The Mine Crater Pictures
Battle Richmond Petersburg Siege Campaign Trench Trenches Civil War General Ambrose Burnside Robert E Lee United States Colored
Troops 25th North Carolina Infantry Regiment
Crater - BATTLE OF THE CRATER
Other Names: The Mine
Location: Petersburg
Campaign: Richmond-Petersburg Campaign (June 1864-March 1865)
Date(s): July 30, 1864
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS]
Forces Engaged: IX Corps [US]; elements of the Army of Northern
Virginia [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 5,300 total
Description: On July 30, 1864, after weeks of preparation, in
Burnside’s IX Corps sector the Federals exploded a mine beneath Pegram’s Salient, blowing a gap in the Confederate
defenses of Petersburg. From this propitious beginning, everything deteriorated rapidly for the Union attackers. Unit
after unit charged into and around the crater, where soldiers milled in confusion. The Confederates quickly recovered and
launched several counterattacks led by Maj. Gen. William Mahone. The break was sealed, and the Federals were repulsed with
severe casualties. Ferrarro’s division of black soldiers was badly mauled. This may have been Grant’s best chance
to end the Siege of Petersburg. Instead, the soldiers settled in for another eight months of trench warfare. Maj. Gen. Ambrose
E. Burnside was relieved of command for his role in the debacle. Although Burnside successfully captured Knoxville, Tennessee, he
was considered and labeled a failure at the Battles of Fredericksburg and Petersburg. The Battle of Fredericksburg, however, is generally referred to as General Robert E. Lee's easiest victory.
Regarding the Battle of the Crater, General
Grant summed it up best for the Union saying it was "the saddest affair I have ever witnessed in the war."
Result(s):
Confederate victory
The Crater: Timeline and Battlefield Positions
Details of The Crater, The Petersburg-Richmond
Virginia: Siege
| Union Hand Grenades during Petersburg Siege |
|
| This type of Grenade was used during the Vicksburg and Petersburg Sieges |
This, the longest siege in American warfare, unfolded in a methodical manner. For nearly every attack the
Union made around Petersburg another was made at Richmond and this strained the Confederate's manpower and resources. Through
this strategy Grant's army gradually and relentlessly encircled Petersburg and cut Lee's supply lines from the south. For
the Confederates it was ten months of hanging on, hoping the people of the North would tire of the war. For soldiers of both
armies it was ten months of bullets, artillery, and mortar shells, relieved only by rear-area tedium, heat and sweat,
drill and more drill, salt pork and corn meal, burned beans and bad coffee.
After the initial attacks on Petersburg by Union forces ended on June 18, a portion of the IX Corps picket
line, built under fire, was established only four hundred feet from Elliot's Salient, part of the main Confederate line. The
Federals decided to construct and explode a mine underneath the salient in an attempt to surprise and overwhelm the Confederates
and seize the heights above Petersburg and thereby shorten the siege.
THE CRATER:
5:00 am
After several weeks of preparation the mine was exploded on July 30 at 4:45am. The Union sent unit after unit
into the 200 foot-wide gap created in the Confederate line. The poorly-led Federal soldiers end up heading into the crater
and not around it as planned. |
THE CRATER:
8:30 am
Though the Federals outnumbered the Confederates, they were unable to advance from the crater or easily retreat
from it as the Confederates made both routes killing fields.
The Fourth Division of the the IX Corps, which was comprised of United States Colored Troops (USCT) regiments, were the last to enter the action. In this, their first engagement, they advanced farther than any
other Federal unit. The main Confederate counterattack led by Gen. William Mahone (CSA) arrived shortly
after this, drove back the USCTs and plugged the gap in the Confederate line.
At 9:30 am, Gen. Ambrose Burnside (USA), commander of the IX Corps, received orders to
call off the attack and any more support to the Union soldiers in the crater. The soldiers in the hole did not learn of this
until 12:30 that afternoon. |
THE CRATER:
1:00 pm
With the gap sealed, the Confederates slowly advanced on the crater and, in one final rush, pushed into the
abyss itself. In what was the fiercest hand-to-hand combat of the entire siege, the Union troops, who still outnumbered the
Confederates, surrendered to these determined defenders. As prisoners were taken to the rear, unarmed black soldiers
who had been calling for "no quarter," were now shot down by some of their captors. |
THE CRATER:
Aftermath
After nearly ten hours of fighting and a combined cost of nearly 6,000 lives, nothing had changed tactically.
In what may have been Gen. U. S. Grant's best chance at ending the Siege of Petersburg instead became
a symbol of military debacle.
As for the principal players, Mahone was promoted to Major General, Burnside was relieved of command, and
Grant summed it up best for the Union saying the Battle of the Crater was "the saddest affair I have ever witnessed in
the war."
Notes:
Sources: National Park Service; Official Records
of the Union and Confederate Armies; Petersburg National Battlefield; National Archives and Records Administration.
Advance to:
Recommended
Reading: The
Petersburg Siege; The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign
|
