Camp Communicator April 2021

x Frederick H. Hackeman CAMP 85 April 2021

Commander’s Ramblings Brothers,

Well, as you can see this is LATE in getting out. I can only say that events conspired against me in keeping on schedule.

I can only hope that everyone is keeping safe and that we’ve all been able to get vaccinated. If we have then that makes it somewhat easier for us to have an in-person meeting in May. Chuck called and said that he would be checking on a venue to see if we might be able to meet.

War So, let’s get down to it. June has the Flag Day parade and I’ll be registering us for that event. So, we need to check on our members to see if we can all participate. Ray should be able to have the trailer for some of us to ride on and do the waving to whatever crowd is on hand. Accordingly, some of our members could once again walk in front and fire their muskets to thrill the crowds and perhaps have one carry our camp flag. As I’ve said previously, those riding on the trailer would be sitting and waving and they don’t need to be dressed in CW garb. Those of us with the outfits should consider wearing them to help the group look spiffy and attract attention.

The Department Encampment is scheduled for May1st and Commander to Page 2 I’ll be attending. Mainly because I have to be there as I’m In this Issue Veterans of the Civil Page 1 - Commander’s Ramblings Page 3 - The Sultana Page 4 - National & Department Events Page 5 - Civil War Time Line - April Page 11 - Member Ancestors List Sons of the Union

Camp Communicator Next Camp Meeting **May 13**, 2021 -6:30 p.m. ZOOM Meeting ??

Page 1 Camp Training Aids As located on the Department of MIchigan web site. It is.recommended that Camp members visit these URLs and familiarize themselves with the information contained within these documents.

Handbook of Instruction for the Department Patriotic Instructor https://www.suvcwmi.org/hq/Department%20PI%20Handbook.pdf

Handbook of Instruction for the Camp Patriotic Instructor Missing link

Handbook of Instruction for the Civil War Memorials Officer https://www.suvcwmi.org/hq/Michigan%20CWM%20Handbook.pdf Meeting Department Membership Initiative Schedule https://www.suvcwmi.org/hq/DeptMemInitiative.pdf

Department of Michigan Member Recruitment & Retention Report https://www.suvcwmi.org/hq/Dept%20of%20Michigan%20Member%20Recruit- Our meeting ment%20&%20Retention.pdf schedule is Al- National Chaplain’s Handbook ternate months https://www.suvcwmi.org/hq/Dept%20of%20Michigan%20Member%20Recruit- between ment%20&%20Retention.pdf September Recommended Education & Additional Department Officer Duties through May https://www.suvcwmi.org/hq/Department%20Orders/Series%202017-18/Recommend- ed%20Ed%20&%20Add%20Dept%20Officer%20Duties.pdf meeting on the 2nd Thursday of every month the Department Chaplain and needed for the ritual and memorial service. If any of you have except as not- that Saturday free, I urge you to attend – get out of the house for something different than ed. At 6:00 PM. grocery shopping and Dr appointments. Check with Ray as he has to provide you with the Voting credential Visit the Department Encampment web page [https://www.suvcwmi.org/ DeptEncampment/DEindex-137.php] to get the registration form – it’s only $5. However, you will note that before this issue was finalized the Department Secretary sent out the latest Department Order concerning the department Encampment and ho can attend in person and Location - how to attend via ZOOM. So here’s the opportunity to attend via ZOOM as a Camp delegate - we get two, I believe. So contact Ray to have the credential sent in - the fee will be waived. Currently - So it’s a free meeting for you. Lincoln Twp It’s only a short month now before I get to work on the May newsletter. We will be discuss- ing at the May meeting, activities that we can successfully accomplish without jeopardizing Public Library anyone’s health in warmer weather. These might be a few brothers working to catalog a local cemetery such as photographing headstones, capturing names, dates, and unit IDs (if any) and then submitting the form to the Department. We will alos by that tie be registered for the Flag Day Parade unless that is canceled this year.

Additionally, we should seriously take up Rex’s idea of having a table/booth at any appro- priate Berrien function.

Yours in Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty

Steve Williams, Frederick H. Hackemann, Camp 85 Commander

7th corps Kepi patch

Page 2 had been brought to a small parole camp outside The Shipwreck That Led Con- of Vicksburg to await release to the North. The U.S. government would pay $2.75 per enlisted federate Veterans To Risk All man and $8 per officer to any steamboat captain who would take a group north. Knowing For Union Lives that Mason was in need of money, Hatch sug- gested that he could guarantee Mason a full load Sultana was a Mississippi River side-wheel of about 1,400 prisoners if Mason would agree steamboat, which exploded on 27 April 1865, to give him a kickback. Hoping to gain much killing 1,168 people in the worst maritime disas- money through this deal, Mason quickly agreed ter in United States history. to the offered bribe.:IBID29–31

Constructed of wood in 1863 Leaving Vicksburg, Sul- by the John Litherbury Boatyard tana traveled down river to in Cincinnati, she was intended New Orleans, continuing to for the lower Mississippi cotton spread the news of Lincoln’s trade. The steamer registered assassination. On April 21, 1,719 tons and normally car- 1865 Sultana left New Or- ried a crew of 85. For two years, leans with about 70 cabin and she ran a regular route between deck passengers, and a small St. Louis and New Orleans, and amount of livestock. She also was frequently commissioned to carried a crew of 85. About carry troops. ten hours south of Vicksburg, one of Sultana’s four boilers sprang a leak. Under reduced pres- Although designed with a capacity of only sure, the steamboat limped into Vicksburg to get 376 passengers, she was carrying 2,137 when the boiler repaired and to pick up her promised three of the boat’s four boilers exploded and she load of prisoners.:IBID33,34–35,38,40–41 burned to the waterline and sank near Memphis, Tennessee. The disaster was overshadowed in the Faulty boiler repair press by events surrounding the end of the Ameri- can Civil War, including the killing of President While the paroled prisoners, primarily from Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth just the day the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, before, and no one was ever held accountable for Tennessee and West Virginia,:IBID226–290 were the tragedy. brought from the parole camp to Sultana, a mechanic was brought down to work on the leaky Background boiler. Although the mechanic wanted to cut out and replace a ruptured seam, Mason knew that Under the command of Captain James Cass such a job would take a few days and cost him Mason of St. Louis, Sultana left St. Louis on his precious load of prisoners. By the time the April 13, 1865 bound for New Orleans, Louisi- repairs would be completed, the prisoners would ana:12 On the morning of April 15, she was tied have been sent home on other boats. Instead, up at Cairo, Illinois, when word reached the city Mason and his chief engineer, Nathan Wintring- that President Abraham Lincoln had been shot er, convinced the mechanic to make temporary at Ford’s Theater. Immediately, Captain Mason repairs, hammering back the bulged boiler plate grabbed an armload of Cairo newspapers and and riveting a patch of lesser thickness over the headed south to spread the news, knowing that seam. Instead of taking two or three days, the telegraphic communication with the South had temporary repair took only one. During her time been almost totally cut off because of the war.:6 27–28 in port, and while the repairs were being made, Sultana took on the paroled prisoners.:IBID40 Upon reaching Vicksburg, Mis- sissippi, Mason was approached by Overloaded Captain Reuben Hatch, the chief quartermaster at Vicksburg. Hatch Although Hatch had sug- had a deal for Mason. Thousands of gested that Mason might get as recently released Union prisoners of many as 1,400 released Union war that had been held by the Con- federacy at the prison camps of Ca- haba near Selma, Alabama, and An- Sultana to Page 7 dersonville, in southwest Georgia, Cahaba

Page 3 Upcoming Events National

The Department of Missouri is proud to host the 140th National Encampment of our Order in St. Louis from August 4-9, 2021. They are pleased to announce that HOTEL RESERVATIONS ARE NOW BEING TAKEN. Please visit their Encampment Website for more information In Accordance with General Order No. 8: The Department Website will be draped until 15 JAN 2021 to Honor Past-Commander-in-Chief Allen W. Moore Officers 2020 - 2021 who passed from this life on 14 DEC 2020 Camp Commander: In Accordance with General Order No. 6, Series 2020-21: The 501(c)3 Status of the National Orgaization, has been extended to the subordinate Organizations, Steven Williams including Departments, Camps, and SVR Units, SVC: Rex Dillman Please consult General Orders No. 06 - 6 DEC 2020 for details JVC: Charles L Pfauth Sr Please consult the Special Message No. 1 from C-in-C Pearson Clarifying the National Policy on Monument Protection Secretary :Ray Truhn

Department News Treasurer : Ray Truhn

The web page information for G.A.R. Museum in Eaton Rapids MI Council 1: Charles L Pfauth Jr Museum Activities • April 3rd OPEN 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. G.A.R. 155th Anniversary Council 2: Keith Chapman • April 30 - May 1 Department Encampment • May 24th OPEN 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Observed Memorial Day Council 3: Charles L Pfauth Sr • May 30th 11th (10 AM - 5 PM) - Actual Memorial Day • July 4th - Independence Day Patriotic Instructor: • August 10th (10 AM - 5 PM) - CW Discovery Camp • September 10th - 11th - Eaton Rapids Air Festival Ted Chamberlain • November 10th (10 AM - 5 PM) - Veterans Day • November 11th (10 AM - 5 PM) - Veterans Day Chaplain : Steven Williams • December 4th (Noon - 8 p.m.) Hometown Christmas August 10 Civil War Discovery Camp on G.A.R. Island Park (for Kids 7 - 14) Graves & Memorials: In 2021, the G.A.R. Anniversary Commemoration will take place on Saturday, April Rex Dillman 3rd, from 10 AM to 5 PM at Michigan’s Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall and Museum (224 South Main, Eaton Rapids, Michigan). Individuals interested in having a Historian: Rex Dillman table display at the G.A.R. Commemoration are encouraged to contact:garmichigan@ gmail.com Signals Officer: Camp . Steven Williams • March ? 2021 Camp ZOOM meeting?? Guide: Jeff Chubb

Guard: Jeff Chubb

Color Bearer: Rex Dillman

JROTC contact: Unassigned

Editor Steve Williams [email protected]

Page 4 The purpose of this newsletter is to inform the members of Frederick H. Hackeman Camp 85 of activities and events Civil War Time line: related to the mission of the SUVCW and its interests. If you wish to place a civil war article or SUVCW item please submit to the Editor at [email protected] April in the Civil War The Editor reserves the right to censor and/or edit all 1861 - April 6 - Lincoln informs South Carolina attempt material submitted for publication to the Camp Com- to be made to supply Ft Sumter. April 11 - Surrender of municator newsletter without notice to the submitter. Ft Sumter demanded by Confederates. April 12 - Ft Sumter fired upon and replies. War Begins! Ft Pickens in Pensacola reinforced by Union troops without opposition. April 13 Camp Website - Ft Sumter surrenders. April 14 - Formal surrender of Ft Be sure and visit our Camp Website at Sumter . April 17 - Virginia convention votes for seces- http://www.suvcwmi.org/camps/camp85.php. sion. April 18 - Federal troops begin arriving in Washing- ton after President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops. April Sutler Links 19 - Baltimore riots. President Lincoln declares blockade of Link to list of vendors for any items to fill out Confederate states. April 20 - Federals evacuate Norfolk your uniform and re-enactor accessories. VA Navy Yard. April 22 - Florida ratified the Confederate Constitution. April 29 -“All we ask is to be left alone” The http://www.fighting69th.org/sutler.html Maryland house of delegates voted against secession 53 to http://www.ccsutlery.com/ http://www.crescentcitysutler.com/index.html 13 . http://www.regtqm.com/ http://www.cjdaley.com/research.htm http://www.fcsutler.com/ https://www.militaryuniformsupply.com/ civil-war-reenactment-clothing-gear 1862 - April 2 & 3. General A S Johnson begins his build up to attack General Grant at Pittsburg Landing TN. Department of Michigan Officers April 5 - Siege of Yorktown by General McClelland begins. April 6 - Battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing, TN. April Commander - Terry McKinch, PCC 7 - Conclusion of Battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing, Senior VC - Nathan Smith, CC TN. Fall of Island No. 10 (New Madrid Bend on Missis- Junior VC - David Ramsey sippi River). April 11 - Fall of Ft Pulaski GA (Savannah Members of the Council - Charles Worley, PDC River) April 12 - Great Locomotive chase. Union under- Steven S Martin, CC cover troops hijack the locomotive General in Marietta GA David S. Smith and travel north destroying track until captured in Ringgold Secretary - Dick Denney,CC GA James Anderson and 7 others were executed as spies, Treasurer - Bruce S.A. Gosling 8 escaped and 6 were later pardoned. April 18 - Bombard- Chief of Staff Donald Shaw ment of forts below New Orleans begins. April 24 Farra- Counselor - James B. Pahl, PCinC Chaplain - Steve Williams, CC gut’s federal fleet passes forts below New Orleans. April Patriotic Instructor - David Kimble, CC 25 - Federal fleet arrives at New Orleans. Surrender of Ft Color Bearer - Edgar J. Dowd, PCC Macon, NC Signals Officer - Robert R. Payne, PCC Editor, “Michigan’s Messenger” - Richard E. Danes, PCC Historian - Keith G Harrison, PCinC Guide - L. Dean Lamphere, Sr. 1863 - April 2- Richmond ‘Bread Riot’ caused by in- Guard - Gene Taylor Graves Registration Officer- Richard E. Danes, PCC creasing hardship throughout the South. April 7 - Naval GAR Records Officer- Gary L. Gibson, PDC attack on Charleston attacking Ft Sumter (!). April 16 - Civil War Memorials Officer- John H. McGill Passage of Vicksburg. April 17 - Grierson’s (Federal) and Eagle Scout Coordinator - Nathan Tingley Marmaduke’s (Confederate) Raids Grierson’s raid would Camp-At-Large Coordinator - L. Dean Lamphere, Jr., PDC become part of a John Wayne movie The Horse Soldiers. Camp Organizer James B. Pahl, PCinC April 25 - British Parliament loudly debated the seizure of Military Affairs Officer - Edgar J. Dowd, PCC Aide-de-camp Keith Harrison British vessels by American cruisers on blockade duty. Page 5 1864 - April 1. US transport Maple Leaf sank after hitting a torpedo or mine in St John’s River FL. A Federal expedition operated from Palatka to Ft Gates FL. April 4 - Maj Gen Philip Sheridan takes command of Army of Potomac cavalry. April 6 The Constitutional Convention of Louisiana met at New Orleans and adopted a new state constitution abolish- ing slavery. April 8 - Battle of Sabine Crossroads or Mansfield, LA. April 9 - Engagement of Pleasant Hill, LA. April 12 - Confederates capture Ft Pillow TN by Nathan Bedford Forrest. Subsequent execution of Negro Union soldiers after the surrender of the fort. Throughout the rest of April skirmishes continued in Arkansas and Louisiana. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States

Hereditary membership in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion 1865 - April 1 - Battle of Five Forks VA. Lincoln observing at City Point VA. April 2 of the United States (MOLLUS) is - Confederate government evacuates Richmond. Federals Capture Petersburg lines. Selma open to men who are descendants (e.g., great great grandson, great AL taken by Federals. Lincoln went to front at Petersburg to view the fighting from a grand nephew, etc.) of commis- distance. April 3 - Union troops occupy Petersburg and Richmond. Lee struggles toward sioned officers of the Union forces during the Civil War. Web site - Amelia Court House. President Davis and most of his cabinet escape towards Danville http://suvcw.org/mollus/mbrfrm. VA. April 4 - President Lincoln in Richmond VA April 6 - Engagement at Saylor’s Creek htm VA. April 7 & 8 - Grant opens correspondence with Lee. Lincoln visits Petersburg again Please Note: Non-hereditary then leaves from City Point to return to Washington. April 9 - Surrender of the Army of membership (Associate Compan- Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House. April 12 - Surrender of Mobile AL April ion) may be available in some (but not all) of the Commander- 13 - Sec. of War Stanton ordered the draft halted and curtailed purchase of war materiel. ies. Associate affiliation is based The number of officers was reduced and many military restrictions removed as first steps in on a percentage of the number of demobilization. April 14 - Assassination. Federal Flag raised over Ft Sumter, SC. April hereditary members in each Com- mandery. Consequently, move- 15 - President Lincoln dies. Andrew Johnson takes Oath. April 17 - President Davis and ment to elect Associates may be party in Salisbury N en route to Charlotte. John Wilkes Booth and David Herold hiding in delayed until such time as there are enough hereditary Compan- Maryland. April 18 Sherman - Johnston memorandum signed. April 19 - Federal services ions present in the particular for President Lincoln. Robert Lincoln represented the family as Mrs. Lincoln and Tad were Commandery. sequestered. Gen. Grant stood alone at the head of the catafalque. April 21 - Body of Presi- dent Lincoln leaves Washington for Springfield IL arriving in Philadelphia (April 22), New York (April 24), Albany NY (April 25), Rochester and Buffalo (April 27), Cleveland (April 28), Columbus OH (April 29), Indianapolis on April 30. April 22 - Booth and Herold get across Potomac to Virginia. April 24 Sherman learns of rejection of Terms (to Johnston). April 26 - Surrender of Joseph E Johnston. Capture and death of John Wilkes Booth. April 27 - Sultana Disaster. Death toll ranged from 1238 to 1900.

Source: The Civil War Day by Day, An Almanac 1861-1865, E B Long, 1971, Doubleday.

Page 6 Sultana from Page 3

prisoners, a mix-up with the parole camp books and suspicion of bribery from other steamboat captains caused the Union officer in charge of the loading, Capt. George Augustus Williams, Michigan’s Messenger to place every man at the parole camp on board Sultana, believing the number to be less than 1,500.:IBID50,55–56 Although Sultana had a legal is a quarterly publication of and for the membership capacity of only 376, by the time she backed of the Department of Michigan, Sons of Union Veter- away from Vicksburg on the night of April ans of the Civil War. 24, 1865, she was severely overcrowded with 1,960 paroled prisoners, 22 guards from the Current Issue is at 58th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 70 paying cab- https://www.suvcwmi.org/messenger/ in passengers, and 85 crew members, a total of 2,137 people. Many of the paroled prison-

Ancestor Biographies Needed Whatever you may have on your ancestor’s life story submit for inclusion of future issues. It can be short or long as it takes to tell us about your ances- ers had been weakened by their incarceration tor’s life, i.e., what he did before the war, where he in the Confederate prison camps and associ- served, and if he survived, what he did after the war ated illnesses but had managed to gain some - farmer, merchant, politician, etc. And if your fam- strength while waiting at the parole camp to be ily history has a photograph submit that, too. officially released. The men were packed into every available space, and the overflow was so severe that in some places, the decks began National Officers to creak and sag and had to be supported with heavy wooden beams. IBID:62 Commander-in-Chief Edward .Norris, PDC [email protected] Senior Vice CinC Brian C. Pierson, PDC [email protected] Sultana spent two days traveling upriver, Junior Vice CinC Michael A. Paquette, PDC [email protected] National Secretary Jonathan C. Davis, PDC [email protected] fighting against one of the worst spring floods National Treasurer D. Michael Beard, PDC [email protected] in the river’s history. At some places, the riv- National Quartermaster James L. Lyon [email protected] er overflowed the banks and spread out three miles wide. Trees along the river bank were al- Council of Administration most completely covered, until only the very tops of the trees were visible above the swirl- Council of Admin (20) Kevin P. Tucker, PDC [email protected] ing, powerful water. IBID:24 On April 26, Sul- Council of Admin (21) Bruce D. Frail, PDC [email protected] tana stopped at Helena, Arkansas, where pho- Council of Admin (21) Peter J. Hritsko, Jr, PDC [email protected] tographer Thomas W. Bankes took a picture of Council of Admin (22) Harry W.Reineke IV, PDC [email protected] the grossly overcrowded vessel. IBID:72 Near Council of Admin (22) Kevin L. Martin, PDC [email protected] 7:00 p.m., Sultana reached Memphis, Tennes- Council of Admin Donald W. Shaw, PCinC [email protected] see and the crew began unloading 120 tons of Non-voting sugar from the hold. Near midnight, Sultana Banner Editor James B. Pahl, PCinC [email protected] left Memphis, perhaps leaving behind about National Signals Officer James P. McGuire, PDC signalsofficer@suvcw. 200 men. She then went a short distance up- org river to take on a new load of coal from some coal barges, and then at about 1:00 a.m. started Page 7 north again. IBID:74–79 drifted about six miles to the west bank of Explosion the river, and sank at around 9:00 a.m. near Near 2:00 a.m. on April Mound City and pres- 27, 1865, when Sultana was ent-day Marion, Arkan- just seven miles north of sas, about seven hours Memphis, its boilers sud- after the explosion.:164 denly exploded. IBID:79 Other vessels joined the First one boiler exploded, rescue, including the followed a split second later steamers Silver Spray, by two more. Jenny Lind, and Po- cohontas, the navy The enormous explosion ironclad Essex and the of steam came from the top sidewheel gunboat USS rear of the boilers and went upward at a 45-de- Tyler. IBID:146–147,168–176 gree angle, tearing through the crowded decks above, and completely demolishing the pilothouse. Passengers who survived the initial explo- Without a pilot to steer the boat, Sultana became a sion had to risk their lives in the icy spring drifting, burning hulk. The terrific explosion flung runoff of the Mississippi or burn with the boat. some of the deck passengers into the water and de- Many died of drowning or hypothermia. Some stroyed a large section of the boat. The twin smoke- survivors were plucked from the tops of semi- stacks toppled over; the starboard one backwards submerged trees along the Arkansas shore. Bod- into the blasted hole, and the port one forward onto ies of victims continued to be found downriver the crowded forward section of the upper deck. The for months, some as far as Vicksburg. Many forward part of the upper deck was crushed down bodies were never recovered. Most of Sultana’s onto the middle deck, killing and trapping many officers, including Captain Mason, were among in the wreckage. Fortunately the sturdy railings those who perished. around the twin openings of the main stairway pre- vented the upper deck from crushing down com- Casualties pletely onto the middle deck. Those men sleeping around the twin openings quickly crawled under The exact death toll is unknown, although the wreckage and down the main stairs. Further the most recent evidence indicates 1,168. On back, the collapsing decks formed a slope that led May 19, 1865, less than a month after the disas- down into the exposed furnace boxes. The broken ter, Brig. Gen. William Hoffman, Commissary wood caught fire and turned the remaining super- General of Prisoners, who investigated the di- structure into an inferno. Survivors of the explo- saster, reported an overall loss of soldiers, pas- sion panicked and raced for the safety of the water sengers, and crew of 1,238. In February 1867, but in their weakened condition soon ran out of the Bureau of Military Justice placed the death strength and began to cling to each other. Whole toll at 1,100. In 1880, the 51st Congress of the groups went down together. IBID:79–85 United States, in conjunction with the War De- partment, Pensions and Re- Rescue attempts cords Department, reported the loss of life aboard the While this fight for surviv- Sultana as 1,259. The of- al was taking place, the south- ficial count by the United bound steamer Bostona (No. 2), States Customs Service was built in 1860 but coming down- 1,547. In 1880, the War De- river on her maiden voyage af- partment, Pensions and Re- ter being refurbished, arrived cords Department, placed at about 2:30 a.m., a half hour the number of survivors at after the explosion, and arrived 931 but the most recent re- at the site of the burning wreck search places the number at to rescue scores of survivors. At 969. The dead soldiers were the same time, dozens of people interred at the Fort Pickering began to float past the Memphis waterfront, call- cemetery, located on the south shore of Mem- ing for help until they were noticed by the crews phis. A year later, when the U.S. Government of docked steamboats and U.S. warships, who im- established the Memphis National Cemetery. mediately set about rescuing the half-drowned IBID:206 on the northeast side of the city, the victims. IBID:129 Eventually, the hulk of Sultana bodies were moved there. Three civilian victims Page 8 of the wreck of Sultana are interred at Elmwood who had concocted a bribe with Captain Mason to Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. crowd as many men onto the Sultana as possible, had quickly quit the service to avoid a court-mar- Survivors tial. The master of the Sultana, Captain Mason, who was ultimately responsible for dangerously About 760 survivors were transported to hospi- overloading his vessel and ordering the faulty re- tals in Memphis. Fortunately, since Memphis had pairs to her leaky boiler, had died in the explo- been captured by Federal forces in 1862 and turned sion. In the end, no one was ever held accountable into a supply and recuperation city, there were nu- for the greatest maritime disaster in United States merous hospitals in the city with the latest medical history. IBID:198,200,202 equipment and trained personnel. Of the roughly 760 people taken to Memphis hospitals, there were References only 31 deaths between April 28 and June 28. News- paper accounts indicate that the people of Memphis 1. Given as the “John Lithoberry Shipyard” on Ohio Historical Mark- had sympathy for the victims although they were er 18–31 (1999) on the Ohio River at Sawyer Point. 2. Berry (1892), p. 7 in an occupied city. The Chicago Opera Troupe, a 3. June 2016 to July 2017 research by Gene Eric Salecker, Sultana minstrel group that had traveled upriver on Sulta- author and historical consultant for the Sultana Disaster Museum, na before getting off at Memphis, staged a benefit, Marion, Arkansas while the crew of the gunboat Essex raised $1,000. 4. “Death on the River”. U.S. Naval Institute. Retrieved 2020-08-02. 5. Photograph identifications from Sultana Disaster Museum histo- In December 1885, the survivors living in the rian Gene Eric Salecker northern states of Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio 6. Salecker, Gene Eric (1996). Disaster on the Mississippi : the Sul- began attending annual reunions, forming the Na- tana explosion, April 27, 1865. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Inst. Press. tional Sultana Survivors’ Association. Eventually, ISBN 1-55750-739-2. the group settled on meeting in the Toledo, Ohio, 7. The St. Louis Daily Missouri Democrat, April 29, 1865 states that area. Perhaps inspired by their Northern com- the “steamer Sultana left New Orleans on Friday evening the 21st, with about seventy cabin passengers, and about eighty five em- rades, a Southern group of survivors, men from ployees on the boat.” Kentucky and Tennessee began meeting in 1889 8. June 2016 to July 2018 research by Gene Eric Salecker, Sultana around Knoxville, Tennessee. Both groups met as author and historical consultant for the Sultana Disaster Museum, close to the April 27 anniversary date as possible, Marion, Arkansas. corresponded with each other, and shared the title 9. Potter, Jerry O. “Sultana: A Tragic Postscript to the Civil War”. National Sultana Survivors’ Association. American History Magazine. Archived from the original on 2008- 01-28. By the mid-1920s, only a handful of survivors 10. Bennett, Robert Frank, CDR USCG (March 1976). “A Case of were able to attend the reunions. In 1929, only two Calculated Mischief”. Proceedings: 77–83. men attended the Southern reunion. The next year, 11. Harvey, Hank (October 27, 1996). “The Sinking of the Sultana”. only one man showed up. The last Northern survi- The Blade. Section C, pp. 6,3. Retrieved April 27, 2015. 12. Fold3.com website, The Civil War, Sultana Disaster, April 1865, vor, Private Jordan Barr of the 15th Michigan Vol- Quartermaster vessel file relating to the Sultana, page 68. unteer Infantry Regiment, died on May 16, 1938, at 13. Fold3.com website, The Civil War, Sultana Disaster, April 1865, age 93. The last of the Southern survivors, and last Quartermaster vessel file relating to the Sultana, page 68-9. overall survivor, was Private Charles M. Eldridge 14. Fold3.com website, The Civil War, Sultana Disaster, April 1865, of the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry, who died at his home Enlisted Branch file (HAAQ 981 EB 1865, page 80 at age 96 on September 8, 1941, more than 76 years 15. Crutchfield, James (2008). It Happened on the Mississippi River. after the Sultana disaster. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-762-75236-2. 16. Fold3.com website, The Civil War, Sultana Disaster, April 1865, Lack of accountability Enlisted Branch file (HAAQ 981 EB 1865, page 80. June 2016 to July 2017 research by Gene Eric Salecker, Sultana author and In spite of the magnitude of the disaster, no one historical consultant for the Sultana Disaster Museum, Marion, Arkansas. was ever held accountable. Capt. Frederick Speed, 17. Memphis Daily Bulletin, and Memphis Daily Appeal, various a Union officer who sent the 1,960 paroled pris- dates, April 1865 oners into Vicksburg from the parole camp, was 18. Ancestry.com, Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1980 charged with grossly overcrowding Sultana and 19. Huffman, Alan (2009). Sultana: Surviving Civil War, Prison, and found guilty. However, the guilty verdict was over- the Worst Maritime Disaster in American History. Collins. pp. 242–243. turned by the judge advocate general of the army ISBN 9780061470547. on grounds that Speed had been at the parole camp 20. Jennings, Pat “What Happened to the Sultana?” https://www.na- all day and had never placed one single soldier on tionalboard.org/SiteDocuments/General%20Meeting/Jennings.pdf board the Sultana. IBID:197–202 Capt. George Wil- 21. “The Sultana Disaster (Coal Torpedo theory)”. Civil War St Louis. liams, who had placed the men on board, was a Retrieved 2013-09-08. regular army officer, and the military refused to go 22. History Detective Episode on Sultana, http://www.pbs.org/opb/ historydetectives/investigation/civil-war-sabotage/ after one of their own. IBID:202 And Captain Hatch, Page 9 23. Tidwell, William A. (1995). “April ‘65”. Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press: 52. 24. Rule, G.E.; Rule, Deb (December 2001). “The Sultana: A case for sabotage”. North and South Magazine. 5 (1). 25. National Tribune, (Washington DC), May 20, 1886, p. 3. 26. Portsmouth [NH] Herald, June 13, 1903, p. 7 27. “Historic Memphis Elmwood Cemetery”. Retrieved 24 September 2015. 28. The Tribune 29. “Sultana Historic Marker”. Arkansas: The Natural State. Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism. Retrieved 24 September 2015. 30. “Disaster Multiplied”. Historical Chroni- cles Press. Retrieved 2 February 2017. POW Camp Fisk, Four Mile Bridge, Vicksburg, Mississippi April 1865. 31. “The Sultana”. Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 24 Sep- Standing 2nd from left is Maj. William R. Walls, 9th IN Cav.; Standing 4th tember 2015. From Left is Lt. Frederick A. Roziene, 49th USCT; Standing 5th from left 32. “Sultana Monument – Civil War”. East Tennessee River Valley is Maj Frank E. Miller, 66th USCT; Seated at table at left is Capt Archie C. GeoTourism Guide. National Geographic. Retrieved 24 Septem- Fisk, Ass’t. Adj. Gen. Dept. of Vicksburg; Seated at table at right is Lt. Col. ber 2015. Howard A.M. Henderson, Exchange Agent (CSA); Standing 5th from right 33. “Sultana Memorial”. Retrieved 24 September 2015. Lt. Edwin L. Davenport, 52d USCT; standing 4th from right is Col. Nathan- 34. “Sultana Tragedy”. Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 24 iel G.Watts, Exchange Agent (CSA); Standing 3rd from right Capt. Reuben September 2015. B. Hatch, Chief Quartermaster, Dept. of Vicksburg [possible identification]; 35. Jack Schnedler. Sultana museum in Arkansas memorializes Standing 2nd from right Rev Charles Kimball Marshall. 1,800 who died in river, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 3, 2018 Sultana Memorial at the Mount Olive Baptist Church Cemetery in Knoxville, 36. “The Sultana Departs from Vicksburg”. Vicksburg Riverfront Tennessee in 2010 Murals. Retrieved 2013-09-08. 37. Huffman, Alan (October 2009). “Surviving the Worst: The Wreck of the Sultana at the End of the American Civil War”. Mississippi Historical Society. Retrieved 2011-02-07. 38. Deusner, Stephen. “American Central Dust”. Pitchfork Media (Review). Retrieved 31 January 2013. 39. “Blues in the Water, by King’s German Legion”. King’s Ger- man Legion. Retrieved 2017-03-10. 40. “Ardent Presents: Cory Branan – “The Wreck of the Sultana””. YouTube. Retrieved 2019-01-12. 41. http://charleysandage.com/?post_type=album&p=469

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultana_(steamboat)

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Member Ancestors Compiled from current and past member information. Red Text indicates publication of a biography in the Camp Communicator

Current Members Ancestor Unit Theadore J Chamberlain Chamberlain Jeremiah M Pvt, Co B 176th OH Vol Inf Keith Alan Chapman Stillman Samuel Pvt, Co B 94th IL Inf Steven Chapman Stillman Samuel Pvt, Co B 94th IL Inf Jeffrey L Chubb Brownell (William) Henry Pvt., Merrill’s Horse, MO Harold L Cray Bassett George W Pvt., Co F 54th Reg Ohio Inf Rex Dillman Yaw Benjamin Franklin Pvt, Co G 26th MI Inf Reg, Richard Gorske Hackeman Frederick H Cpl, Co L 1st IL Lt Artillery Rodney Samuel Krieger Krieger Jacob Pvt, Co I, 19th MI Inf Glenn Palen Palen Charles Pvt Co E 128th IN Inf Charles L Pfauth Jr Shopbach Henry Pvt, Co F 52nd PA Vol Inf Charles L Pfauth Sr Shopbach Henry Pvt, Co F 52nd PA Vol Inf Ray Truhn Goodenough Alonzo Pvt, Co A 2nd VT Inf Steven Allen Williams Carter Oren Pvt, Co B 186 th NY Vol Inf Mountjoy/Munjoy George W Pvt, 11th MI Vol Cavalry & 1st MI Sharpshooters Wetmore Abiather Joy/JA Pvt 66th IL Inf Wetmore Gilbert Pvt 2nd Reg NE Cavalry Wetmore Helon/Hellen Pvt 13th Reg IA Inf Matthew Carter Williams Carter Oren Pvt, Co B 186 th NY Vol Inf

Past Members Ancestor Unit Roger C Gorske Hackeman Frederick H Cpl, Co L 1st IL Lt Artillery Kenneth A Gorske Hackeman Frederick H Cpl, Co L 1st IL Lt Artillery Dennis L Gorske Hackeman Frederick H Cpl, Co L 1st IL Lt Artillery Michael Gorske Hackeman Frederick H Cpl, Co L 1st IL Lt Artillery Irving Hackeman Hackeman Frederick H Cpl, Co L 1st IL Lt Artillery Richard Horton Horton, Jr William Virlin Dillmam Mason Daniel W Daniel Stice Pegg Henry Riley Co E 17 IN Amasa Stice Pegg Henry Riley Co E 17 IN Douglas Christopher Morales Terwilliger Albert Eugene Co B Batt 9 NY HA

Page 11 Camp Communicator Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War Frederick H. Hackeman CAMP 85 One March Birthdays to Celebrate Rex Dillman March 21 One April Birthdays to Celebrate

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