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wsis unoccupied by imy fr’ctlcral force.“h was delenuiiied to send home ill- once nil i'X-|»risini»ers of war, :ls I lit*. \v*i i* was virtually over, nml Iherebel Commissioners had l).v lliCir lligln abrogated t ho cartel or coii-lrai l that required Ibc prisoners to I'oniaiu there until on changed. They wore to bit will to Camplfimse, near Unlumbus, Ohio, to havu their u flairs Straightened mu! receive their discharge pajioot. The prisoners won; divided or parceled off t»y Slates, and the next to tho last lot that, left was composed of soldiers from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and liust Tennessee. Tlds lot was loaded on the .Sultana, Them were on board the In wit of sold iurs arm oil and ex-prisoners over twenty-one hundred men, with the crew and about forty passe lifters, eight of them women, and six small eldUlren, snaking a grand total of over . twenty-two hundred souls on board.“As the boat swung out into the river and we realized that at last we wore bound for CJod’.s conn try,, home and friends, we lustily cheered (lie grand old llag that floated defiantly from the jack-staff. That old Hag never seemed so dear before* and many an old veteran who had borne the horrors of Anderaonvilie without a. sign of weakening broke down and cried like a child, 'flic boat left Vicksburg on the night of April 24th, about half-past eight, and arrived at Memphis on the afternoon of the 27th, shoitly after dinner. The machinery wnstiut or re-•IT.......I. Is.under by drowning men. lining 1111 export swimmer, as quickly as possible i swam away from the crowd licit hovered near (lie burning boot. Mice moths near the flame, hoping against hope that Something would turn up to help them ashore, or that they might secure a strong board or planU, or anything, they knew not. nor cared not, only fearing lo triisl themselves in the inxy darkness of tho muddy river a Waygiv IlSIrt siK:» St IT tliefrom the circle of light nmdeby thehe.tloburning steamer. before the explosion myself and partner were sitting together over thn, or on the hatch (hat fed down on the after guard by the ladies’cabin. We hud resolved to stay together, but in ease wo were separated to swim fo I lie east, hoping to land on the bluff bank on that side instead of 1 ranting to the bottoms of the west bank, although the-boat at the time of the .explosion was nearer to the willows of wlint would have been the west shorn in an ordinary stage of water. We were separated the instant' we touched the water, and did not moot again until the afternoon of tho next day. I was picked up by u row-boat from the gim-bosU ICssex and ho by another, both of us partially unconscious, both saved by 11 represser y era.•‘After swimming nwny from the crowd around the burning steamer my left arm and both knees were cramped by the cold water, and my left leg was almost useless until thn next day. ‘J'lie debilitated condition of the soldiers, and tho water(III:a b.d/I! (O, V. lt;:
Newspaper Details
Piqua Daily Call
Piqua, Ohio, US
Wed, Sep 30, 1885
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Gene S.
USA 25 Dec 2016
Other Publications Near Piqua, Ohio
Piqua Morning Call
Piqua Daily Call and Piqua Press Dispatch
Piqua Press Dispatch
Piqua Daily Call
Piqua Miami Leader
