Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865 [Hardcover]

Gene Eric Salecker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1996

On 27 April 1865, the side-wheel steamboat Sultana's boilers exploded and more than 1,700 people died -- the worst marine disaster in U.S. history. Most of the victims in the heavily overcrowded boat were recently released Union prisoners-of-war. This book looks at the tragedy through the eyes of the victims that survived and their rescuers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The worst maritime disaster in American history has received little historical attention, even though more people died from the 1865 Sultana explosion than drowned when the Titanic sank in 1912. Gene Eric Salecker painfully reconstructs the events leading up to the tragedy, when more than 2,000 federal troops crowded onto a side-wheel steamboat built to carry fewer than 300 people. Most of them were former prisoners of war, paroled after the Confederate surrender and finally heading home after years of struggle. We will never know why three of the Sultana's big boilers blew up and claimed 1,700 lives, although Salecker runs through several possible causes. Disaster on the Mississippi is an authoritative account of a forgotten chapter of American history.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 346 pages
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr; BC ed edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557507392
• ISBN-13: 978-1557507396
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #554,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Historically accurate and vividly written, March 6, 2001

By 

Mary Jamba (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865 (Hardcover)

I was very impressed with this book. It was obviously well researched and includes numerous quotes from survivors. Historical documents enhance the first hand accounts.

The details of the boat trip including the explosion are vividly written. This is the best book I've read about the Sultana Tragedy.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recounting a forgotten disaster, August 11, 2000

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865 (Hardcover)

The sinking of the steamboat Sultana was the deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. History. Strangely, even though it occurred at the end of the Civil War and most of the dead were returning Union POWs, it is an almost forgotten event. Author Salecker recalls the bureaucratic bungling and corruption that helped lead to the diaster as well as a harrowing account from the survivors. This is a good history book that sheds light on the memories of the dead and the survivors.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - MUST reading for all history buffs., May 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865 (Hardcover)

Very well researched and composed. One feels as if they are right there with the soldiers and civilians as they struggle for survival not only from the flames that are engulfing them, but from the mass of humanity that is in the frigid waters of the swollen Mississippi.

Very vivid accounts of suffering with physical and mental challanges in a time when the soldiers should be almost at their happiest moment - going home.