Soldiers of Misfortune: The Sultana Disaster

In the early morning hours of April 27, 1865, a steamboat navigated its way up a frigid, swollen Mississippi River.  On board:  40 paying passengers, an 80-member crew, a loaded cargo hold – and 2,300 emaciated Union soldiers traveling home after years of hellish war and prison camp confinement.  A few miles above Memphis, the ship’s boilers exploded without warning, launching humans and cargo heavenward and hurling the disaster into history as the worst marine calamity in the United States.  The tragedy of the Sultana, besides the lives lost or changed forever, is that very few people even know that it occurred.

Soldiers of Misfortune: The Sultana Disaster is a feature-length documentary that tells the story of the event through the eyes of descendants of victims and survivors, as well as historians and specialists.  The project is currently in production and will be released in spring of 2008.

For more information on the Sultana disaster go to the links page.  To see a trailer for the project, please go to the video page.

Artist Jon Waterman's song "Sultana" has been selected for use in the documentary.  To view Jon's bio click here.  To download a brief excerpt from Jon Waterman's song "Sultana" click here.

Past Projects

This Oklahoma-based company has created historic videos for the Enid Fire Department’s 100th anniversary and the Cherokee Strip Museum’s 101 Ranch exhibit.  It has also created capital campaign videos for the Enid YWCA and Youth and Family Services of Northwest Oklahoma.