Author: Sally M. Walker
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2017
Pages: 208
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: In 1865, the Civil War was winding down and the country was reeling from Lincoln's assassination. Thousands of Union soldiers, released from Confederate prisoner-of-war camps, were to be transported home on the steamboat Sultana. With a profit to be made, the captain rushed repairs to the boat so the soldiers wouldn't find transportation elsewhere. More than 2000 passengers boarded in Vicksburg, Mississippi. . .on a boat with a capacity of 376. The journey was violently interrupted when the boat's boilers exploded, plunging the Sultana into mayhem; passengers were bombarded with red-hot iron fragments, burned by scalding steam, and flung overboard into the churning Mississippi. Although rescue efforts were launched, the survival rate was dismal - more than 1500 lives were lost.
Review: Something came across my Facebook newsfeed about the Sultana, and it conjured up a hazy memory about learning of this tragedy years ago. My interest was piqued so I searched my library's card catalog and Sinking of the Sultana was the one result it returned.
The question of the Sultana is who is responsible for its sinking, and unfortunately, there's no definitive answer. In the end, the answer is probably many people. There were moments where multiple people at different points in the Sultana's story that a difference decision or choice could have been made and wasn't.
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