On this day in 1865,

THE WORST MARITIME DISASTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY

THE SULTANA SINKS DROWNING 1,700 UNION VETERANS AND SURVIVORS OF CONFEDERATE P.O.W. CAMPS

On this day in 1865, just days after the end of the Civil War, the worst maritime disaster in American history occurred when the steamboat Sultana, carrying 2,100 passengers, exploded just north of Memphis and sank in the Mississippi River, killing all but 400 of those aboard.  To make this tragedy even worse, all but 100 of those killed were Union veterans, and most were survivors of Andersonville and other brutal Confederate prisoner of war camps.