Terror on the Mississippi: The Sultana Disaster, Part II
While the steamer was being loaded another activity was taking place on board. It had been noticed on the return trip that a leak had developed in one of the boilers, and upon inspection two damaged plates were discovered badly bulged out and needing to be replaced.
Captain Cass Mason ordered a temporary repair; anything more would have to wait for later. The repair patch used to cover the ruptured seam was thinner than the standard boiler plating, but was thought good enough to do the job.
The Haunting Image of a Doomed Ship
As the steamer pulled away from the wharf Captain Mason cautioned the men not to crowd to one side of the boat because there were so many it might cause problems.
He was to be proven right when the boat docked at Helena Arkansas. A photographer just happened to be at the dock and decided to take a picture of the crowded boat.
Noticing the photographer's intentions the men started crowding to the shore side of the boat, causing the steamer to list so much that one person sitting on top of the pilothouse was hanging in mid air.
Forty-eight hours after leaving Vicksburg, the Sultana arrived in the evening at Memphis. While there the leaky boiler was once again checked and a few small repairs made. At close to midnight the Sultana crossed the river to take on coal.
The Destruction of Our Steamers
By October 1863 it was becoming increasingly clear that the Confederate Government was involved in sabotage of steam-boats in an attempt to hamper the Federal Governments war effort.
A letter from Robert Allen, the Chief quartermaster, informed Maj. Gen. H. W. Halleck that the "continued destruction of steamboats, by fire...is assuming a very alarming feature. Unquestionably there is an organized band of incendiaries, members of which are stationed at every landing. It is a current report here that the Confederate Government has secretly offered a large reward for the destruction of our steamers. Already some fourteen...boats have been burned."
This was equivalent to 10 per cent of the whole river fleet. He further reported that increasing vigilance didn't seem to arrest the threat.
Then in March of 64 another letter was captured. Written by Thomas Courtenay, inventor of the Courtenay Torpedo, the letter told of a torpedo corps for the purpose of blowing up property using his invention - a torpedo resembling a lump of coal - to be placed in coal piles
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