Originally broadcast on August 04, 1995 - In part 49 of our Civil War series, Virginia Tech history professor James Robertson describes the events of July 30, 1864. As the siege of Petersburg was entering its second month, General Grant was anxious to deliver one hard blow that would cripple the impoverished Confederate army and end the war. The plan, which was developed by coal miners, called for a 580 feet tunnel and 8 tons of gunpowder.
#49 – The Battle of the Crater
Summer, 1864: the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, was entering its second month. Federal General Ulysses Grant knew that his superior numbers and resources would ultimately overcome the impoverished Confederate army. Yet Grant was anxious to strike one hard blow that might wipe out Lee’s forces and end things quickly.
Coal miners came up with an idea. At one point in the lengthening, zigzagging network of opposing entrenchments, Union and Confederate lines were less than 500 feet apart. A Pennsylvania regiment of former coal miners proposed to dig a tunnel under the open space, hollow out a cavity beneath the Southern position, and explode enough blasting powder there to blow a big hole in Lee’s line. A Union attack in the smoke and confusion might shatter the Confederate defenses, effect Lee’s surrender, and end the Civil War.
General-in-Chief Grant and army commander General George Meade were lukewarm over such an unusual project. Yet the Federals were not doing much those days except exchanging tons of shot and shell with the Confederates. Something offensive was better than nothing.
So the orders went out. The Pennsylvanians dug a 580-foot tunnel. Into the end of it they put 8 tons of gunpowder. A long fuse was laid; the Federal corps commander in that sector lined up two full divisions for an assault in 1-2 fashion as soon as the explosion occurred.
An agonizing delay took place in the predawn hours of July 30, 1864, and the reason was a defective fuse somewhere up the line. A Billy Yank volunteered to enter the tunnel and correct the problem. It was repaired and the fuse relit. Shortly thereafter, around 4:45 a.m., came a muffled roar. The earth seemed to belch hundreds of tons of earth skyward as the blast dug a hole 170 feet long, 70 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. At least 300 Confederates were killed by the explosion.
The Union army now had a clear shot at Petersburg, but the opportunity was totally botched. Union soldiers in the first wave went forward in pieces and with hesitation. Small wonder: their division commander was behind the lines and consuming commissary whiskey as fast as he could drink. The second wave, also lacking leadership, moved forward. Soon both Federal divisions – intended to deliver a hammer-like blow to the Confederate lines – were instead congregating like a mob around that gaping, still-smoking hole. About an hour later, the Federal columns again moved forward. They ran up against the same old, fatal obstacle: Lee’s well-manned fieldworks, which simply could not be taken by direct assault.
Meanwhile, Lee brought order to his own command, then sent General William Mahone and others in a vicious counterattack. Union indecision gave way first to confusion, then to panic. Federal soldiers scampered back over the open ground toward the safety of their lines. It was a turkey shoot for angry Confederates. This was especially the case with Union soldiers (both black and white) who were caught down inside the crater. Southern soldiers enraged by the barbarity of the explosion showed little quarter toward the enemy.
By noon the so-called Battle of the Crater had ended. Union commanders glumly counted over 4,000casualties. Confederate loses where about 1,500 men. Little comfort existed in the acre or so of wholly worthless ground taken in the Federal assault. Three Federal generals were sent home in disgrace. The first use of black soldiers in the Army of the Potomac had ended in tragedy.
The war continued as before. What remained physically from that July day was a huge hole in the ground. Much of the earthen cavity is still there to see. It is a monument to the deadliness of warfare and to the gallantry of soldiers both North and South.
