Battle of the Crater History,
Battle of Petersburg Civil War, The Mine, Battle of Richmond, Siege of Richmond Petersburg Campaign, The Petersburg Siege,
Civil War Trench Warfare Results, Essays, Essay
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
Crater with Union soldier in 1865.
(Crater, Petersburg, Civil War)
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
NEW! Recommended Reading:BATTLE OF THE CRATER: A Complete History
(Hardcover). Description: One sentence describes this massive study - "IT IS EXHAUSTIVE,
THOROUGH, DETAILED AND COMPLETE...IT IS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE CRATER, A.K.A. MINE." Continued below...
The
Battle
of the Crater is one of the lesser known yet most interesting battles of the Civil War. This book, detailing the onset of
brutal trench warfare at Petersburg, Virginia,
digs deeply into the military and political background of the battle. Beginning by tracing the rival armies through the bitter
conflicts of the Overland Campaign and culminating with the siege of Petersburg
and the battle intended to lift that siege, this book offers a candid look at the perception of the campaign by both sides.
The Crater: Timeline, Maps, Union and Confederate 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.
(Right) Approximately 90,000 of these Union Ketchum grenades were made and
then employed at both Vicksburg and Petersburg sieges. Click to enlarge for graphic view and description. Courtesy
Texas Civil War Museum.
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.
Battle of the Crater Map
Union and Confederate Army Positions
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 Battlefield Map
Union and Confederate Positions
Recommended Reading:The Horrid Pit: The Battle of the Crater, the Civil War's
Cruelest Mission (Hardcover). Review From Publishers Weekly: One of the American Civil War's most horrific events took place on July
30, 1864: the slaughter of thousands of Union troops, including many African-Americans, in a giant pit outside Petersburg,
Va. “The Crater” was created as a result of a poorly planned and executed Union mission to tunnel under, and then
explode, the Confederate lines, thereby opening the gates to a full frontal assault on Petersburg that, if successful, could
have helped decide the war. Instead, after several hundred Confederates perished in the initial mine explosion, the Union
troops entered the crater—later known as The Pit—and were gunned down. Continued below...
(The scene
is re-created in the novel and film ColdMountain.) Civil
War specialist Axelrod (The War Between the Spies, et al.) offers a concise, readable and creditable recounting of the Battle of the Crater, which General U.S. Grant famously termed a stupendous
failure. When the dust settled, the Union forces, under the inept leadership of generals Ambrose E. Burnside and George Gordon
Meade, suffered more than 4,000 killed, wounded or captured. The well-led Confederates had about 1,500 casualties. The massive
slaughter does not make for easy reading, but is a reminder of the horror of war at its basest level.
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.
Petersburg Siege Battlefield Map
Union and Confederate Lines
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 Map
Union and Confederate Battle Map
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 and Mine Map
Union and Confederate Troop Positions
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."
(Video of "The Crater" as portrayed in the movie "Cold Mountain")
Union casualties were 3,798
(504 killed, 1,881 wounded, 1,413 missing or captured), Confederate 1,491 (361 killed, 727 wounded, 403 missing or captured).
Many of the Union losses were suffered by Ferrero's division of the USCT. Both the black and white wounded prisoners were
taken to the Confederate hospital at Poplar Lawn in Petersburg. Meade brought charges against Burnside, and
a subsequent court of inquiry censured Burnside along with Brig. Gens. Ledlie, Ferrero, and Orlando B. Willcox, and Col. Zenas R. Bliss. Burnside was never again assigned to duty. Although
he was as responsible for the defeat as Burnside, Meade escaped immediate censure. However, in early 1865, the Congressional
Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War exonerated Burnside and condemned Meade for changing the plan of attack (which did
little good for Burnside, whose reputation was ruined). As for Mahone, the victory, won largely due to his efforts in supporting
Johnson's stunned men, earned him a lasting reputation as one of the best young generals of Lee's army in the war's last year.
The Crater in 1890
(Library of Congress)
Grant wrote to Chief of
Staff Henry W. Halleck, "It was the saddest affair I have witnessed in this war." He also stated to Halleck that "Such an
opportunity for carrying fortifications I have never seen and do not expect again to have."
Pleasants, who had no role
in the battle itself, received praise for his idea and the execution thereof. When he was appointed a brevet brigadier general
on March 13, 1865, the citation made explicit mention of his role.
Grant subsequently gave
in his evidence before the Committee on the Conduct of the War:
“General Burnside
wanted to put his colored division in front, and I believe if he had done so it would have been a success. Still I agreed
with General Meade as to his objections to that plan. General Meade said that if we put the colored troops in front (we had
only one division) and it should prove a failure, it would then be said and very properly, that we were shoving these people
ahead to get killed because we did not care anything about them. But that could not be said if we put white troops in front."
The Crater in 2004.
(Battle of the Crater)
Despite the battle being a tactical
Confederate victory, the strategic situation in the Eastern Theater remained unchanged. Both sides remained in their trenches
and the siege continued.
The area of the Battle of the Crater is a frequently visited portion of
Petersburg National Battlefield Park. The mine entrance is open for inspection annually on the anniversary of the battle.
There are sunken areas where air shafts and cave-ins extend up to the "T" shape near the end. The park includes many other
sites, primarily those that were a portion of the Union lines around Petersburg.
Recommended
Reading:Battle of the Crater (Civil War Campaigns and Commanders) [ILLUSTRATED]. Description: July 1864. Grant's siege
of Petersburg
is at a standstill. A Federal regiment made up mostly of Pennsylvania coal miners, under the command of Lt. Colonel Henry
Pleasants, secures the reluctant approval of Generals Meade and, ultimately, Grant to pursue an outrageous strategy: tunnel
under the Confederate trenches, and blow up the Confederate troops. The 586-foot tunnel is completed in a month. Continued
below…
Four tons of powder explode in
a devastating surprise attack, killing hundreds of Confederate soldiers. Fearing bad publicity, white soldiers are substituted
for the division of black troops specially trained for the assault. Ill prepared, and without leadership, they charge through
Confederate lines and swarm around and incredibly, into the 170-foot crater, only to be trapped and slaughtered in a furious
counter charge. An absorbing story of extraordinary bravery and incompetent leadership based on first-person accounts.
Recommended
Reading: The Crater: Petersburg. Description: A spectacular early morning underground explosion
followed by bloody hand-to-hand combat and unprecedented command malfeasance makes the story of the Crater one of the most
riveting in Civil War history. Da Capo's new "Battleground America"
series offers a unique approach to the battles and battlefields of America. Each book in the
series highlights a small American battlefield-sometimes a small portion of a much larger battlefield-and tells the story
of the brave soldiers who fought there. Using soldiers' memoirs, letters and diaries, as well as contemporary illustrations,
the human ordeal of battle comes to life on the page. Continued below…
All of the
units, important individuals, and actions of each engagement on the battlefield are described in a clear and concise narrative.
Detailed maps complement the text and illustrate small unit action at each stage of the battle. Then-and-now photographs tie
the dramatic events of the past to the modern battlefield site and highlight the importance of terrain in battle. The present-day
historical site of the battle is described in detail with suggestions for touring. About the Author: John Cannan has established
a reputation among civil War writers in remarkably short time. His distinctions include three books selected by the Military
Book Club. He is the author of The Atlanta Campaign, The Wilderness Campaign, and The Spotsylvania Campaign. He is an historic
preservation attorney living in Baltimore.
Recommended
Reading:The 48th Pennsylvania
in the Battle of the Crater: A Regiment of Coal Miners Who
Tunneled Under the Enemy (Hardcover). Description: In June 1864, Grant attempted to seize the Confederate rail hub
of Petersburg, Virginia.
General P.G.T. Beauregard responded by rushing troops to Petersburg
to protect the vital supply lines. A stalemate developed as both armies entrenched around the city. Union commander General
Ambrose Burnside advanced the unusual idea of allowing the 48th Pennsylvania—a regiment
from the mining town of Pottsville—to excavate a mine,
effectively tunneling under Confederate entrenchments. One of the most inventive and creative conflicts of the war, the Battle of the Crater ultimately became one of the most controversial,
as an almost certain Union victory turned into an astonishing Confederate triumph. Continued below…
With special
emphasis on the role of the 48th Pennsylvania, this history provides an in-depth examination of the Battle
of the Crater, which took place during July 1864. Here, bickering between Federal commanders and a general breakdown of communications
allowed shattered Confederate troops the opportunity to regroup after a particularly devastating blow to their defenses. The
work examines the ways in which the personality conflict between generals George Meade and Ambrose Burnside ultimately cost
the Union an opportunity to capture Petersburg and bring an
early end to the war. On the other hand, it details the ways in which the cooperation of Confederate commanders helped to
turn this certain defeat into an unexpected Southern achievement. Appendices include a list of forces that took part in the
Battle of the Crater, a table of casualties from the battle
and a list of soldiers decorated for gallantry during the conflict.
Recommended
Reading: Trench Warfare under Grant and Lee: Field Fortifications in the
Overland Campaign
(Civil War America) (Hardcover) (The University of North Carolina Press) (September
5, 2007). Description: In the study of field fortifications in the Civil War that began with Field Armies
and Fortifications in the Civil War, Hess turns to the 1864 Overland campaign to cover battles from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor. Continued
below...
Drawing on
meticulous research in primary sources and careful examination of trench remnants at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna,
Cold Harbor, and Bermuda Hundred, Hess describes Union and Confederate earthworks and how Grant and Lee used them in this new era of field
entrenchments.
Recommended
Reading:Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaigns,
1861-1864 (Civil War America) (Hardcover). Description: The eastern campaigns of the Civil War involved the widespread use of field fortifications, from Big Bethel and the
Peninsula to Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Charleston,
and Mine Run. While many of these fortifications were meant to last only as long as the battle, Earl J. Hess argues that their
history is deeply significant. The Civil War saw more use of fieldworks than did any previous conflict in Western history.
Hess studies the use of fortifications by tracing the campaigns of the Army of the Potomac
and the Army of Northern Virginia from April 1861 to April 1864. He considers the role of field fortifications in the defense
of cities, river crossings, and railroads and in numerous battles. Continued below...
Blending technical
aspects of construction with operational history, Hess demonstrates the crucial role these earthworks played in the success
or failure of field armies. He also argues that the development of trench warfare in 1864 resulted from the shock of battle
and the continued presence of the enemy within striking distance, not simply from the use of the rifle-musket, as historians
have previously asserted. Based on fieldwork at 300 battle sites and extensive research in official reports, letters, diaries,
and archaeological studies, this book should become an indispensable reference for Civil War historians.
Sources: National Park Service;
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Petersburg National Battlefield; National Archives; Texas Civil War
Museum; Library of Congress; Civil War Preservation Trust; Bonekemper, Edward H., III, A Victor, Not a Butcher: Ulysses S.
Grant's Overlooked Military Genius, Regnery, 2004; Catton, Bruce, A Stillness at Appomattox, Doubleday and Company, 1953;
Catton, Bruce, Grant Takes Command, Little, Brown & Co., 1968; Corrigan,
Jim, The 48th Pennsylvania in the Battle of the Crater: A Regiment of Coal Miners Who Tunneled Under the Enemy, McFarland
& Company, 2006; Davis, William C., and the Editors of Time-Life Books, Death in the Trenches: Grant at Petersburg, Time-Life
Books, 1986; Eicher, David J., The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, Simon & Schuster, 2001, Johnson,
Robert Underwood, and Buel, Clarence C. (eds.), Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Century Co., 1884-1888; Horn, John,
The Petersburg Campaign: June 1864 – April 1865, Combined Publishing, 1999; Kennedy, Frances H., ed., The Civil War
Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998; Salmon, John S., The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide,
Stackpole Books, 2001; Trudeau, Noah Andre, The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864 – April 1865, Louisiana
State University Press, 1991.
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