Nathaniel Pendergrass was a private in Co. G, 3rd Tennessee Cavalry. He was captured along with most of his regiment at Sulphur Branch Trestle, AL on Sept. 24, 1864 by Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was held captive at the rebel prison at Cahaba, AL. In April 1865 he was released from prison and taken to a parole camp near Vicksburg, MS to await transport back home. On April 24, 1865 he and 2,000 other recently released Union prisoners-of-war were crowded aboard the Mississippi River steamboat Sultana. At 2:00 AM on April 27, 1865, when the Sultana was 7 miles north of Memphis, TN, her boilers exploded. More than 1,500 people died. Private Pendergrass was pulled from the river and rushed to Adams Hospital in Memphis, TN suffering from severe scalds. He died at the Army Post Hospital in Cairo, IL on June 25, 1865 from the scalds suffered in the Sultana Disaster.
Nathaniel Pendergrass was a private in Co. G, 3rd Tennessee Cavalry. He was captured along with most of his regiment at Sulphur Branch Trestle, AL on Sept. 24, 1864 by Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was held captive at the rebel prison at Cahaba, AL. In April 1865 he was released from prison and taken to a parole camp near Vicksburg, MS to await transport back home. On April 24, 1865 he and 2,000 other recently released Union prisoners-of-war were crowded aboard the Mississippi River steamboat Sultana. At 2:00 AM on April 27, 1865, when the Sultana was 7 miles north of Memphis, TN, her boilers exploded. More than 1,500 people died. Private Pendergrass was pulled from the river and rushed to Adams Hospital in Memphis, TN suffering from severe scalds. He died at the Army Post Hospital in Cairo, IL on June 25, 1865 from the scalds suffered in the Sultana Disaster.
Gravesite Details
bur. 06/28/1865
Family Members
Advertisement
Advertisement
