During the siege of Petersburg, Colonel Henry Pleasants and his
coal-mining troops (the 48th Pennsylvania) laid a mine beneath the
Confederate lines. The explosion produced an enormous crater,
burying hundreds of Rebel troops in debris. But the Union advantage
turned into catastrophe as Confederates had time to counterattack,
and many Union soldiers became fatally trapped in the crater.
The Battle of the Crater
EYEWITNESS July 30, 1864
“I was lying on the ground resting my head on my hand and
thinking of the probable result, when the denouement came. I
shall never forget the terrible and magnificent sight. The earth
around us trembled and heaved so violently that I was lifted to
my feet. Then the earth along the enemy’s lines opened, and fire
and smoke shot upward seventy-five or one hundred feet. The
air was filled with earth, cannon, caissons, sand-bags and living
men, and with everything else within the exploded fort ... Our
orders were to charge immediately after the explosion, but the
effect produced by the falling of earth and the fragments sent
heavenward that appeared to be coming right down upon us,
caused the first line to waver and fall back, and the situation
was one to demoralize most troops.
”
“Little did these men anticipate what they would see upon
arriving there: an enormous hole in the ground about 30 feet deep,
60 feet wide, and 170 feet long, filled with dust, great blocks of
clay, guns, broken carriages, projecting timbers, and men buried in
various ways—some up to their necks, others to their waists, and
some with only their feet and legs protruding from the earth ...
The whole scene of the explosion struck every one dumb with
astonishment as we arrived at the crest of the debris. It was
impossible for the troops of the Second Brigade to move forward
in line ... Before the brigade commanders could realize the
situation, the two brigades became inextricably mixed ... Up on
the other side of the crater they climbed ... In doing so members
of these regiments were killed by musket-shots from the rear,
fired by the Confederates who were still occupying the traverses
and intrenchments to the right and left of the crater ... This
coming so unexpectedly caused the forming line to fall back
into the crater.
”
BREVET MAJOR CHARLES H. HOUGHTON, 14 NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY,
FROM BATTLES AND LEADERS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 1888
UNION MAJOR WILLIAM H. POWELL, FROM BATTLES AND LEADERS OF
THE CIVIL WAR, 1888
After the explosion
War artist Alfred R. Waud drew the scene after the mine
exploded. In the foreground Union soldiers head from
their entrenchments toward the Confederate line, beyond
the mounds of earth thrown up by the explosion.