When I was down there I was told the Confederates new there was digging and sunk some holes and just didn’t locate them in time.The Confederates did not detect the mining, but that didn't lead to success.
The explosion blew a hole in the middle of the Confederate line, as planned. The Union assault failed because it wasn't executed quickly enough, resulting in the Confederates gaining enough time to plug the gap.
To me, Burnside's colossal command failure was drawing straws in the first place. There is plenty of debate (see Will Greene's first book of his new trilogy, for instance) about how much extra training the USCT's really received. Short answer? Not a lot. Ledlie's Division should have never been allowed to be chosen in the first place. I'm reading Meade's Army right now, which is an edited version of Meade's ADC Theodore Lyman's private notebooks, compiled almost daily during the entire 20 months he was with Meade. It was well known to leadership prior to the Crater that Ledlie was the worst division commander in the entire army.The USCT regiments that had drilled & practiced for the operation were pulled out by Meade. His exact reasoning involved worries over the political blowback of the assault was a failure. In one of the colossal command failures of the war, Burnside did not standup for his people. Instead, he knuckled to Meade & then drew straws for who would replace the carefully prepared USCT’s.
The man who drew the short straw was drunk & cowered under cover during the assault on FT Sanders in Knoxville TN. His reputation was no secret. A similar situation occurred at Franklin where an officer filled with liquid courage cost a lot of good men their lives. The tolerance for drunken incompetence during the CW always mystifies me.
Had the UDCT’s been allowed to lead the attack, they would have passed on either side of the crater turning both flanks. The follow on regiments would have penetrated, preventing the establishment of a second line. The potential for that rarest of CW events, an actual breakthrough of an entrenched position. What if’s are filled with unknowables, so what would have followed is anybody’s guess.
On a purely personal level, I am fortunate that the tragedy played out as it did. My wife’s forefather was on the flank of the crater, a private in the 3rd Georgia Infantry. I don’t know what I would have done with myself the last 30 years had the USCT’s swarmed over the 3rd’s flank.
They absolutely knew digging was going on and had multiple countermines going in front of multiple salients. They just didn't dig deep enough quickly enough. In addition, the Confederates had multiple mines of their own moving towards the Union lines. On August 5, they sprung one, but it was something like 40 yards short of the main Union line.When I was down there I was told the Confederates new there was digging and sunk some holes and just didn’t locate them in time.
I was thinking of those WWI mines myself. As I recall, they didn't all blow up like they were supposed to and decades later at least one exploded during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night in the middle of a farmer's field. The farmer was lucky he hadn't built his house over it.Similar mining operations were conducted in WW1. With good, or mediocre, results, depending on the exploitation of success.
My father's side of the family has a story of two boys who were lieutenants in the Confederate army and who were killed at the Battle of the Crater. I've tried to document the story but I just haven't found anything that fits what I have been told. I suspect that the best bet is that they were in a home guard unit from Portsmouth, VA, made up of old men and boys. I haven't found a roster for the unit or any discussion of who was in it. Apparently this unit did some actual fighting and proved itself in the eyes of the veterans in the regular army units. So, in my case the relatives, who were not direct ancestors, were killed in the fighting but it had no effect on me.The USCT regiments that had drilled & practiced for the operation were pulled out by Meade. His exact reasoning involved worries over the political blowback of the assault was a failure. In one of the colossal command failures of the war, Burnside did not standup for his people. Instead, he knuckled to Meade & then drew straws for who would replace the carefully prepared USCT’s.
The man who drew the short straw was drunk & cowered under cover during the assault on FT Sanders in Knoxville TN. His reputation was no secret. A similar situation occurred at Franklin where an officer filled with liquid courage cost a lot of good men their lives. The tolerance for drunken incompetence during the CW always mystifies me.
Had the UDCT’s been allowed to lead the attack, they would have passed on either side of the crater turning both flanks. The follow on regiments would have penetrated, preventing the establishment of a second line. The potential for that rarest of CW events, an actual breakthrough of an entrenched position. What if’s are filled with unknowables, so what would have followed is anybody’s guess.
On a purely personal level, I am fortunate that the tragedy played out as it did. My wife’s forefather was on the flank of the crater, a private in the 3rd Georgia Infantry. I don’t know what I would have done with myself the last 30 years had the USCT’s swarmed over the 3rd’s flank.
That was in 1955. The mine was “lost” along with others. The series of mines that were detonated on the first day of the Battle the Somme were the loudest non - nuclear explosions ever. Utterly grotesque.I was thinking of those WWI mines myself. As I recall, they didn't all blow up like they were supposed to and decades later at least one exploded during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night in the middle of a farmer's field. The farmer was lucky he hadn't built his house over it.
As far as I know, there were no home guard units anywhere near the fighting on July 30. Do you have names? If they were from Virginia, they would have likely been in either Mahone's Brigade or Wise's Brigade. Both Virginia brigades were present.My father's side of the family has a story of two boys who were lieutenants in the Confederate army and who were killed at the Battle of the Crater. I've tried to document the story but I just haven't found anything that fits what I have been told. I suspect that the best bet is that they were in a home guard unit from Portsmouth, VA, made up of old men and boys. I haven't found a roster for the unit or any discussion of who was in it. Apparently this unit did some actual fighting and proved itself in the eyes of the veterans in the regular army units. So, in my case the relatives, who were not direct ancestors, were killed in the fighting but it had no effect on me.
From what I remember from the VA regimental history series volume on the Battle of the Crater, the home guard unit was under the command of Col David A. Weisiger and came up from Portsmouth, VA. There was no roster for the unit. I don't know when it formed or what it was called, I'll have to go back and find the book again. It was the only place I saw that mentioned the unit, if I am recalling correctly. The two individuals were named Willie and Charlie Jones. They were supposed to be brothers and lieutenants in the Confederate army. They were also supposed to be named on a monument. So far I haven't found a monument or a unit roster with those two names together even if you ignore the rank. What I have found suggests two cousins who would have been about 15 and 16 at the time but there is no information connecting these cousins to the Confederate army, the Civil War, or even to our family line. I'd have to double check on that last item about evidence that they were connected to the family line. It was a while ago that I last did some research and I don't remember exactly what I decided on that.As far as I know, there were no home guard units anywhere near the fighting on July 30. Do you have names? If they were from Virginia, they would have likely been in either Mahone's Brigade or Wise's Brigade. Both Virginia brigades were present.
Weisiger commanded Mahone's Brigade at the Battle of the Crater. He was the first colonel of the 12th Virginia Infantry, and some former militia units made up portions of that regiment. The 12th Virginia was part of Mahone's Brigade at the Crater. I'd start by looking at the roster of the 12th Virginia to try to find these men. If that doesn't work, I'd look at the rosters for the rest of Mahone's Brigade:From what I remember from the VA regimental history series volume on the Battle of the Crater, the home guard unit was under the command of Col David A. Weisiger and came up from Portsmouth, VA. There was no roster for the unit. I don't know when it formed or what it was called, I'll have to go back and find the book again. It was the only place I saw that mentioned the unit, if I am recalling correctly. The two individuals were named Willie and Charlie Jones. They were supposed to be brothers and lieutenants in the Confederate army. They were also supposed to be named on a monument. So far I haven't found a monument or a unit roster with those two names together even if you ignore the rank. What I have found suggests two cousins who would have been about 15 and 16 at the time but there is no information connecting these cousins to the Confederate army, the Civil War, or even to our family line. I'd have to double check on that last item about evidence that they were connected to the family line. It was a while ago that I last did some research and I don't remember exactly what I decided on that.
I did come across a really good book on the battle, but I can't remember the title or author. I think I have it somewhere but I might have given it to my son to read a few years ago when I finished with it. I was very impressed because it discussed things about the military and actual behaviors during battle that were enlightening about the War in general and not just tied to this specific engagement. I would recommend the book without reservation, if I could remember what it was. I was also able to find on line, I believe, a listing of all of the graves and monuments at Blandford Church, which was just up the hill from the crater and, I believe, an objective to be taken during the attack. I didn't find the two soldiers, but I did find some relatives on my mother's side. One of them helped establish the church. I also found the information on the Confederate memorial in Portsmouth that was supposed to list every son of Portsmouth who died during the War, but I couldn't confirm their presence on that either. It might help if they had been older and had more unique names.
We know the operation was botched with horrible result for the soldiers engaged. My question is was the op a good idea or a bad idea . Didn't success depend on the confederate not detecting the mining and then counter mining.