The steamboat explosion that killed more people than the Titanic — and was forgotten within days because of Lincoln's assassination (1865)
On April 27, 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River, killing more people than the Titanic. Almost nobody knows about it.
The victims were Union soldiers who had survived the Civil War and Confederate prison camps, finally heading home — packed onto a boat at six times its legal capacity because of corruption and greed. The boilers had already been flagged as unsafe. The repair was rushed. Three of the four boilers exploded while most of the men slept.
The story was swallowed by history because Lincoln's assassin had been killed the day before. The country moved on. The soldiers were forgotten.
This documentary is a full dramatic recreation — not narration over photographs. Built by a two-person team using AI filmmaking tools, it plays more like a film than a traditional documentary. 23 minutes.
Happy to answer questions about the history or the production.