he can no longer do any manual labor. 1715 01:16:19,500 --> 01:16:21,430 And luckily, he knew how to write songs, 1716 01:16:21,430 --> 01:16:22,940 and how to play pianos, and a banjo 1717 01:16:22,940 --> 01:16:23,870 and stuff like that. 1718 01:16:23,870 --> 01:16:25,920 And he puts together a little songbook, 1719 01:16:25,920 --> 01:16:28,590 and had some pictures of himself taken, 1720 01:16:28,590 --> 01:16:30,420 and he travels around the nation 1721 01:16:30,420 --> 01:16:32,270 selling his postcards for 10 cents 1722 01:16:32,270 --> 01:16:33,700 or his songbook for 25 cents, 1723 01:16:33,700 --> 01:16:35,230 and that's how he survived. 1724 01:16:35,230 --> 01:16:38,020 - Glenna Jenkins Green recalled the memories 1725 01:16:38,020 --> 01:16:39,500 which haunted her father, 1726 01:16:39,500 --> 01:16:42,970 3rd Tennessee Cavalry member, Samuel Jenkins. 1727 01:16:42,970 --> 01:16:47,160 - She told me a story that when she was a little kid, 1728 01:16:47,160 --> 01:16:49,640 Samuel Jenkins was an old man. 1729 01:16:49,640 --> 01:16:51,421 He was sitting in front of the fire, 1730 01:16:51,421 --> 01:16:53,440 and he was real quiet. 1731 01:16:53,440 --> 01:16:57,240 And Miss Green asked her father what was wrong, 1732 01:16:57,240 --> 01:17:00,507 and he said, "I can still hear the screams 1733 01:17:00,507 --> 01:17:02,850 "and there wasn't anything I could do." 1734 01:17:02,850 --> 01:17:05,980 - One of the problems is these guys would like a pension, 1735 01:17:05,980 --> 01:17:07,770 but a government pension says you have 1736 01:17:07,770 --> 01:17:11,190 to have two eyewitnesses or a commanding officer 1737 01:17:11,190 --> 01:17:12,350 to your wound. 1738 01:17:12,350 --> 01:17:13,760 Well, if you're wounded in battle, 1739 01:17:13,760 --> 01:17:16,290 and somebody grabs you and pulls you back to a hospital, 1740 01:17:16,290 --> 01:17:18,670 there's probably several people that saw you get shot, 1741 01:17:18,670 --> 01:17:20,130 and there's definitely a commanding office 1742 01:17:20,130 --> 01:17:21,780 that knows that you've been wounded. 1743 01:17:21,780 --> 01:17:23,710 But on a Sultana at two o'clock in the morning 1744 01:17:23,710 --> 01:17:25,340 when this boat explodes, 1745 01:17:25,340 --> 01:17:26,620 who is there is as an eyewitness? 1746 01:17:26,620 --> 01:17:29,360 - Veterans weren't treated much better then 1747 01:17:29,360 --> 01:17:30,920 than some of them are now, 1748 01:17:30,920 --> 01:17:33,850 but it was difficult for the men, to get pensions. 1749 01:17:33,850 --> 01:17:37,490 - Ann tried to get her pension. 1750 01:17:37,490 --> 01:17:38,930 She tried for years. 1751 01:17:38,930 --> 01:17:41,793 Eventually, she was awarded $15 a month, 1752 01:17:42,800 --> 01:17:45,993 and she live to be 82, 1753 01:17:47,240 --> 01:17:49,293 but she talked to her grandchildren. 1754 01:17:50,420 --> 01:17:54,280 And I guess she felt the need, certainly, 1755 01:17:54,280 --> 01:17:58,040 to do it until, as a healing process, 1756 01:17:58,040 --> 01:17:59,690 - I believe my great-great-grandmother finally 1757 01:17:59,690 --> 01:18:02,750 got a $13 a month pension, 1758 01:18:02,750 --> 01:18:06,770 and she had three small girls, three small children, 1759 01:18:06,770 --> 01:18:08,680 and it looked like she moved around from place 1760 01:18:08,680 --> 01:18:13,460 to place in Cincinnati with various relatives and friends. 1761 01:18:13,460 --> 01:18:17,790 And then finally in 1912, very auspicious year 1762 01:18:17,790 --> 01:18:20,010 because it was the year of the sinking of the Titanic, 1763 01:18:20,010 --> 01:18:21,203 she did die. 1764 01:18:22,630 --> 01:18:24,040 - [Narrator] Frustrated in his attempts 1765 01:18:24,040 --> 01:18:27,160 to obtain a pension for his Sultana injuries, 1766 01:18:27,160 --> 01:18:30,160 Chester Berry, now a gospel minister, 1767 01:18:30,160 --> 01:18:33,060 wrote to as many survivors as he could, 1768 01:18:33,060 --> 01:18:36,010 asking them to send their memories of the disaster, 1769 01:18:36,010 --> 01:18:37,883 some 25 years later. 1770 01:18:39,330 --> 01:18:42,083 They were published in 1892. 1771 01:18:43,857 --> 01:18:46,237 "The average American is astonished 1772 01:18:46,237 --> 01:18:49,010 "at nothing he sees or hears," Berry wrote 1773 01:18:49,010 --> 01:18:50,757 in his introduction. 1774 01:18:50,757 --> 01:18:52,817 "He looks for large things. 1775 01:18:52,817 --> 01:18:55,247 "The ordinary is too tame." 1776 01:18:56,217 --> 01:18:59,377 "The idea that the most appalling marine disaster 1777 01:18:59,377 --> 01:19:01,227 "in the history of the world 1778 01:19:01,227 --> 01:19:05,217 "should pass by unnoticed is strange, 1779 01:19:05,217 --> 01:19:07,717 "but still, such is the fact. 1780 01:19:07,717 --> 01:19:10,247 "The majority of American people today 1781 01:19:10,247 --> 01:19:12,987 "do not know that there was ever such a vessel." 1782 01:19:14,390 --> 01:19:16,640 Many of those who responded were able 1783 01:19:16,640 --> 01:19:19,580 to recall the disaster in vivid detail. 1784 01:19:19,580 --> 01:19:22,410 A few chose the same exact words, 1785 01:19:22,410 --> 01:19:26,403 noting that they were rescued more dead than alive. 1786 01:19:27,260 --> 01:19:29,640 Others were more circumspect. 1787 01:19:29,640 --> 01:19:31,720 - [Woman] I remember jumping into the water, 1788 01:19:31,720 --> 01:19:33,550 but knew nothing more until sunrise 1789 01:19:33,550 --> 01:19:36,370 when I was picked up on the Arkansas side. 1790 01:19:36,370 --> 01:19:39,686 - [Man] About all I can say is that I got very wet 1791 01:19:39,686 --> 01:19:41,513 and quite cold. 1792 01:19:43,000 --> 01:19:44,540 - [Man] I have no doubt there will be plenty 1793 01:19:44,540 --> 01:19:47,110 of far greater interest than mine. 1794 01:19:47,110 --> 01:19:50,770 I will state, however, that my feet were severely scalded 1795 01:19:50,770 --> 01:19:53,233 and I did not walk for five months after. 1796 01:19:54,690 --> 01:19:56,437 - [Narrator] Another simply said, 1797 01:19:56,437 --> 01:19:58,777 "I do not think it worth my while 1798 01:19:58,777 --> 01:20:01,087 "to give my Sultana experience." 1799 01:20:02,270 --> 01:20:04,670 - I think what was even almost worse than dying 1800 01:20:04,670 --> 01:20:07,920 on the Sultana would be you're a soldier, 1801 01:20:07,920 --> 01:20:10,720 and you go through all the privations of battle. 1802 01:20:10,720 --> 01:20:14,630 You see all the things, all the damage of people around you. 1803 01:20:14,630 --> 01:20:18,330 Maybe you're wounded, too, and then you're captured, 1804 01:20:18,330 --> 01:20:21,400 and then you, say, go to Cahaba or Andersonville 1805 01:20:21,400 --> 01:20:23,690 and you see all that. 1806 01:20:23,690 --> 01:20:26,800 I mean, who could survive that? 1807 01:20:26,800 --> 01:20:29,810 And then you get on the Sultana, and you survive that, 1808 01:20:29,810 --> 01:20:31,967 and then you go home and everyone says, 1809 01:20:31,967 --> 01:20:33,247 "Good, you're home. 1810 01:20:33,247 --> 01:20:35,640 "Now you can live a normal life." 1811 01:20:35,640 --> 01:20:38,600 And I think they could never live a normal life. 1812 01:20:38,600 --> 01:20:41,400 - Although the nation will eventually forget 1813 01:20:41,400 --> 01:20:45,480 about the Sultana, the soldiers themselves never did. 1814 01:20:45,480 --> 01:20:50,480 - These men had endured so much together, 1815 01:20:52,370 --> 01:20:57,370 and those that had survived Andersonville and Cahaba, 1816 01:20:57,710 --> 01:21:00,850 they had survived the Sultana disaster, 1817 01:21:00,850 --> 01:21:04,900 when they got home they formed survivors' associations. 1818 01:21:04,900 --> 01:21:07,920 One was in Tennessee, in the Knoxville area 1819 01:21:07,920 --> 01:21:10,400 where the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry was from, 1820 01:21:10,400 --> 01:21:14,400 and another one in Ohio near Sandusky, Ohio. 1821 01:21:14,400 --> 01:21:17,530 And they met every year on the anniversary date, 1822 01:21:17,530 --> 01:21:19,800 or close to the anniversary date. 1823 01:21:19,800 --> 01:21:23,410 - They will get together and have this common thread. 1824 01:21:23,410 --> 01:21:25,150 They all went through this disaster. 1825 01:21:25,150 --> 01:21:28,700 They're the only ones that know what it was like 1826 01:21:28,700 --> 01:21:30,230 to be there that night. 1827 01:21:30,230 --> 01:21:32,150 I'm sure that in order to survive, 1828 01:21:32,150 --> 01:21:35,150 they pushed, they shoved, they fought. 1829 01:21:35,150 --> 01:21:37,710 They might've grabbed onto somebody 1830 01:21:37,710 --> 01:21:39,360 and that person drowned, 1831 01:21:39,360 --> 01:21:42,180 and you were able to grab onto a stick or something. 1832 01:21:42,180 --> 01:21:43,820 That's something that you have in common 1833 01:21:43,820 --> 01:21:45,930 'cause you know the other guys did the same thing. 1834 01:21:45,930 --> 01:21:47,480 They pushed and they shoved. 1835 01:21:47,480 --> 01:21:49,890 They fought their way to survive. 1836 01:21:49,890 --> 01:21:51,530 It's something you may not be proud of, 1837 01:21:51,530 --> 01:21:54,140 may not even talk about, but you know deep down 1838 01:21:54,140 --> 01:21:56,400 in your heart, everybody in this room 1839 01:21:56,400 --> 01:21:58,650 went through the same thing that I did, 1840 01:21:58,650 --> 01:22:00,970 and that brought a closeness to these guys 1841 01:22:00,970 --> 01:22:02,750 that would be with them until basically, 1842 01:22:02,750 --> 01:22:05,670 the very last guy ends up dying. 1843 01:22:05,670 --> 01:22:09,250 - [Narrator] In 1885, they gathered for the first time 1844 01:22:09,250 --> 01:22:13,570 in Fostoria, Ohio to mark the 20th anniversary 1845 01:22:13,570 --> 01:22:14,533 of the disaster. 1846 01:22:15,780 --> 01:22:19,620 - Samuel H. Raudabaugh was elected the first president 1847 01:22:19,620 --> 01:22:22,860 of the association, and named an honorary colonel, 1848 01:22:22,860 --> 01:22:25,510 'cause he was a private throughout the war. 1849 01:22:25,510 --> 01:22:28,780 And after that, about 4 years later, 1850 01:22:28,780 --> 01:22:30,810 there was another group of survivors 1851 01:22:30,810 --> 01:22:33,310 down in Knoxville, Tennessee that formed a second group. 1852 01:22:33,310 --> 01:22:34,917 So, they made a Northern camp 1853 01:22:34,917 --> 01:22:36,323 and a Southern camp. 1854 01:22:37,310 --> 01:22:38,950 - [Narrator] For many of the survivors, 1855 01:22:38,950 --> 01:22:41,243 the emotional wounds remained open. 1856 01:22:42,210 --> 01:22:45,780 - My great-great-grandfather had a friend 1857 01:22:45,780 --> 01:22:49,760 from the 183rd Ohio, his regiment: Michael Conrad. 1858 01:22:49,760 --> 01:22:54,170 And Michael Conrad and he were standing at the railing 1859 01:22:54,170 --> 01:22:57,410 after the explosion, and agreed they would both jump 1860 01:22:57,410 --> 01:23:00,150 in the water and see each other back home. 1861 01:23:00,150 --> 01:23:02,370 Michael Conrad did make it back home, 1862 01:23:02,370 --> 01:23:04,290 but Adam did not. 1863 01:23:04,290 --> 01:23:06,040 Michael was so torn up about this 1864 01:23:06,040 --> 01:23:09,170 that he only lived, I think, five years after that, 1865 01:23:09,170 --> 01:23:11,690 but for those five years, 1866 01:23:11,690 --> 01:23:13,400 on the anniversary of the disaster, 1867 01:23:13,400 --> 01:23:16,250 on April 27th, every April 27th, 1868 01:23:16,250 --> 01:23:18,530 he'd come to my great-great-grandmother's door, 1869 01:23:18,530 --> 01:23:19,363 knock on the door. 1870 01:23:19,363 --> 01:23:20,760 She'd answer and he'd just stand there 1871 01:23:20,760 --> 01:23:23,900 and cry like a baby, which was sad. 1872 01:23:23,900 --> 01:23:25,553 There was a lot of angst, and a lot of, 1873 01:23:27,421 --> 01:23:28,510 a lot of people suffered. 1874 01:23:28,510 --> 01:23:30,340 Not just the ones who died, but the ones who 1875 01:23:30,340 --> 01:23:32,633 were left suffered terribly. 1876 01:23:34,510 --> 01:23:38,030 - [Narrator] In April 1930, the last attending member 1877 01:23:38,030 --> 01:23:42,190 of the Survivor's Association, Private Pleasant Keeble, 1878 01:23:42,190 --> 01:23:46,633 traveled to Rockford, Tennessee at the age of 84. 1879 01:23:47,610 --> 01:23:49,943 It would be the group's final meeting. 1880 01:23:50,820 --> 01:23:53,340 Keeble had been rescued with five others, 1881 01:23:53,340 --> 01:23:56,680 holding hands and clinging to two pieces of siding 1882 01:23:56,680 --> 01:23:58,980 that had burned away from the sultana. 1883 01:23:58,980 --> 01:24:02,220 They were pulled from the water by a black farmer 1884 01:24:02,220 --> 01:24:04,210 who had spotted and followed them, 1885 01:24:04,210 --> 01:24:07,560 running along the riverbank in the pre-dawn light. 1886 01:24:07,560 --> 01:24:10,690 - [Pleasant] He waded in, up to his neck. 1887 01:24:10,690 --> 01:24:14,410 He reached out with a long pole, something like a hook. 1888 01:24:14,410 --> 01:24:17,860 We took hold of it and he swung us to the shore. 1889 01:24:17,860 --> 01:24:19,223 He saved our lives. 1890 01:24:20,090 --> 01:24:21,790 - [Narrator] Keeble's brother, John, 1891 01:24:21,790 --> 01:24:24,410 also with the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry 1892 01:24:24,410 --> 01:24:26,040 had been aboard the Sultana, 1893 01:24:26,040 --> 01:24:28,023 sleeping under one of the smokestacks. 1894 01:24:28,870 --> 01:24:30,493 His body was never found. 1895 01:24:31,914 --> 01:24:34,040 (somber music) For the reunion in Rockford, 1896 01:24:34,040 --> 01:24:36,240 there would be only one. 1897 01:24:36,240 --> 01:24:41,240 As was the tradition, Keeble ate his dinner, sitting alone. 1898 01:24:41,620 --> 01:24:45,140 He then read aloud the membership roll to an empty room, 1899 01:24:45,140 --> 01:24:46,823 with only himself being present. 1900 01:24:47,820 --> 01:24:50,370 The next day, he returned to his home in Knoxville, 1901 01:24:51,860 --> 01:24:53,520 and died the following year. 1902 01:24:53,520 --> 01:24:55,390 (bell tolling) 1903 01:24:55,390 --> 01:24:58,743 The remaining handful of survivors soon followed. 1904 01:25:01,410 --> 01:25:04,090 The memories of the greatest Maritime disaster 1905 01:25:04,090 --> 01:25:06,723 in U.S. history would soon fade away. 1906 01:25:19,810 --> 01:25:22,990 - Once those Sultana survivors quit meeting, 1907 01:25:22,990 --> 01:25:25,090 the story was totally forgotten, 1908 01:25:25,090 --> 01:25:27,970 and it was not resurrected until Norman Shaw, 1909 01:25:27,970 --> 01:25:30,120 a lawyer in Knoxville, Tennessee, 1910 01:25:30,120 --> 01:25:33,080 learned the story of the Sultana 1911 01:25:33,080 --> 01:25:34,910 and discovered that the survivors used 1912 01:25:34,910 --> 01:25:37,450 to meet in Knoxville, Tennessee. 1913 01:25:37,450 --> 01:25:39,687 - So he decides to run a little ad and say, 1914 01:25:39,687 --> 01:25:41,097 "Anybody interested in the Sultana, 1915 01:25:41,097 --> 01:25:43,367 "we're gonna to meet at Mount Olive Cemetery, 1916 01:25:43,367 --> 01:25:44,700 "the Sultana Monument." 1917 01:25:44,700 --> 01:25:47,019 And he walked up there, expecting 1918 01:25:47,019 --> 01:25:48,510 two, three, four people, 1919 01:25:48,510 --> 01:25:50,867 and there was 50 people waiting for him. 1920 01:25:50,867 --> 01:25:53,352 - And he created an organization called 1921 01:25:53,352 --> 01:25:57,630 The Descendants of the Men of the Sultana, 1922 01:25:57,630 --> 01:26:00,450 and now that organization with its own website, 1923 01:26:00,450 --> 01:26:04,410 Sultana Remembered, is keeping this story alive. 1924 01:26:04,410 --> 01:26:06,643 - Our goal is to carry on the mission 1925 01:26:06,643 --> 01:26:09,440 of the soldiers themselves, 1926 01:26:09,440 --> 01:26:12,530 and that is to keep the story of the Sultana alive. 1927 01:26:12,530 --> 01:26:13,930 And we've picked up that mission, 1928 01:26:13,930 --> 01:26:16,700 and everywhere we go, people find out about Sultana 1929 01:26:16,700 --> 01:26:18,450 through our reunions, especially when we go 1930 01:26:18,450 --> 01:26:21,800 to other cities, such as Memphis and Franklin, Tennessee, 1931 01:26:21,800 --> 01:26:23,890 and Athens, Alabama. 1932 01:26:23,890 --> 01:26:26,690 I really hope this association continues on. 1933 01:26:26,690 --> 01:26:29,570 We're all getting older and our numbers are decreasing, 1934 01:26:29,570 --> 01:26:32,130 but we do have some younger members, 1935 01:26:32,130 --> 01:26:34,523 and I'm gonna place some emphasis on that. 1936 01:26:34,523 --> 01:26:38,690 I really hope that our reunions don't disappear 1937 01:26:38,690 --> 01:26:41,380 like the reunions of the original survivors. 1938 01:26:41,380 --> 01:26:42,990 Of course, they died off. 1939 01:26:42,990 --> 01:26:44,670 We're gonna die off, but we hope 1940 01:26:44,670 --> 01:26:46,740 that we'll don't have enough people coming in 1941 01:26:46,740 --> 01:26:51,430 that keep this, the reunion legacy going. 1942 01:26:51,430 --> 01:26:53,670 - I think we need to remember the Sultana 1943 01:26:53,670 --> 01:26:56,300 because these were real people. 1944 01:26:56,300 --> 01:26:59,430 These were somebody's father, somebody's brother, 1945 01:26:59,430 --> 01:27:02,380 somebody's son, my great-great-grandfather. 1946 01:27:02,380 --> 01:27:05,940 These were real people and they gave their lives 1947 01:27:05,940 --> 01:27:10,690 for our country in a tragic way, 1948 01:27:10,690 --> 01:27:12,920 and we need to remember and support them 1949 01:27:12,920 --> 01:27:14,960 because then they never die. 1950 01:27:14,960 --> 01:27:17,530 - The story of the Sultana is as compelling 1951 01:27:17,530 --> 01:27:20,323 as any of the battles fought in the Civil War. 1952 01:27:21,290 --> 01:27:23,480 The death toll, the destruction and tragedy, 1953 01:27:23,480 --> 01:27:25,920 equally as great as any battle, 1954 01:27:25,920 --> 01:27:28,140 and it's a story that needs to be told 1955 01:27:28,140 --> 01:27:32,350 because it has affected so many thousands of lives 1956 01:27:32,350 --> 01:27:33,990 not only at the time of the event, 1957 01:27:33,990 --> 01:27:35,860 but also down through history. 1958 01:27:35,860 --> 01:27:38,660 It's an event that is equally as great 1959 01:27:38,660 --> 01:27:41,273 as most of those events in the war itself. 1960 01:27:42,110 --> 01:27:44,610 It happens to be the greatest disaster 1961 01:27:44,610 --> 01:27:47,240 in American maritime history. 1962 01:27:47,240 --> 01:27:49,160 It needs to be told because 1963 01:27:49,160 --> 01:27:53,290 those voices of the 1,800 or so who died, 1964 01:27:53,290 --> 01:27:55,700 and the five to 600 who survive 1965 01:27:55,700 --> 01:27:59,423 still cry out through their descendants for recognition. 1966 01:28:01,530 --> 01:28:04,870 - In Memphis, we have the Memphis National Cemetery. 1967 01:28:04,870 --> 01:28:09,870 Beautiful 40-acre cemetery, opened in 1867. 1968 01:28:10,550 --> 01:28:12,340 And today, if you go out there, 1969 01:28:12,340 --> 01:28:17,340 you'll find 23 graves of men that died on the Sultana, 1970 01:28:18,440 --> 01:28:20,813 and the hundreds and hundreds of bodies 1971 01:28:20,813 --> 01:28:24,330 that were recovered, of soldiers, Union soldiers, 1972 01:28:24,330 --> 01:28:27,200 are buried at the Memphis National Cemetery 1973 01:28:27,200 --> 01:28:30,720 in graves that just say, "Unknown U.S. Soldier." 1974 01:28:30,720 --> 01:28:34,280 And to me, that's, kindly, a footnote 1975 01:28:34,280 --> 01:28:38,490 on why so few people know about the Sultana. 1976 01:28:38,490 --> 01:28:40,563 The nation really forgot about these men. 1977 01:28:41,800 --> 01:28:46,220 And to me, it's one of the greatest tragedies 1978 01:28:46,220 --> 01:28:47,533 in American history. 1979 01:28:49,320 --> 01:28:51,000 - [Narrator] When Major Will McTeer, 1980 01:28:51,000 --> 01:28:53,650 adjutant of the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry 1981 01:28:53,650 --> 01:28:55,330 learned of the Sultana's fate 1982 01:28:55,330 --> 01:28:57,290 the morning after the disaster, 1983 01:28:57,290 --> 01:28:58,123 he wrote: 1984 01:28:59,840 --> 01:29:01,770 - [Will] In the bosom of the Mississippi, 1985 01:29:01,770 --> 01:29:03,820 they found their final resting place 1986 01:29:05,900 --> 01:29:08,623 No stone or monument marks that spot. 1987 01:29:10,640 --> 01:29:12,450 There is no tablet with their names, 1988 01:29:12,450 --> 01:29:14,200 not even a hillock to which friends 1989 01:29:14,200 --> 01:29:15,763 and survivors can go. 1990 01:29:17,790 --> 01:29:19,900 Flowers are strewn over the graves 1991 01:29:19,900 --> 01:29:21,460 in the cemeteries of our dead, 1992 01:29:21,460 --> 01:29:23,710 yet, there are no flowers for those 1993 01:29:23,710 --> 01:29:25,993 who went down on the Sultana. 1994 01:29:29,400 --> 01:29:32,250 But, let us remember them. 1995 01:29:33,870 --> 01:29:37,310 (whistle hooting) 1996 01:29:37,310 --> 01:29:41,143 (somber military-style music) 1997 01:31:29,993 --> 01:31:33,660 (gentle instrumental music) 1998 01:32:29,326 --> 01:32:33,326 (rhythmic percussive harmonies)