May 19, 2009, Lexington (Ky) Herald-Leader.
Union Sgt. Lucien Wheatley certainly had the knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. First, he was captured at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863, then ended up spending 18 months at Andersonville Prison in Georgia.
He survived this, but at the end of the war, he was being transported back north on board the ill-fated Sultana when it exploded and sank near Memphis. His body was never found.
His family was prominent in Kentucky horse racing and they erected a small marker for him at the Old Episcopal Burying Ground on Third Street in Lexington. It was later shattered.
However, he was honored Sunday, along with other Sultana victims by the local chapter of the Sons of Union veterans of the Civil War who replaced the marker, had speeches, played taps on the bugle and fired rifles.
WORST US MARITIME DISASTER
More than 1700 deaths occurred on the Sultana (we'll never know how many because the vessel was so overloaded with weak former prisoners). It is considered the worst-ever US maritime disaster., more than US citizens on the Titanic.
The Sultana was registered to carry 376 passengers, but was overloaded because Union officers received kickbacks and about 2,300 boarded at Vicksburg. The captain had failed to repair a leaky boiler. Three of four boilers exploded leading to the disaster.
It received little press coverage because it occurred in April and there had been the surrender of Lee and Lincoln assassination.
An Event That Needs to Be Remembered. --Old B-Runner
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