Greatest American Maritime Disaster, and It Ain't the Titanic; but both sank in April!

As April winds down, so do the stories from the Civil War. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start on April 12th, meaning it won't be until many of the climactic events won't have their 150th until 2015. There's two important things left in April, but only this one is from the Civil War (the other isn't until 1975).

On this night, sailing up the Mighty Mississippi River, prisoners of war were looking at the stars aboard the Sultana carrying them home to the North. It was April 26-27, 1865, the latter part of the same day John Wilkes Booth was shot and killed.

(Above, the last known photograph of the Sultana, taken in Arkansas on April 26, 1865)

These soldiers had been through hell, literally. Many were Midwesterners that had been freed from the notorious Andersonville (GA) prison camp, along with other POW camps. It should be noted that the Union was far from reproach, as they too had overcrowded POW camps with poor rations, life expectancy, etc.

All these soldiers wanted to do was to get north of the Mason Dixon line and go home to their families. They had prayed for this day. Unknown to them, the ship was damaged; a boiler had a problem and was leaking. It was quickly, and poorly, repaired at one of the ports and the Sultana continued on her journey up from Vicksburg (where General U.S. Grant had whipped the Confederacy in 1863, before Lincoln moved him on to command the Army of the Potomac).

The one problem that likely everyone on board knew, there were an awful lot of people on the Sultana.

There were only enough cabins on board for 75 to 100 people, however unscrupulous, the owners were being paid by the Union by the head ($3) so they packed in as many they could. Ultimately, there would be approximately 2,400 souls (more than the Titanic, on a ship a fraction of the size). The soldiers were no doubt uncomfortable, but were happy to lay down where ever they could. The night of April 26th silently rolled by into the early morning of April 27th.

About eight miles north of Memphis, at about 2 AM, there was an explosion. It is strongly believed that a boiler exploded and there was immediate trouble. Unlike the Titanic, this ship was not iron and steel, but wood. It was just a matter of time for the inevitable to claim its victims.

Some would be heroes and help others, some grabbed on to low hanging branches of trees along the banks of the river, while many died of hypothermia. The most haunting image is that of a defenseless prisoner of war, emaciated, malnourished or missing a leg, that could not make a move to save their own life. Imagine, much like 9/11 in the World Trade Center, you had two viable (and not good) options: burn to death or jump.

The ship was gone in about an hour, and so was the majority of passengers. The numbers dwindled from 2,400 down to 500 or so, and of those, only 200 survived due to the burns they endured. Like many disasters, many of the bodies were never recovered.

So why haven't you heard of this disaster? John Wilkes Booth. Only he could upstage the deaths of hundreds of people. No doubt, it would have put a smirk on his face that he was able to push aside the attention of the supposed "heroes".

The sad thing is, there is no shipwreck to visit, to pay tribute to, to make the reality tangible. Hundreds of people perished in the Mighty Mississippi, but the river was mightier. Over time, the route of the water has shifted, leaving the Sultana wreck buried in a soybean field, last viewed in 2002.

It is important to pay attention to what I call "the footnotes of history". These are the things that likely you've glanced right over and never gave it a second thought. These footnotes are far from that though, because every event that happens in a person's life has importance, and if we forget about these moments, we will forget them; and that would be unforgivable.