Here we were about 80 percent of totality. There were wispy clouds, but they didn't block the sight.
I was on campus, so I joined a viewing party in the rooftop greenhouse of one of the science buildings. I almost left because it was hot (being in a greenhouse) and the frames around the windows might have gotten in the way. But, they didn't, and unfortunately I wasn't feeling well -- I went there right after lunch -- and decided I needed to stay close to a restroom.
The view was good. As promised, the polarized eclipse glasses blocked 99 percent of the light. It was weird to go from not wearing them an seeing a clear, somewhat cloudy sky to seeing pitch darkness save for a gold-colored crescent in the sky.
In April 1865, some 2,000 passengers, mostly Union soldiers, boarded the Sultana in Vicksburg, MS. The soldiers had recently been released from prison camps, including Andersonville and Cahaba. Weary and tired, they had begun the arduous trek home following the end of the Civil War. The 260-foot-long wooden, side-wheel steamboat, designed to hold 376 passengers, was dangerously overloaded as it made its way up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. In the early morning hours of April 27, 1865, near Memphis, three of Sultana’s boilers exploded, and the vessel sank, killing more than 1,100 people.
The Courier-Journal: April 30, 1865
The Sultana was launched in 1863 and was powered by four large boilers. It regularly ran along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and St. Louis. Designed for the cotton trade, Sultana carried cotton and goods, along with civilian and military passengers, between ports.
On April 23, 1865, the Sultana was docked at Vicksburg to repair leaky boilers when Capt. James Cass Mason learned that the U.S. government would pay between $5 and $10 per passenger to transport released prisoners north. Amid accusations of backroom bribes and kickbacks, Mason hastily patched the malfunctioning boilers, then loaded more than 2,000 Union soldiers aboard. The soldiers joined other regular passengers, including men, women, and children.
Photograph of the overcrowded Sultana captured the day before the disaster
On April 27, 1865, at about 2:00 a.m., the Sultana was a few miles north of Memphis when three of the four boilers exploded. Some passengers were killed instantly, while others flung themselves into the water as flames engulfed the vessel. The released prisoners, many weak and emaciated, lacked the strength to swim to safety in the strong current.
William Crisp served in the Michigan 18th Volunteer Infantry, Company D. He was taken prisoner in September 1864 and sent to Cahaba Prison Camp. In March 1865, torrential rains flooded the camp, leaving prisoners standing in cold, knee-deep water for twelve days. Along with other prisoners, Crisp was moved around, eventually ending up in Vicksburg. While there, he heard the news of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House.
Crisp joined other prisoners aboard the Sultana for his return home to Hillsdale, Michigan. On the night of the disaster, he was sleeping on the main deck when the ship exploded. Shards of debris and heavy, broken timbers rained down on the men below, breaking Crisp’s shoulder and three ribs. He also received severe burns on his arms and head. Dazed and confused, Crisp climbed out from under the debris before jumping overboard as flames consumed the ship.
The swift currents carried Crisp downstream for about three miles until he grasped a tree and pulled himself from the cold water. There, he hung for nearly seven hours until a Confederate soldier rescued him in an old dugout canoe. Crisp was one of 65 men rescued that morning by this same soldier, a former enemy turned friend.
Crisp spent six weeks in a Memphis hospital before he was well enough to travel home. Even then, the severity of his injuries required that he stop at several hospitals along the way for treatment. His family, assuming he was lost, were shocked when Crisp arrived home, bandaged and burned but alive.
The Sultana disaster claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people, including Capt. James Cass Mason. It remains the deadliest maritime incident in American history. In contrast, the sinking of the Titanic claimed 1,503 lives. Investigators later determined that faulty boilers, mismanagement of water levels in the boilers, and the strain from the overcrowded conditions likely led to the explosion. Nobody was ever held responsible for the Sultana disaster.
(Transcribed by me)
April 27, 1865: The Sinking of Sultana - Fold3 HQ
Learn more about this Civil War-era steamboat that sank in the Mississippi River, killing soldiers recently released from prison camps.
Even if the boilers weren't damaged, going north against the current with the weight of five times as many passengers as normal probably would have had the same result.
Captain Comics > Richard WillisApril 12, 2024 at 11:23am
The Sultana remains the largest maritime disaster in U.S. history, and yet almost nobody knows anything about it. It's a pretty big deal in my neck of the woods, with lots of information in the Memphis Room of the central library. They're turning an old school gymnasium into a museum in Marion, Arkansas.
New Sultana museum could open by April 2025
Construction is beginning on the new museum, which will be nearly 20 times bigger than the existing one. The developers hope to have it open by April…
This morning I read a comic book that had a panel of a man sitting on a park bench and reading a newspaper. The name of the newspaper was The Daily Poop. That is a perfect name for a newspaper for so many reasons.
Replies
Just came in. We were at 99.6%, so it was close to totality, and we had clear skies. Many of the nearby areas under totality had clouds. Awesome.
Also, MTG is an idiot.
All it looked like here was like it was about to rain. Just gray skies.
I know that it's all about location but as far as cosmic occurances go, I'd like my money back!
Here we were about 80 percent of totality. There were wispy clouds, but they didn't block the sight.
I was on campus, so I joined a viewing party in the rooftop greenhouse of one of the science buildings. I almost left because it was hot (being in a greenhouse) and the frames around the windows might have gotten in the way. But, they didn't, and unfortunately I wasn't feeling well -- I went there right after lunch -- and decided I needed to stay close to a restroom.
The view was good. As promised, the polarized eclipse glasses blocked 99 percent of the light. It was weird to go from not wearing them an seeing a clear, somewhat cloudy sky to seeing pitch darkness save for a gold-colored crescent in the sky.
Another artist's conception of the eclipse:
Tracy says:
Donate your glasses to Eclipse Glasses USA
Eclipse Glasses USA is accepting donations through Aug. 1 so they can be sent to Latin America for school-aged children to view the October eclipse.
You can send the glasses to:
Eclipse Glasses USA, LLC
P.O. Box 50571
Provo, UT 84605
You can contact the organization by e-mail at info@eclipse23.com.
I'm sure we'll hear fewer wails of "Apocalypse!" during that one.
Article from Ancestry and the Fold3 Blog:
April 27, 1865: The Sinking of Sultana
April 2, 2024 by Jenny Ashcraft |
In April 1865, some 2,000 passengers, mostly Union soldiers, boarded the Sultana in Vicksburg, MS. The soldiers had recently been released from prison camps, including Andersonville and Cahaba. Weary and tired, they had begun the arduous trek home following the end of the Civil War. The 260-foot-long wooden, side-wheel steamboat, designed to hold 376 passengers, was dangerously overloaded as it made its way up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. In the early morning hours of April 27, 1865, near Memphis, three of Sultana’s boilers exploded, and the vessel sank, killing more than 1,100 people.
The Courier-Journal: April 30, 1865
The Sultana was launched in 1863 and was powered by four large boilers. It regularly ran along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and St. Louis. Designed for the cotton trade, Sultana carried cotton and goods, along with civilian and military passengers, between ports.
On April 23, 1865, the Sultana was docked at Vicksburg to repair leaky boilers when Capt. James Cass Mason learned that the U.S. government would pay between $5 and $10 per passenger to transport released prisoners north. Amid accusations of backroom bribes and kickbacks, Mason hastily patched the malfunctioning boilers, then loaded more than 2,000 Union soldiers aboard. The soldiers joined other regular passengers, including men, women, and children.
Photograph of the overcrowded Sultana captured the day before the disaster
On April 27, 1865, at about 2:00 a.m., the Sultana was a few miles north of Memphis when three of the four boilers exploded. Some passengers were killed instantly, while others flung themselves into the water as flames engulfed the vessel. The released prisoners, many weak and emaciated, lacked the strength to swim to safety in the strong current.
William Crisp served in the Michigan 18th Volunteer Infantry, Company D. He was taken prisoner in September 1864 and sent to Cahaba Prison Camp. In March 1865, torrential rains flooded the camp, leaving prisoners standing in cold, knee-deep water for twelve days. Along with other prisoners, Crisp was moved around, eventually ending up in Vicksburg. While there, he heard the news of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House.
Crisp joined other prisoners aboard the Sultana for his return home to Hillsdale, Michigan. On the night of the disaster, he was sleeping on the main deck when the ship exploded. Shards of debris and heavy, broken timbers rained down on the men below, breaking Crisp’s shoulder and three ribs. He also received severe burns on his arms and head. Dazed and confused, Crisp climbed out from under the debris before jumping overboard as flames consumed the ship.
The swift currents carried Crisp downstream for about three miles until he grasped a tree and pulled himself from the cold water. There, he hung for nearly seven hours until a Confederate soldier rescued him in an old dugout canoe. Crisp was one of 65 men rescued that morning by this same soldier, a former enemy turned friend.
Crisp spent six weeks in a Memphis hospital before he was well enough to travel home. Even then, the severity of his injuries required that he stop at several hospitals along the way for treatment. His family, assuming he was lost, were shocked when Crisp arrived home, bandaged and burned but alive.
The Sultana disaster claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people, including Capt. James Cass Mason. It remains the deadliest maritime incident in American history. In contrast, the sinking of the Titanic claimed 1,503 lives. Investigators later determined that faulty boilers, mismanagement of water levels in the boilers, and the strain from the overcrowded conditions likely led to the explosion. Nobody was ever held responsible for the Sultana disaster.
(Transcribed by me)
Even if the boilers weren't damaged, going north against the current with the weight of five times as many passengers as normal probably would have had the same result.
The Sultana remains the largest maritime disaster in U.S. history, and yet almost nobody knows anything about it. It's a pretty big deal in my neck of the woods, with lots of information in the Memphis Room of the central library. They're turning an old school gymnasium into a museum in Marion, Arkansas.
This morning I read a comic book that had a panel of a man sitting on a park bench and reading a newspaper. The name of the newspaper was The Daily Poop. That is a perfect name for a newspaper for so many reasons.
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