Accident on Mississippi that killed 1,800 little remembered
The sinking of the Titanic was not the worst maritime disaster in American history, U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, told fellow U.S. House members Monday.
That distinction belongs to the sinking of the paddle-wheeled steamboat Sultana on the Mississippi River near Memphis on April 27, 1865, Snyder said. His speech, posted on YouTube, was in support of a resolution he introduced to recognize the anniversary of the Sultana’s sinking.
The House voted 393-0 to approve the resolution.
Although an estimated 1,800 lives were lost in the accident, compared to 1,500 who died when the Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, the sinking of the Sultana received little attention even at the time, Snyder said.
That’s largely because of timing, he said. The incident happened just a few weeks after the end of the Civil War, 13 days after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and one day after Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was shot and killed by federal troops.
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That distinction belongs to the sinking of the paddle-wheeled steamboat Sultana on the Mississippi River near Memphis on April 27, 1865, Snyder said. His speech, posted on YouTube, was in support of a resolution he introduced to recognize the anniversary of the Sultana’s sinking.
The House voted 393-0 to approve the resolution.
Although an estimated 1,800 lives were lost in the accident, compared to 1,500 who died when the Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, the sinking of the Sultana received little attention even at the time, Snyder said.
That’s largely because of timing, he said. The incident happened just a few weeks after the end of the Civil War, 13 days after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and one day after Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was shot and killed by federal troops.