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Winfield Scott Pottle - Sultana Survivor

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Winfield Scott Pottle - Sultana Survivor

Posted: 15 Aug 2002 6:25PM GMT
Classification: Biography
Surnames: Pottle, White
My gg grandfather is Winfield Scott Pottle who served with Platts Zouaves in the 54th Ohio Infantry. My grandfather fought at Shiloh and other areas in Tennessee. Near Memphis, General Sherman was on a train and was being quickly overtaken by the Rebs and General Forest's Calvary. My ancestor had his rifle and just as a saber came down on his head, he lifted his rifle to deflect the blow. He had an open wound on his forhead which quickly became infested. Thinking he might be a spy, the rebs sent him to Libby Prison. Later he was sent to Belle Island and finally to Andersonville Prison in Georgia. A place of horrors. He survived all of that and was put on the Sultana to go home to Ohio. His bunk made at the stern of the ship was named "White". The ship blew up flinging him and his mate into the cold, murky Mississippi River. He clung onto debris for hours. Finally, a fisherman picked him up and took him to a local hospital. His father, believing him to be dead, came to the camp with a coffin to take his body home in. It is amazing to me that my ancestor went through so much. He is buried in the National Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio. His father, my ggg grandfather is buried nearby.
SubjectAuthorDate Posted
feagin 16 Aug 2002 12:25AM GMT 
heather nichols 9 May 2003 6:41PM GMT 
feagin7657 9 May 2003 11:54PM GMT 
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