| 1915 "Sultana" 50th Reunion Ribbon |
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| SOLD!!! At 9:00p.m. on April 24, 1865, the steamboat "Sultana" left Vicksburg headed up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. Aboard the "Sultana" were over 2000 Union prisoners of war recently freed from Andersonville and Cahaba prisons and approximately 200 additional passengers and crew. The "Sultana" was 260 feet long, 42 feet wide, and three to four stories tall from the bottom of her keel to the top of her chimneys. The incredible overcrowding was caused by greedy Union officers trying to personally profit from the ending war. The Union prisoners of war were packed like cord wood on the decks of the "Sultana". On April 26 the "Sultana" reached Memphis and discharged several passengers and Union supplies. At 10:00p.m. the "Sultana" left Memphis headed north on the Mississippi River. Seven miles north of Memphis, at 2:00a.m. on April 27, 1865, the boilers on the "Sultana" exploded sending boiling water and fire all over the boat. Most of the Union prisoners of war were still weak from their time in Confederate prisons. Panic ensued and many of the soldiers jumped into the Mississippi River. Most did not know how to swim or had their water logged heavy woolen uniforms drag them under the water to drown. The Mississippi River was in flood stage and the banks of the river were miles away. The water was very cold. When help finally arrived only 786 of the 2200+ passengers were rescued. Of the 786 people rescued, over 200 died in the next few weeks from injuries and exposure. Of the Union paroled prisoners 652 were from Ohio, 463 from Tennessee, 407 from Indiana, 274 from Michigan, 185 from Kentucky, 18 from West Virginia, and the rest from Illinois, Alabama, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and U.S. Colored Troop. Unfortunately the news of the "Sultana" sinking was eclipsed by the news of Robert E. Lee surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. By the time of the tragedy, the nation had become pretty calloused to death and disaster. Due to geography the survivors split into two camps. The Northern camp consisted of survivors from Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. The Southern camp consisted of survivors from Tennessee and Kentucky. The first reunion of the Northern camp was in December, 1885 on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. At this reunion the survivors voted to call themselves the National Sultana Survivor Association. By 1889 the reunion had been moved to dates in April closer to the date of the tragedy. The first meeting of the Southern camp was in 1889. The goal of both camps was to get a special $50.00 pension for survivors and a monument to those that died on the "Sultana". By 1910, the Northern camp established it's reunion permently in Toledo, Ohio and the Southern camp in Knoxville, Tennessee. By 1912, the survivors realized the pension issue was not going to happen and they dropped it and focused on a national monument. The Southern camp came to the realization no money was coming from the Federal government and took things in their own hands. On July 4, 1912, they erected a beautiful marble monument in Mount Olvie Cemetary on the southern outskirts of Knoxville. The memorial contained a chiseled replica of the "Sultana" and the names of 365 Tennessee prisoners, both victims and survivors, listed on the sides. This was the only monument ever erected to the "Sultana". The last Southern camp survivor died on March 5, 1931. The last known survivor of the "Sultana" disaster died on January 9, 1936. This is a ribbon for the 50th Anniversary of the "Sultana" tragedy and the 32 reunion.of the Northern camp. The white ribbon is approximately 7 inches long and 2 inches wide. On the ribbon in black ink is "32nd Reunion and the 50th Anniversary - Sultana Survivors' Association - Toledo, Item #: RC8988 |
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