Recognizing The Anniversary Of The Accident Of SS Sultana

Floor Speech

RECOGNIZING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACCIDENT OF SS SULTANA -- (House of Representatives - April 27, 2009)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FLEMING. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, first of all, I want to thank my colleague from across the aisle, Dr. Snyder from Arkansas, who also is a physician. He's interested in this very interesting topic and the passage of this very important resolution, H. Res. 329.

I rise in support of House Resolution 329, recognizing the anniversary of the tragic accident of the steamboat ship SS Sultana, which occurred 144 years ago today.

Madam Speaker, on April 27, 1865, the SS Sultana, a Mississippi River steam-powered paddle wheeler, exploded and sank just north of Memphis in the early hours of the morning. There were 2,400 souls aboard when the ship's boilers exploded, blowing the overcrowded steamboat apart and sending scores of helpless passengers into the vast currents of the Mississippi River. Tragically, over 1,800 individuals lost their lives in what is now known to be the worst maritime disaster in the United States. And by comparison the Titanic, which, of course, sank many years later, lost 1,500 lives, and, of course, that's something that we have memorialized for many years. It's even worse than Shiloh when 1,700 lives were lost in 1 day.

The Sultana had frequently been contracted by the War Department to carry troops up and down the river. On the day of the accident, its precious cargo was nearly 2,000 Union prisoners and additional troops who had recently been released from the Confederate prison camps at the infamous Andersonville and Cahawba. And, as I say, 300 or so of these were Active Duty personnel along with the prisoners. This boat was legally registered to carry only 376 personnel, and as you can see, it was about eight times overloaded.

The SS Sultana left New Orleans, and during a routine stop at Vicksburg, the former prisoners, who were anxious to start their journey home, had crowded on board the steamboat in numbers far above its normal capacity. While the boat was at Vicksburg, it was discovered that the boilers were leaking.

And, parenthetically, I have to mention that there were tremendous incentives on both sides to overcrowd this boat. First of all, the ship captains received $5 per head, which was quite a bit of money in those days. And the Army officers got a $1.15 kickback. And, of course, the soldiers were just out of Andersonville. They were tired. They wanted to go home. So everyone was obviously in favor of getting this boat underway. Quick repairs were
made. However, it was more or less patchwork rather than true repairs.

Madam Speaker, as the Sultana sailed past Memphis, a combination of disastrous circumstances, including poorly maintained boilers, the powerful current on the Mississippi, and the overcrowded conditions, led to the catastrophic explosion. Thankfully, hundreds of the passengers survived primarily through the help of other steamboats in the area that rushed to the scene. Most remarkable was the willingness of the good people of Memphis to help the injured Union soldiers, who just weeks before had been their enemy.

Sadly, Madam Speaker, although this was an enormous disaster in American history, it remains relatively unknown because, remember, this happened in April 1865, a very special month. What happened in that month? Well, on April 9 the Appomattox surrender occurred. Then President Lincoln was assassinated. Then on April 26 John Wilkes Booth was arrested. And then, finally, General Johnson surrendered and Jefferson Davis was arrested. So you can well see how such a remarkable tragedy found itself in the back pages of the local newspapers.

With that in mind, it is fitting today for all of us Americans to remember the tragic loss of over 1,800 souls on the SS Sultana that happened so many years ago, and I, therefore, strongly urge all Members to support this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SNYDER. Madam Speaker, at this time I have no further requests for time, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FLEMING. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for a closing statement.

Madam Speaker, this, as I said, is a remarkable event in history, and, quite frankly, until recently I was unaware of it, and I, among many others, am a Civil War buff. And it happened between my two home States, Louisiana and Mississippi. So I appreciate very much that this has been brought to light and that we can learn more about it and certainly recognize it for the future.

I do want to point out, however, that this turned out to be an example to some extent of unfettered greed; that is, that there was no control over the captain of the ship as well as Army officers. They were in it for profit, and I think they took advantage of the poor Union soldiers who were coming out of desperate situations and so desperately wanted to go home. So I think that's a lesson we can learn for the future, that we need to put our own individual interests at hand and look out for the better good of all.

With that, Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source