Loss of the Sultana


Read by Roger Melin

(4.4 stars; 18 reviews)

April, 1865. The country was in turmoil. The U.S. Civil War had come to an end, thousands of Union prisoners of war had recently been released, and President Lincoln had just been assassinated. The steamship 'Sultana' left New Orleans on April 21st, traveled to Vicksburg, Mississippi where it took on 1,965 federal soldiers and 35 officers, all recently released prisoners of war, most of them held at the prison camps of Cahaba (or Cahawba, near Selma, Alabama) and Andersonville (in southwest Georgia), and now finally headed for their homes.

The 'Sultana' arrived in Memphis, Tennessee on April 26th and headed north toward Cairo, Illinois carrying over 2,100 passengers, but designed for a capacity of only 376. At approximately 2:00 a.m. of the 27th, mere hours after the assassination of John Wilkes Booth, the 'Sultana' mysteriously exploded while steaming about 7 miles north of Memphis, killing over 1,500 on board (estimates vary). The sole reason this incident received such scant attention at the time, and ever since, is the fact that the country was understandably absorbed in the recent assassinations. Subsequent inquiry into the 'Sultana' disaster would uncover some startling revelations into its cause, some believe leading directly to the topmost levels of the U.S. Government. The loss of the 'Sultana' was the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history, up until the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This book, composed by Chester Berry, one of the survivors, is unique in that it gives firsthand account from well over 100 of the survivors of the tragedy in their own words.

Note - The online e-text (link provided) includes 3 lists for reference that are not included in this audio release:
1 - An official list of prisoners of war on the Sultana, including company served with
2 - Persons known to have been on board the Sultana, but not reported
3 - Name, Company, Regiment, and present (1892) residence of living survivors ( Roger Melin) (0 hr 26 min)

Chapters

Introduction 9:12 Read by Roger Melin
The Burning of the Sultana 3:30 Read by Roger Melin
Official Correspondance 27:32 Read by Roger Melin
N. Wintringer - Chief Engineer 6:00 Read by Roger Melin
Henry J. Lyda 1:18 Read by Roger Melin
C.W. Abbaduska 1:19 Read by Roger Melin
Hosea C. Aldrich 6:07 Read by Roger Melin
Daniel Allen 3:00 Read by Roger Melin
Hiram Allison 3:11 Read by Roger Melin
George Anderson 2:50 Read by Roger Melin
P.S. Atchley 3:03 Read by Roger Melin
Murry S. Baker 2:50 Read by Roger Melin
Otto Bardon 9:01 Read by Roger Melin
Wm. Barnes 1:21 Read by Roger Melin
George Bement 1:15 Read by Roger Melin
Chester D. Berry 24:54 Read by Roger Melin
Wm. Boor 10:16 Read by Roger Melin
Wm. Bracken 1:35 Read by Roger Melin
James K. Brady 15:48 Read by Roger Melin
Joseph Bringman 7:09 Read by Roger Melin
A.C. Brown 14:36 Read by Roger Melin
Michael Brunner 2:50 Read by Roger Melin
Wm. Carver 3:11 Read by Roger Melin
Abraham Cassel 1:07 Read by Roger Melin
Simeon D. Chelf 15:22 Read by Roger Melin
William A. Christine 2:53 Read by Roger Melin
F.A. Clapsaddle 2:56 Read by Roger Melin
George A. Clarkson 5:17 Read by Roger Melin
George M. Clinger 5:00 Read by Roger Melin
J.S. Cook 5:46 Read by Roger Melin
Wm. Crisp 1:23 Read by Roger Melin
Ben C. Davis 5:30 Read by Roger Melin
John Davis 2:47 Read by Roger Melin
L.A. Deerman 6:52 Read by Roger Melin
J.W. Dunsmore 2:04 Read by Roger Melin
J. Walter Elliott 26:39 Read by Roger Melin
William Fies 19:09 Read by Roger Melin
Nathaniel Foglsong 12:35 Read by Roger Melin
Martin Frazee 1:20 Read by Roger Melin
W.S. Friesner 1:18 Read by Roger Melin
Henry Gambill 2:22 Read by Roger Melin
Daniel Garber 10:29 Read by Roger Melin
Stephen M. Gaston 6:43 Read by Roger Melin
W.N. Goodrich 6:47 Read by Roger Melin
N.W. Gregory 4:44 Read by Roger Melin
Samuel C. Haines 5:59 Read by Roger Melin
Ogilvie E. Hamblin 7:17 Read by Roger Melin
Robert N. Hamilton 6:20 Read by Roger Melin
Absalom N. Hatch 2:54 Read by Roger Melin
Jacob Helminger 7:15 Read by Roger Melin
William S. Hill 1:01 Read by Roger Melin
Wiley J. Hodges 2:26 Read by Roger Melin
P.L. Horn 7:26 Read by Roger Melin
Ira B. Horner 7:43 Read by Roger Melin
Jacob Horner 2:07 Read by Roger Melin
W.A. Huld 3:30 Read by Roger Melin
John H. James 1:21 Read by Roger Melin
C.J. Johnson 1:11 Read by Roger Melin
Lewis Johnson 1:22 Read by Roger Melin
Benjamin F. Johnston 3:51 Read by Roger Melin
A.A. Jones 12:15 Read by Roger Melin
Nicholas Karns 4:04 Read by Roger Melin
E.J. Kennedy 1:19 Read by Roger Melin
Rinaldon Kimmell 1:55 Read by Roger Melin
Albert W. King 9:52 Read by Roger Melin
George A. King 2:52 Read by Roger Melin
Hugh Kinser 7:50 Read by Roger Melin
Henry J. Kline 3:02 Read by Roger Melin
John H. Kochenderfer 4:41 Read by Roger Melin
C.J. Lahue 3:33 Read by Roger Melin
Adam Leake 2:22 Read by Roger Melin
Asa E. Lee 2:33 Read by Roger Melin
Wesley Lee 4:38 Read by Roger Melin
Thomas C. Love (alias Thomas Long) 4:35 Read by Roger Melin
William Lugenbeal 6:09 Read by Roger Melin
W.P. Madden 10:22 Read by Roger Melin
Jotham W. Maes 4:14 Read by Roger Melin
Jerry Mahony 3:07 Read by Roger Melin
Jesse Martin 2:42 Read by Roger Melin
Joseph H. Mayes 3:22 Read by Roger Melin
George B. McCord 4:40 Read by Roger Melin
L.W. McCrory 7:00 Read by Roger Melin
Wm. A. McFarland 10:24 Read by Roger Melin
Epenetus W. McIntosh 4:27 Read by Roger Melin
Daniel McLeod 5:34 Read by Roger Melin
L.G. Morgan 8:07 Read by Roger Melin
A.J. Mourning 0:55 Read by Roger Melin
A. Nihart 0:54 Read by Roger Melin
C.M. Nisley 5:52 Read by Roger Melin
John W. Norcutt 1:34 Read by Roger Melin
Albert Norris 4:07 Read by Roger Melin
Joseph B. Norris 5:05 Read by Roger Melin
J.E. Norton 7:02 Read by Roger Melin
Wm. H. Norton 7:16 Read by Roger Melin
Stewart Oxley 4:48 Read by Roger Melin
Thomas Pangle 3:49 Read by Roger Melin
Joshua S. Patterson 5:12 Read by Roger Melin
William H. Peacock 2:35 Read by Roger Melin
W.G. Porter 5:43 Read by Roger Melin
Samuel H. Raudebaugh 11:56 Read by Roger Melin
Christian Ray 4:02 Read by Roger Melin
George F. Robinson 9:50 Read by Roger Melin
Peter Roselot 9:33 Read by Roger Melin
Robert Rule 1:26 Read by Roger Melin
O.C. Russell 1:28 Read by Roger Melin
S.F. Sanders 1:48 Read by Roger Melin
C.S. Schmutz 4:44 Read by Roger Melin
C.G. Seabury 0:51 Read by Roger Melin
W.R. Shaul 1:26 Read by Roger Melin
I.N. Sheaffer 1:04 Read by Roger Melin
Payton Shields 2:02 Read by Roger Melin
A. Shoemaker 1:02 Read by Roger Melin
W.T. Shummard 2:43 Read by Roger Melin
J.L. Slick 1:24 Read by Roger Melin
Commodore Smith 9:46 Read by Roger Melin
Truman Smith 14:37 Read by Roger Melin
Edward Sorgen 1:31 Read by Roger Melin
M.H. Sprinkle 5:55 Read by Roger Melin
E.J. Squire 1:02 Read by Roger Melin
Joseph Stevens 16:37 Read by Roger Melin
George W. Stewart 4:43 Read by Roger Melin
Samuel Stubberfield 6:21 Read by Roger Melin
Perry S. Summerville 10:49 Read by Roger Melin
Wm. Thayer 1:27 Read by Roger Melin
Marian Thomas 1:05 Read by Roger Melin
Samuel J. Thrasher 4:17 Read by Roger Melin
Caswell C. Tipton 1:43 Read by Roger Melin
Wilson S. Tracey 0:58 Read by Roger Melin
Robert A. Trent 3:07 Read by Roger Melin
Isaac Van Nuys 9:19 Read by Roger Melin
J.W. Vanscoyve 3:02 Read by Roger Melin
Alonzo A. Van Vlack 4:46 Read by Roger Melin
Albert Varnell 2:50 Read by Roger Melin
G.W. Watts 1:12 Read by Roger Melin
William Wendt 4:22 Read by Roger Melin
M.C. White 7:56 Read by Roger Melin
Nathan S. Williams 6:07 Read by Roger Melin
William H. Williams 2:18 Read by Roger Melin
George N. Young 1:14 Read by Roger Melin
J.P. Zaizer 1:25 Read by Roger Melin

Reviews

History I never heard before


(4 stars)

Any budding authors will find plenty of information here to write the next "Perfect Storm": the end of the Civil War, Union soldiers being paroled from the systematic horrors of the Andersonville POW Camp, or days of waist-deep flooding in an Alabama POW Camp, looking forward to getting home. Mix together with a Presidential assassination, possible graft and kickbacks, overloaded boat, and an exploding boiler in the middle of the night... This book brings all the raw material, you supply the adjectives.


(4.5 stars)

it's really great to hear personal firsthand experiences even though a lot of them are alike

Such a surprisingly fascinating book. Very well read by R Melin.


(5 stars)