Eric Braun - Can You Survive the 1865 Sultana Disaster?: An Interactive History Adventure

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It is the end of the U.S. Civil War (18611865). YOU are a soldier who was captured by the South and sent to a prison camp. Youve been dreaming of going home for a long time.

As you get on board the steamboat Sultana, you can almost feel your own pillow against your cheek. But a disaster is about to occur during your journey. Will you make it home to your family safely?

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the stories. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

After four bloody, brutal years, the North has won the war. Soldiers all over the country are on the move and heading home.

For you, the journey began in a prison camp. You were captured and imprisoned by a army unit. There you waited out the end of the fighting in terrible conditions. Many of the prisoners suffered from diseases. Food and medicine were almost impossible to get.

Now you are free, but the road home hasnt been easy. Youve traveled hundreds of miles and made your way to the port town of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

There, a steamboat will take you north up the Mississippi River to Union headquarters in Ohio. Then youll be processed and sent home. Youve been traveling for weeks, but you still have a long journey ahead of you.

When you arrive in Vicksburg, you go to Camp Fisk at the edge of town. The camp is crowded with hundreds of soldiers. Some are as young as 14. Others are seasoned officers. There are even some Confederate soldiers. You check in with authorities at the camp, and they give you clean clothes and a hot meal. You are deeply grateful for both.

That night, you chat with other soldiers. Everyone is exhausted from the war. Many are wounded or sick. But theyre all excited to be going home.

While talking to a group of men by a fire pit, you learn that President Abraham Lincoln has been assassinated. The news is devastating. The president led the country through its worst crisis, only to be killed when it was over. It fills you with sadness.

You also learn more about the riverboat youll be sailing on. The Sultana, says an older soldier with a crutch and a bloody leg. Im on that one, too, Im afraid.

Why are you afraid? you ask. The fire crackles between you.

Word going round is that one of the boilers has a leak, the man says, scratching his filthy beard.

Good luck, says another man. I hear theyre just patching it instead of a full repair.

They wouldnt let us on if it wasnt safe, would they? you ask.

I dont know, the man with the crutch says. He chuckles softly. But if that boat doesnt leave by tomorrow, the captain stands to lose a lot of money.

You dont sleep well that night. Partly because you dont have a tent or blanket, and its a cold April night. But your mind is swimming with thoughts of the presidents death and worries about the boats patched boiler.

However, in the morning youre called to board the Sultana, and your worries melt away. The thought of finally sleeping in your own bed back home helps calm your nerves.

You were only 14 years old when you joined the Army. Kids your age werent allowed to fight. But you felt strongly that the cause of the North was important. So you lied about your age and signed up.

You saw many battles and many horrors on the battlefield. But perhaps nothing you saw was as awful as what you witnessed in the terrible Andersonville prison camp. After being captured in battle, you spent the last months of the war here, including your sixteenth birthday.

The prison camp was just a walled-in rectangle of land. Thousands of men were crammed inside, most of them as thin as skeletons. There was rarely any food to eat.

In the center of the camp was a foul, swampy area where people went to the bathroom. The prisoners had lice and living on them. And flies buzzed constantly. You could hear the moans of men in pain. Many wished they were dead. Along the walls, Confederate soldiers stood ready to shoot anyone who approached them.

After being freed, you traveled a long way to reach Vicksburg. You stuck with your friend Jennings, who was in prison with you. Though he got out of the camp with you, he barely survived. Now hes shivering with fever and can barely walk.

Thankfully, your journey starts on a train. You ride for several hours, but in the middle of Mississippi, it has to stop. The tracks have been blown apart. You are forced to walk the rest of the way. You take it slow and give Jennings several breaks. After all youve been through, he is your best friend. Youd never leave him.

When you finally arrive in Vicksburg, you are given a hot meal. It helps revive Jenningss strengthand yours. In the morning, the two of you get on board the boat.

However, the boat is extremely crowded. You see a clear space near a wall where Jennings can lean back and rest. It looks warmer and less windy there, too. But it is near the back of the boata long walk through a thick crowd. Jennings looks to where youre pointing and shakes his head. He staggers and sits right there by the railing. The crowd flows past you.

Hey, get out of the way! someone growls.

You cant just sit here where everyone is walking. Besides, Jennings needs some shelter. So you help him to his feet, bend your knees, and hoist him over your shoulder.

People push back against you as you bump into them. Finally, you reach a clear space against the wall and set Jennings down. He leans back and seems to fall asleep instantly.

When you look over, you notice the men sitting next to you are wearing Confederate uniforms. Your hands turn to fists as you think about your horrible experiences in battle and at the prison camp.

The men stare at you with cold eyes. One of them mutters something about Lincoln, and you think theyre probably celebrating that hes been killed.

Are you safe here with these men? The war is over. Even so, they dont seem to like you very much. Maybe you should move. But moving Jennings again doesnt seem like a good idea.