The Outpost THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SALT CREEK CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE VOLUME XLIII No. 6 February 2006 388th Regular Meeting DATE: 3rd February 2006 PLACE: Fairview Village, 200 Village Dr., Downers Grove, Il. TIME: 8:00 P.M. SPEAKER: Lawrence Hewitt TOPIC: How Lincoln Won the War In the lore of the late unpleasantness, the result is often described as having come about due to Confederate blunders rather than Federal actions. Perhaps the classic case is the Battle of Gettysburg where George G. Meade and his subordinates are often portrayed as having stumbled into victory due to uncharacteristic incompetence on the part of Lee and his lieutenants. Some rectification occurs at Salt Creek this month as Lawrence Hewitt gives us, “How Lincoln Won the War.” A native of Louisville, Ky., Lawrence Lee Hewitt received his B.A. from the University of Kentucky. After attending graduate school there, where he studied under Charles P. Roland, he transferred to Louisiana State University. Following the death of T. Harry Williams, he completed his dissertation under William J. Cooper, Jr. and received his Ph. D. in 1984. Among Hewitt’s major publications are “Port Hudson: Confederate Bastion on the Mississippi”, “The Confederate High Command & Related Topics”, “Leadership During the Civil War” and “200 years a Nation”. The SCCWRT welcomes this distinguished scholar (and Salt Creek member) to its podium. 1 JANUARY MEETING BY CINDY INTRAVARTOLO On January 5th, Gene Eric Salecker presented, “The Sultana Disaster” before 45 members and guests at the 387th regular meeting of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable. His presentation was based on his continuing research of the Sultana, as well as his book, Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865. The explosion of the Sultana, a sidewheel steamboat, resulted in the greatest maritime loss of life in United States history and yet, according to Salecker, few people are even aware of the event. Of the more than 2400 people on board the Sultana, more than 1700 lost their lives. This is more than the 1517 lost on the Titanic in April 1912. Salecker noted that while everyone remembers the Titanic, few people have ever heard of the loss of the Sultana. The Sultana originated in Cincinnati in February of 1863, where it was built and designed to carry cotton with its extra wide decks and tall smokestacks. It traveled up and down the Mississippi River for about a year and a half when J. Cass Mason purchased it. Mason was known as a “lead foot”, which meant he would often race the Sultana up and down the river. This activity was very hard on the boat and its boilers, predisposing it to future problems. By 1865, Mason was going broke and looking for ways to make money with the Sultana. He actually sold part of the boat to his clerk, but was never paid. The Sultana was docked in Cairo, Il. on the night of April 14, 1865, the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. When Mason learned of the assassination, he decided that he would start for New Orleans and be the first vessel to spread the news that Lincoln had been killed. Meanwhile in Vicksburg, MS, Union prisoners of war, recently released from prison camps in Alabama and Georgia, were being held in a parole camp, waiting to be sent North. Mason learned that the government was paying $5 per head for transport out of Vicksburg and he saw this as an opportunity to make money. He got in touch with the quartermaster in Vicksburg, Col. Ruben Hatch, and offered to cut him a deal if he saw to it that Mason’s boat was well loaded with prisoners, and Hatch agreed. The Sultana continued down river to New Orleans and stopped in Vicksburg, on its return, for the prisoners. In the meantime, other boats stopped in Vicksburg and began picking up soldiers. As the Sultana started from New Orleans, one of the boilers began to leak. When it docked in Vicksburg, the engineer went to look for someone to repair the boiler, while Mason went to see Hatch about the men he was supposed to transport. He was told he would get 1,000 men but Mason said that was not good enough. Salecker noted that there was a boat in much better condition, the Lady Gay that was left empty. It was determined there were only 1400 men left in camp and they would all go on the Sultana. However, when the men began to board, the actual count was 2200. The 2 Sultana was officially rated to carry only 385 people. In addition to the soldiers, there were 85 crewmembers, 22 guards, 100 passengers, and 300,00 pounds of sugar. As the soldiers boarded the boat, the decks began to sag and some men protested that they were being herded in like cattle. As the Sultana started upriver on the night of April 24, the Mississippi was in flood stage, which put extra strain on the already inefficient boilers. The leaking boiler should have been replaced, but it was only patched, as Mason did not want to waste time replacing it. When the boat reached Memphis, the sugar was unloaded. This left the Sultana very unsteady with the weight of the men on the upper decks. Seven miles north of Memphis, at 2 AM on April 27, one of the boilers exploded, followed by two others, leaving only one intact. It tore the center out of the boat and it was soon engulfed in flames. It drifted aimlessly down river because the pilothouse was destroyed and there was no way to steer it. By 7AM, the fire burnt through the Sultana and caused it to sink. By the time anyone learned of its fate it was already at the “search and recovery” stage. There was a government investigation, however, no one was ever found guilty or court -martialed for overloading the Sultana. Lee’s surrender on April 9 and Lincoln’s assassination were the major events covered by the newspapers and little notice was taken of the Sultana. Salecker closed his talk by urging everyone to “Remember the Sultana”! The SCCWRT extends its thanks and appreciation to Gene Eric Salecker for his enlightening presentation on one of America’s little remembered maritime disasters. PRESERVATION REPORT BY LEN OVERCASH, SR. DANVILLE, KY.- The Danville-Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau has been awarded $12,000 from the Southern and Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association (SEKTDA) to further develop interpretive signage at the Perryville Battlefield State Historic site. The finding will be used to purchase six to eight signs to further interpret the existing walking trail at the Perryville Battlefield. They will extend the trail to nearly 40 interpretive signs, which will be in place by June 2006. The non-profit Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association (PBPA) is charged with preserving and interpreting Kentucky’s largest Civil War battleground. Since 1995, it has increased the amount of protected battlefield land from 98 to nearly 600 acres. For more information on Perryville preservation efforts, go to www.perryville.net. MAHWAH, N.J.-The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. The independent evaluator of charities said that the CWPT “demonstrated exceptional financial management, outperforming most of its peers in its efforts to allocate and grow its finances in the most fiscally responsible way possible.” 3 BUCKLAND, VA.- The Cultural Landscape Foundation recently named the village of Buckland as the country’s fourth most endangered cultural landscape. The historic mill town was the site of the Oct. 19, 1863, Battle of Buckland Mills, part of the fall 1863 Bristoe Campaign. The Washington post recently reported that landowners are trying to revive the towns 1798 charter and revive the town as an entity to help fight state transportation department plans to widen Route 29, which carries 20,000 cars a day through the town on four lanes. Source: The Civil War News. THE VACANT CHAIR The SCCWRT has received news that member John Piscopo passed away in July. The membership extends its most heartfelt sympathies and condolences to his wife, Marcia, and all his family and friends. EDITOR’S NOTES The next board meeting will be held on 01/31/06 at the home of Gil Mitchell, 36 E. Hickory, Hinsdale, Il. 630-325-2288. CALENDAR OF EVENTS March 3rd-Gale Pewitt-The Confederacy in Canada April 7th-Len Overcash-Ft. Fisher May 5th-Phil Lauricella-Glass Slide Show of last Gettysburg Veteran’s reunion. June2nd- Banquet at Lisle Hilton- speaker- TBA August 5th-97th Regimental String Band at Methodist Campground, Des Plaines. September to infinity-TBA The Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable www.saltcreekcwrt.org. President: Rick Zarr Vice-President: Gil Mitchell Treasurer: Bill Hupp Secretary: Jan Rasmussen Historian: Cindy Intravartolo Sgt. At Arms: Ron Kumnick Meeting Liaison: Mary Lord Newsletter Editor: Dan McCarthy, 4358 Lawn Ave., Western Springs, IL,60558. 708-246-7873, macarthaig@aol.com Newsletter Staff: Cindy Intravartolo, Len Overcash Sr., Jan Rasmussen 4