In 1862 the Confederacy used one of
Cahawba's brick cotton warehouses to
temporarily house men captured at the
Battle of Shiloh. In 1863, they officially
converted the warehouse into a military
prison. The inmates called it "Castle
Morgan," reportedly after the daring
Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan.
The warehouse only measured 200 by
125 feet, but by the end of the war,
3,000 men were confined in this small
space. Over the course of the war
thousands more passed through the
prison, and yet only 142 to 147 men died
here. Such an exceptionally low death
rate can be attributed to an artesian well
that supplied fresh water for drinking,
bathing, and sanitation.
As the war drew to a close, flood waters
inundated the prison, making a bad
situation worse. After several days of
standing in foul water, these captive boys
in blue were removed from Cahawba and
sent to Vicksburg, Mississippi for parole.
The Sultana Disaster
At the end of the war, many of the Federal soldiers from Cahawba's prison were placed aboard a steamboat called the Sultana. After surviving bloody battles and harsh prison life, they were finally headed home. Joy ended in tragedy, when the crowded boat exploded near Memphis on the Mississippi River. Most of the men aboard were
killed. The Sultana disaster is still considered the worst maritime disaster in U.S. History.
Engraving of the Sultana Disaster
Harper's Weekly, May 20, 1865.
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