KNOXVILLE’S HOMAGE TO THE SINKING OF THE STEAMBOAT SULTANA

Introduction:

Located in Knoxville’s Mount Olive Cemetery is a marble memorial to the sinking of the United States Ship Sultana, a 260-foot paddle wheeler steamboat that suffered a boiler explosion that plunged all aboard into the cold waters of the Mississippi, right outside of Memphis on April 27, 1865. It is estimated that over 1,700 people died on the horrid night, many of whom were returning Union Army former prisoners of war. Why is Knoxville fortunate to have what many believe to be the most ornate memorial to this maritime disaster that occurred almost 400 miles away? We shall soon see.

The Disaster:

The explosion of the steamboat Sultana on April 27, 1865 in the middle of the night on the Mississippi River near Memphis resulted in what is considered the greatest loss of life in a naval disaster in American history. The ship was rated to carry only about 375 passengers, but nearly 2,200 Union POWs from the Confederate prison Chahaba 1 were crowded onto the boat that fateful night. The Sultana’s boilers exploded at 1 a.m. in the morning of April 27, seven miles north of Memphis, flinging civilians and POWs, already weakened from their imprisonment, into the flooded, icy river. Most of Cahaba’s prisoners were former members of the Third Tennessee Cavalry, a U.S. regiment that had been captured in 1864 while trying to relieve a besieged fort in North Alabama. It is estimated that 1,700 people lost their lives that night. 2

The Law for Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs):

When the Sultana’s civilian passengers came into contact with returning POWs, they were mortified. Most of the soldiers were sickly, gaunt, and clearly malnourished. Call it intuition or coincidence, but, two years before the disaster, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, concerned over the treatment of civilians, prisoners and soldiers, issued “General Orders No. 100: Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field,” commonly known as the “Lieber Code” named after its main author Francis (Franz) Lieber, an attorney and law professor. The Lieber Code set out rules of conduct during hostilities for Union soldiers throughout the U.S. Civil War. Even today, it remains the basis of most regulations of the laws of war for the United States, and is referred to in the foreword to the Department of Defense Laws of War Manual. 3The Lieber Code set out the law regarding the treatment of POWs, and provided in pertinent part:

A prisoner of war is subject to no punishment for being a public enemy, nor is any revenge wreaked upon him by the intentional infliction of any suffering, or disgrace, by cruel imprisonment, want of food, by mutilation, death, or any other barbarity.4

The Trial of Captain Frederick Speed:

Captain James Cass Mason of St. Louis, who was the ship’s captain and ultimately responsible for dangerously overloading his vessel and ordering the faulty repairs to her leaky boiler, died in the disaster. Consequently, the military turned its attention to Union Army Officer Captain Frederick Speed who was responsible for the care, treatment, and transportation of the former POWs who were permitted to board the overcrowded ship. Speed was charged with several counts of negligence, tried before a court-martial 5 at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and judged culpable in the disaster—the only Army officer brought to trial. Speed was found guilty and sentenced to be dismissed from service. However, Brig. General Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate General of the United States, refused to endorse the findings of the court and Captain Speed was mustered out of service with full military benefits and without the formal stain on his record. Captain Speed settled in Vicksburg and practiced law for the rest of his life. He died in 1911.

Knoxville Remembers:

April 1865 was a troubling month for America. Although the Civil War had ended, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and the ensuing manhunt for his assassin, John Wilkes Booth, captivated the American media, resulting in scant coverage of the Sultana disaster. However, the people of Knoxville didn’t forget. In the years after the disaster, a number of Sultana survivor groups cropped up around the country, including a particularly vigorous chapter in Knoxville. Descendants of these veterans still meet annually. One of the Knoxville chapter’s leading voices, adamant about honoring the East Tennessee soldiers who perished in the disaster (many of whom were from Knoxville), was the pastor at Mount Olive Baptist Church, Rev. W. L. Singleton. Reverend Singleton chose the church’s cemetery as the location for the monument. Three hundred and sixty-five Tennesseans were aboard the Sultana, and the monument features all of their names, hand-inscribed, survivors and casualties alike. Dedicated on July 4, 1916, it is one of Knoxville’s treasures and definitely worth a visit.

1 Cahaba Prison, also known as Castle Morgan, was a prisoner of war camp in Dallas County, Alabama where the Confederacy held captive Union soldiers during the American Civil War.

2 Due to space limitations, only a small portion of this maritime disaster can be told. For a more comprehensive reading, see “Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison, and the Worst Maritime Disaster in American History,” by Alan Huffman.

3 The Department of Defense (DoD) Law of War manual is a guide for DoD personnel responsible for implementing the law of war and executing military operations.

4 Lieber Code, §3, Article 49

5 A court-martial is a judicial court convened by the military for trying members of the armed services accused of offenses against military law.