thea_447
Cadet
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2005
- Location
- The Deep South, Alabama
I recently saw this on a newsletter that I receive:
" At the Battle of the Crater white Union soldiers bayoneted
retreating Black Union soldiers and the 54th Massachusetts was intentionally fired upon by Union Maine troops while assaulting Battery Wagner. The Federal Official Records and memoirs of the USCT document all of these war crimes."
Before every Bluecoat on the board draws a bead on me, I am interested in the opinions of board members who specialize in battles to tell me what happened here.
In looking briefly into this, I found this tidbit:
"Grant had learned a hard lesson at Cold Harbor about attacking Lee in a fortified position and was chafing at the inactivity to which Lee's trenches and forts had confined him. Finally, a lieutenant colonel, Henry Pleasants of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's Ninth Corps offered what could have been a novel solution to the problem.
Pleasants, a mining engineer in civilian life, proposed digging a long mine shaft underneath the Confederate lines and planting an explosive charge directly underneath a fort in the middle of the Confederate First Corps line. [There were no "high-explosives".] If successful, this would not only kill all the defenders in the area, it would also open a hole in the Confederate defenses. If enough Union troops filled the breach quickly enough, the Confederates wouldn't be able to muster enough force to drive them out, and Petersburg would fall. Burnside, whose reputation had suffered from his 1862 defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg and his miserable performance earlier that year at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, gave Pleasants the go-ahead, hoping to recover his earlier high esteem.
The mine took weeks to dig, and although the Confederates on the other end of the field were aware that something was in the works, they never figured out exactly what it was. On July 28, the mine was completed, and on the morning of July 30, Pleasants set it off. A crater some 135 feet in diameter--still visible today--was created, and between 280 and 350 Confederate soldiers were instantly killed in the blast.
But the plan was doomed from the start due to Meade's interference on the day before the battle. Burnside had trained a division of United States Colored Troops (USCT) under Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrero to lead the assault. They were ordered to move around the edges of the crater and then fan out to extend the breach in the Confederate line. Then, Burnside's two other divisions, made up of white troops, would move in, supporting Ferrero's flanks and racing for Petersburg itself.
Meade, who lacked confidence in the operation, ordered Burnside not to use the black troops in the lead assault, thinking the attack would fail and the black soldiers would be killed needlessly, creating political repercussions in the North. Burnside protested, but complied with the order. The white divisions were moved into the lead role, but their commanders, who were of questionable quality, failed to brief the men on what was expected of them. The result was a disaster nearly on the scale of Cold Harbor.
The two white divisions went across the field to the crater and, instead of moving around it, actually moved down into the crater itself, wasting valuable time while the Confederates, under Maj. Gen. William Mahone, gathered as many troops together as they could for a counterattack. Soon, they had formed up around the crater and began firing down into it, in what Mahone later described as a "turkey shoot". The plan had failed, but Burnside, instead of cutting his losses, sent in Ferrero's men. They also went down into the crater, and for the next few hours, Mahone's soldiers, along with those of Maj. Gen. Bushrod Johnson, and artillery slaughtered the Ninth Corps as it attempted to escape from the crater.
The Confederates reported losses of 1,032 men in the battle, while Union losses were estimated at 5,300. About half of them were from Ferrero's division, to which many of the Confederates offered no quarter. Burnside was relieved of command. Although he was as responsible for the defeat as was Burnside, Meade escaped censure. 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 better generals of Lee's army in the war's last year."
I have found these summaries on the "net" but I would appreciate the expertise this board provides. Thank you...Thea
Battle Summary: Crater, VA
... Crater Other Names: The Mine. Location: Petersburg. ... Unit after unit charged
into and around the crater, where soldiers milled in confusion. ...
www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/va070.htm
Battle of the Crater - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of the Crater. ... The Battle of the Crater was the first major clash
of arms between the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by Gen. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Crater
Battle of the Crater
The Battle of the Crater and it's tragic results for both Confederate
and Union armies. Battle of the Crater. .....they hesitated. ...
www.craterroad.com/craterbattle.html
Battle of the Crater Poster (high-quality 16x12 Art Print)
Battle of the Crater Poster (high-quality 16x12 Art Print) image and information,
with the option to order for only about $76.5 (you can buy online immediately ...
www.jdhodges.com/ posters/battle-of-the-crater-poster-137706.html
The Battle of the Crater
McWhiney Foundation Press. The Battle of the Crater by Jeff Kinard. ... The Battle
of the Crater ISBN 1-886661-06-5 paper $11.95 LC 95-33310. 6x9. 104 pp. ...
www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/1998/kinard.htm
First Deep Bottom and the Crater
... The Crater (July 30, 1864). ... dominated by Radical Republicans, had spent much of the
winter of 1863-64 investigating Meade's conduct of the Battle of Gettysburg ...
members.aol.com/siege1864/crater.html
The Story of the Battle of the Crater
The Story of the Battle of the Crater. The Battle of Petersburg was
the site of the longest siege in American history after Grant ...
members.aol.com/tiermensch/PetersburgBattleCrater.html
Battle of the Crater - encyclopedia article about Battle of the ...
encyclopedia article about Battle of the Crater. Battle of the Crater in Free
online English dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopedia. ... Battle of the Crater. ...
encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/ Battle%20of%20the%20Crater
REENACTMENT OF THE
REENACTMENT OF THE "BATTLE OF THE CRATER". ... History Channel personnel were
shooting the "Battle of the Crater" segment that will air this summer. ...
www.bjmjr.com/civwar/re_crater.htm
" At the Battle of the Crater white Union soldiers bayoneted
retreating Black Union soldiers and the 54th Massachusetts was intentionally fired upon by Union Maine troops while assaulting Battery Wagner. The Federal Official Records and memoirs of the USCT document all of these war crimes."
Before every Bluecoat on the board draws a bead on me, I am interested in the opinions of board members who specialize in battles to tell me what happened here.
In looking briefly into this, I found this tidbit:
"Grant had learned a hard lesson at Cold Harbor about attacking Lee in a fortified position and was chafing at the inactivity to which Lee's trenches and forts had confined him. Finally, a lieutenant colonel, Henry Pleasants of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's Ninth Corps offered what could have been a novel solution to the problem.
Pleasants, a mining engineer in civilian life, proposed digging a long mine shaft underneath the Confederate lines and planting an explosive charge directly underneath a fort in the middle of the Confederate First Corps line. [There were no "high-explosives".] If successful, this would not only kill all the defenders in the area, it would also open a hole in the Confederate defenses. If enough Union troops filled the breach quickly enough, the Confederates wouldn't be able to muster enough force to drive them out, and Petersburg would fall. Burnside, whose reputation had suffered from his 1862 defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg and his miserable performance earlier that year at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, gave Pleasants the go-ahead, hoping to recover his earlier high esteem.
The mine took weeks to dig, and although the Confederates on the other end of the field were aware that something was in the works, they never figured out exactly what it was. On July 28, the mine was completed, and on the morning of July 30, Pleasants set it off. A crater some 135 feet in diameter--still visible today--was created, and between 280 and 350 Confederate soldiers were instantly killed in the blast.
But the plan was doomed from the start due to Meade's interference on the day before the battle. Burnside had trained a division of United States Colored Troops (USCT) under Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrero to lead the assault. They were ordered to move around the edges of the crater and then fan out to extend the breach in the Confederate line. Then, Burnside's two other divisions, made up of white troops, would move in, supporting Ferrero's flanks and racing for Petersburg itself.
Meade, who lacked confidence in the operation, ordered Burnside not to use the black troops in the lead assault, thinking the attack would fail and the black soldiers would be killed needlessly, creating political repercussions in the North. Burnside protested, but complied with the order. The white divisions were moved into the lead role, but their commanders, who were of questionable quality, failed to brief the men on what was expected of them. The result was a disaster nearly on the scale of Cold Harbor.
The two white divisions went across the field to the crater and, instead of moving around it, actually moved down into the crater itself, wasting valuable time while the Confederates, under Maj. Gen. William Mahone, gathered as many troops together as they could for a counterattack. Soon, they had formed up around the crater and began firing down into it, in what Mahone later described as a "turkey shoot". The plan had failed, but Burnside, instead of cutting his losses, sent in Ferrero's men. They also went down into the crater, and for the next few hours, Mahone's soldiers, along with those of Maj. Gen. Bushrod Johnson, and artillery slaughtered the Ninth Corps as it attempted to escape from the crater.
The Confederates reported losses of 1,032 men in the battle, while Union losses were estimated at 5,300. About half of them were from Ferrero's division, to which many of the Confederates offered no quarter. Burnside was relieved of command. Although he was as responsible for the defeat as was Burnside, Meade escaped censure. 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 better generals of Lee's army in the war's last year."
I have found these summaries on the "net" but I would appreciate the expertise this board provides. Thank you...Thea
Battle Summary: Crater, VA
... Crater Other Names: The Mine. Location: Petersburg. ... Unit after unit charged
into and around the crater, where soldiers milled in confusion. ...
www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/va070.htm
Battle of the Crater - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of the Crater. ... The Battle of the Crater was the first major clash
of arms between the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by Gen. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Crater
Battle of the Crater
The Battle of the Crater and it's tragic results for both Confederate
and Union armies. Battle of the Crater. .....they hesitated. ...
www.craterroad.com/craterbattle.html
Battle of the Crater Poster (high-quality 16x12 Art Print)
Battle of the Crater Poster (high-quality 16x12 Art Print) image and information,
with the option to order for only about $76.5 (you can buy online immediately ...
www.jdhodges.com/ posters/battle-of-the-crater-poster-137706.html
The Battle of the Crater
McWhiney Foundation Press. The Battle of the Crater by Jeff Kinard. ... The Battle
of the Crater ISBN 1-886661-06-5 paper $11.95 LC 95-33310. 6x9. 104 pp. ...
www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/1998/kinard.htm
First Deep Bottom and the Crater
... The Crater (July 30, 1864). ... dominated by Radical Republicans, had spent much of the
winter of 1863-64 investigating Meade's conduct of the Battle of Gettysburg ...
members.aol.com/siege1864/crater.html
The Story of the Battle of the Crater
The Story of the Battle of the Crater. The Battle of Petersburg was
the site of the longest siege in American history after Grant ...
members.aol.com/tiermensch/PetersburgBattleCrater.html
Battle of the Crater - encyclopedia article about Battle of the ...
encyclopedia article about Battle of the Crater. Battle of the Crater in Free
online English dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopedia. ... Battle of the Crater. ...
encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/ Battle%20of%20the%20Crater
REENACTMENT OF THE
REENACTMENT OF THE "BATTLE OF THE CRATER". ... History Channel personnel were
shooting the "Battle of the Crater" segment that will air this summer. ...
www.bjmjr.com/civwar/re_crater.htm