The Civil War’s last tragedy: Vicksburg and the doomed Sultana

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — In the spring of 1865, as the nation celebrated the end of the Civil War, tragedy struck on the Mississippi River. The steamboat Sultana, carrying nearly 2,200 recently freed Union prisoners of war along with civilians and crew, exploded just north of Memphis. More than 1,100 lives were lost, making it the deadliest maritime disaster in American history, a catastrophe larger than the Titanic, yet often overlooked in history books.

Vicksburg played a key role in the story. In April 1865, the battered Union soldiers had been released from Confederate prison camps such as Cahaba and Andersonville. They were brought to Vicksburg, then under Union control, to await transport north. The city became the final staging ground for many of the men’s long journeys home.

The Sultana docked in Vicksburg to take on repairs and, most importantly, to load hundreds of paroled prisoners. Corruption added to the tragedy: steamboat owners were paid $2.75 per enlisted man and $8.00 an officer to transport soldiers, so far more men were crowded aboard than the vessel was designed to carry. With a licensed capacity of 376 passengers, the Sultana departed Vicksburg packed with more than five times that number.

Two days later, in the early morning hours of April 27, 1865, the overburdened steamer’s boilers exploded near Marion, Arkansas. Survivors were flung into the dark, frigid waters of the Mississippi, where many drowned or died of burns and exhaustion. For countless families, the joy of reunion after years of war was cruelly cut short.

For Vicksburg, the Sultana is a haunting reminder that the city’s riverfront was not only a stage for military campaigns but also a departure point for one of America’s greatest peacetime tragedies. The soldiers who boarded the Sultana here carried with them both relief at freedom and the unknowing weight of fate.

Today, visitors interested in the disaster can learn more at the Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Arkansas, just outside Memphis, which preserves artifacts, stories, and research dedicated to the event.