Local group holds event to remember “America’s greatest maritime disaster”

PARKERS CROSSROADS, Tenn. — The Parkers Crossroads Battlefield Association hosted a special program this Memorial Day morning.

Held at the activities building, the program hosted a presentation by Author, and Memphis Attorney, Jerry Potter.

He told the compelling story of the tragedy of the loss of more than 1,800 soldiers recently freed from prisoner-of-war camps at the end of the Civil War.

Mr. Potter has done extensive research on the 260-foot wooden hull steamboat “Sultana” that blew up just near Memphis on April 27th of 1865, making this “America’s greatest maritime disaster.”

“Most of the passengers on the Sultana were Union soldiers like the men with the 6th and 7th Tennessee Cavalries, who were going home after the war was over,” said Potter.

The program closed with a cannon salute and taps to honor all deceased veterans, law enforcement, and firefighters.

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