Sultana: Surviving The Civil War, Prison, And The Worst Maritime Disaster In American History

Alan Huffman's book follows the exploits of a group of young Union soldiers through their enlistment in Indiana and the bloody, chaotic battle at Chickamauga, to the unimaginable sub-life of the Andersonville and Cahara prison camps. After enduring more suffering than most would experience in ten lifetimes, they joined nearly 2,700 people aboard the steamboat Sultana for the journey home. The ship was designed to accommodate around 400 passengers and crew. A few miles up the Mississippi from Memphis, three of Sultana's four boilers exploded resulting in a death toll that would far outnumber those who perished on Titanic half a century later. Incisive, gripping, and horrifying, the book is infused with the finest examples of courage and endurance in the midst of some of the most shameful episodes in American history.

“Huffman succeeds in establishing the Sultana’s rightful place in Civil War historiography. Recommended.”

Huffman rescues the Sultana tragedy from obscurity and brings the people and events surrounding it to vibrant life...[and] chronicles the explosion and its aftermath in startling detail with a wealth of striking images...A short but moving history that effectively captures both the disaster and the soldiers’ ordeal.

Distributor: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: 03-24-2009
Pages: 320
Measurements: 9in X 6in X 1.05in X 16.56oz