Line drawings illustrate the devastating impact of the explosion. (Courtesy Gene Eric Salecker) repaired patch may have been the Achilles' heel by letting go due to metal fatigue. • The Sultana was driving against floodwaters, crossing from one side of the river to the other when the explosion occurred. I twas reported that the vessel listed slightly as soldiers moved from one side to the other to view passing traffic and river towns. This may have exposed tubes to direct heat withour water on the outside of the tubes. As the boat righ ted itself water would have come in contact with red-hot tubes, causing a sudden spike in steam pressure. Repetitive actio n of this sort may have ruptured tubes, causing an explosion . In summary, lowwater level, excessive steam pressure and poor maintenance were probably all contributing factors. Findings regarding responsibility for the selection of the Sultana and for overloading her suggested that culpability rested with the combined action of fo ur men. However, during the proceedings three of the four were exonerated, leaving a Captain Frederic Speed, in charge of prisoner transfer and shipment, to face the music. Speed requested a trial almost immediately to have his name cleared. His military court-martial convened 9 January 1866 in Vicksburg. He stood accused of "Neglect of duty to the prejudice of good order and military discipline." Speed entered a plea of not guilty and made known his feelings that the government was using him as a scapegoat. Six months later Speed was fo und guilty and faced dishonorable discharge. When the verdict reached the Judge Advocate General of the US Army, the top man at the Bureau of Military Justice, he ruled the sentence be disapproved because Captain Speed's role was wholly subordinate and, further, that he be exonerated of all charges which had been made against his character as an officer. Secretary of War Stanton confirmed the judge's reversal and on 1 September 1866 Speed was honorably discharged with a clear record. Although the judge mentioned two of the previously mentioned three officers as more responsible for the overcrowdi ng, he did not recommend court action. The case of Sultana was officially closed. Other than the one army officer who admitted to having taken a bribe, there was no eviden ce or allegations of bribery against anyone else. No one would be tried again, and no one would ever be punished for the loss oflife. Neither of the military investigations
SEA HISTORY 92, SPRING 2000
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into the loss of the steamer gave any credence to support rumors of a plot by Confederate guerrillas to sabotage the Sultana . Q uite apart fro m the culpability of military personnel, I fo und practically no info rmation or discussion regarding the question of culpability on the part of the owners of Sultana and more specifically that of Captain Mason. In the fi nal analysis it must be sai d that he is, as is any mas ter, fully responsible for his vessel and the activities pertaini ng thereto. It follows, therefore, that Captain Mason must be held acco untable for allowing conditions to develop that led to the sinking. However, the point is moot as he did not survive the sinking.
A Rightful Place in History T here were only four Civil War battles with greater loss oflife than that associated with the loss of Sultana, but the tragedy passed almost unnoticed into the pages of history, partially because of the tum ultuous events that rocked America at this time. Newspapers across the nation were still full of the C ivil W ar which had ended only weeks before the loss of Sultana. President Lincoln had been assassinated nearly two weeks befo re, and John W ilkes Booth
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was killed 26 April, the day before the disaster. With so much to report, the Sultana's tragic tale was relegated to an editorial back seat. People were desperate for good news. M oreover, the tragedy occurred in the West, far removed from the large newspapers in the East. U nderlying all of these peripheral reaso ns was the smell of cover-up. Everything I have read suggests concerted efforts on the part of those responsible to cover-up the greed, neglect and sheer stupidity that led to the disaster. Clearly this was not a pro ud chapter in American histo ry. A monument commemorating those lost with the Sultana was not erected until 3 1 years later. Proposed legislation to compensate survivors and their families was never returned to the H ouse of Represen tatives fo r action after it got through com mi ttee. T he last survivor died in 193 1. W ith his death, the Sultana and her passengers became a mere footnote in the pages of American history. ,!,
This article is excerpted from a presentation at the 1998 Nautical Research Guild 50th Anniversary Conference. Mr. Starace is a member of the N R G and p resident of The Ship Model Society ofNorthern New j ersey.
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