The Mine, AKA The Crater: Petersburg Siege

Thomas' Legion
Thomas' Legion: Introduction & How to Use this Site
Cherokee Chief William Holland Thomas
Causes and Motives: American Civil War
Organization of Union and Confederate Armies: Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery
American Civil War: The Soldier's Life
American Civil War Battles and Battlefields
Civil War's Turning Points
Civil War Casualties, Fatalities & Statistics
Civil War Generals
American Civil War Desertions and Deserters: Union and Confederate
Aftermath and Reconstruction
American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients
Civil War Genealogy and Research Tools
American Civil War Pictures - Photographs
African Americans and the American Civil War
North Carolina in the American Civil War
Civil War Battles Fought in North Carolina
North Carolina Civil War Regiments and Battles
NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY: HOMEPAGE
North Carolina Coast and the American Civil War
Western North Carolina and the American Civil War
Western North Carolina Regiments and Battalions
HISTORY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
Cherokee Indians American Civil War
HISTORY OF THE CHEROKEE INDIANS
History of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Nation
Cherokee Indian Heritage, History, Culture, Customs, Ceremonies, and Religion
Cherokee War Rituals, Culture, Festivals, Government, and Beliefs
Researching your Cherokee Heritage
Recommended American Indian History
Thomas' Legion Photographs - Pictures
Thomas' Legion Papers, Diaries, & Memoirs
American Civil War Polls
Author's Recommendation

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
yankeegrenade.jpg
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.

battleofthecrater1.gif

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.

battleofthecrater2.gif

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.

battleofthecrater3.gif

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.

battleofthecrater4.gif

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.

battleofthecrater5.gif

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:
 
The real Private W. P. Inman, portrayed by Jude Law in the movie Cold Mountain, was a Haywood County highlander that served in Company F, Twenty-fifth North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Several of his brothers served in the Twenty-fifth and Sixty-second North Carolina Infantry Regiments. See William P. Inman's Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR): National Archives.

Sources: National Park Service; Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Petersburg National Battlefield; National Archives and Records Administration.

Advance to:
 

Site search Web search

Recommended Reading: The Petersburg Siege; The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign

Site Meter

Try our "Search Engine," this website contains several hundred pages.

 This website is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer.