Sultana Tragedy/Civil War Monument

Soldiers from Company F of the 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry died in the explosion of the steamboat Sultana seven miles north of Memphis on the Mississippi River on April 27, 1865. The Sultana reportedly carried more than 2,400 passengers, six times its capacity of 376. The vast majority were Union soldiers recently freed from southern prisons at the end of the Civil War. Approximately 1,800 passengers and crew died in what is considered the worst maritime disaster in American history.

Soldiers from Company F of the 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry died in the explosion of the steamboat Sultana seven miles north of Memphis on the Mississippi River on April 27 1865. The Sultana reportedly carried more than 2,400 passengers, six times its capacity of 376. The vast majority were Union soldiers recently freed from southern prisons at the end of the Civil War. Approximately 1,800 passengers and crew died in what is considered the worst maritime disaster in American history. Company F was organized in Stark, Columbiana, and Portage Counties and was mustered into service at Camp Massillon in the fall of 1862.

The front side of the monument includes the inscription: "Erected in memory of the deceased of Co. F 115th OVI by the Company and friends, 1865." One side of the monument lists the names of those men who were killed by an explosion on the ship Sultana on April 27, 865, on the Mississippi Riber as it was returning home at the end of the war. The two other sides of the monument list tose soldiers who died in prison and those who died of disease.

The State Historical Marker is a memorial to the soldiers of Company F who died as a result of the Sultana tragedy and other war related causes. This marker was erected in 2011 and was funded by Ina "Scotty" Hayes who was instrumental in maintaining the Alliance City Cemetery as well as Friends of the Cemetery and the Ohio Historical Society.

Marking Time in Alliance - Sultana Tragedy. Perone, Karen. Performed by Jim Perone. Alliance Historical Society, 2020. https://youtu.be/qmkcnrRMyTk.

Weber, Jack. "Eight area soldiers perished in Sultana explosion 150 years ago." The Alliance Review (Alliance, Ohio) April 27th 2015. Local News sec.

"A Sultana survivor's account." (Alliance, Ohio) April 27th 2015. Local News sec.

"Full biographies of Company F Soliders listed on Alliance monument." The Alliance Review (Alliance, Ohio) April 27th 2015. Local News sec.

"Company F Casualties." The Alliance Review (Alliance, Ohio) April 27th 2015. Local News sec.