The weird battle of The Crater – “a sad affair”
VIENNA, Va. -- Given the state of armaments and artillery, and the close-hand fighting methods, many battles and skirmishes could be categorized as “different.” The one who tops that list, without exception, is the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Va., on July 30, 1864.
The Battle of Cold Harbor on June 1 had been a dismal failure for the Union, thousands had been killed out of a force of 50,000 and the newly appointed Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant was now being referred to as “Butcher Grant” for the tremendous loss of life incurred. The Yankees had to come up with a plan -- ANY plan that might work -- and they did.
After several days of rather futile besieging of Petersburg, a subordinate of Grant named Ambrose Burnside advanced a unique idea, via a mining engineer by the name of Henry Pleasants. Now Pleasants was in command of a regiment of coal miners, men used to digging for coal and working underground to accomplish a goal, and he used this experience to promote the plan.
Knowing the Rebel forces were firmly entrenched, it was Pleasants’ idea to dig a tunnel beneath them and, by planting explosives, manage the quick annihilation of a large number of the enemy force. From June 25 until July 27, the miner/soldiers worked tirelessly. The roughly 400 men accomplished between 40 and 50 feet a day, and the entire tunnel was 510 feet long, ending just beneath the stronghold of the Rebels. For those interested in figures, it worked out to 18,000 cubic feet of earth, all by hand – pick and shovel.
Then they packed the tunnel with some 320 kegs of black power explosive – it would be the fireworks to end all fireworks and wreak havoc among the Southerners, they thought. The miners had actually dug four tons of earth, which they carried back to the end of the tunnel.They then laid a 98-foot fuse, and filled the Union end with dirt so the explosion could not shoot backward with disastrous results.
It was early in the morning of July 30, and Burnside had his troops ready to burst through the large opening which the black powder would open, and capture the Rebels. At about 3:15 a.m., Pleasants had the task of lighting the long fuse in the tunnel, and then run out as fast as possible.
But nothing happened … they sat and waited … and nothing happened. After 45 minutes had passed, they sent two volunteers down the tunnel to ascertain what had happened – where had the plan failed? They found that the fuse had burned out, so the brave volunteers relit it, and after a very short time interval, some 200 feet of Confederate entrenchments was blown high into the morning sky, destroying an artillery battery into smithereens, and burying an entire regiment temporarily.
Sounds good for the Union thus far, doesn’t it? Burnside had initially planned to send “colored troops” into the thick of it, but fearing he would be criticized, he changed his mind (pursuant to an order from General Meade) and sent in a white unit instead. And the battle was on.
A couple of problems were instantly apparent. Burnside had failed to figure out how to get his troops IN without being killed by the surrounded heavily armed Rebels. And this was a crater 175 feet across and about 35 feet deep. And they were going down INTO it, rather than AROUND it. Anybody bring a ladder or two? No.
Net result -- at least three Union divisions rushed into the gaping maw of a hole and were trapped inside. They had nowhere to go, and no way to climb out. They were sitting ducks for the Confederate muskets, and the final tally showed about 4,000 Union casualties. It was then that Grant announced it was “the saddest affair I have witnessed in the war.”
When I moved here some 25 years ago, the Crater was on my list of things I really wanted to see, though it took us several years to get there. Much to my total disappointment, through the years the “crater” had been filled in until it was perhaps three feet deep – like an earthen baby pool. All the effect of the terrible carnage there was not to be seen or envisioned. All done, I imagine, in the interests of liability to the park for the tourists. But it was a real downer to see what little remained.
Granted, in one end they had dug down and created a plastic door covered entry to the tunnel, and you could imagine how it was made, etc., but it was a far cry from what the Yankee troops must have faced that fatal day so long ago. And one could only hope that if they ever tried that plan again, they’d do a tad more thinking ahead!
Follow the blog on FaceBook at Martha Boltz
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
