The Earth Seemed to Rock Beneath Me: A Blue and Gray View of the Crater

 "The first we heard was a low, rumbling sound and in looking up that way we could see human beings, timber, dirt, etc. ascending into the air, the fort being only one-half mile from us and in plain sight. Immediately after the explosion, the artillery from one end of the line to the other began such a cannonading as has not been heard since the siege of Vicksburg." ~ Sergeant Samuel Ransom, 150th Pennsylvania

    At first light on the morning of July 30, 1864, soldiers from the 48th Pennsylvania lit the fuse to an enormous mine that the men had dug beneath a portion of the Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia. The resulting explosion blew a ghastly hole 170 feet long, 100 feet wide, and more than 30 feet deep, killing nearly 300 Confederate troops outright. The Federals planned to storm the breach with General James Ledlie's entire division and thus break the siege of Petersburg. But the attack bogged down and the men charged into the crater instead of around it, giving time for the Confederates to rally and launch a counterattack that turned the battle into a bloody and demoralizing defeat for Grant's army. 

    Today's post examines the Battle of the Crater from the perspective of two veterans on opposite sides of the line: Lieutenant Martin L. Stevenson of Branch's North Carolina Artillery, commanded by Captain Henry G. Flanner, and Sergeant Samuel Ransom of the 150th Pennsylvania, the Bucktails. Both men witnessed the detonation of the mine and Stevenson's battery soon found itself with the perilous job of fending off the Federal attack that followed in the wake of the explosion. The 150th Pennsylvania remained in a reserve position which gave Ransom an opportunity to record the scenes of battle and the awful aftermath. Both accounts are reprinted from contemporary newspapers published in August 1864. 

 

Lieutenant Martin Stevenson of Branch's Artillery was awakened by the detonation of the Union mine just a few hundred yards from his bombproof. "The earth seemed to rock beneath me," the North Carolinian wrote but soon he and his battery were fighting for their lives against the Federal attack that came straight at his battery's position near the Gee House on the Jerusalem Plank Road. 

Letter from Second Lieutenant Martin L. Stevenson, Branch Artillery of North Carolina

Petersburg, Virginia

August 3, 1864

 

          As we have very lately been engaged in battle, I write to inform you that through the protection of kind Providence while many of our brave soldiers fell around me, I have again been spared. As the fight on the 30th was very different from any I ever saw before, I will give you some of the particulars.

          Our battery was in position on the Jerusalem Plank Road in the rear of our regular line of breastworks about 400 yards and about half a mile from Petersburg. On last Saturday morning about 5 o’clock I was awoken by the report of a tremendous explosion; the earth seemed to rock beneath me. I being left in command of the battery jumped out of my bombproof as quickly as possible and arousing the men, placed them around the different guns. Just in front of me I perceived a large volume of smoke arising and I soon found that the Yankees had sprung a mine under one of our batteries which was supported by infantry. As soon as the smoke cleared away, I saw that we were having a hand-to-hand encounter with the enemy in the breach made by the explosion.

Captain Henry G. Flanner's four-gun North Carolina battery occupied a position just to the north of the Gee House on the Jerusalem Plank Road. When the Federals charged over the Crater, Flanner's guns lit into them with charges of canister. General William Mahone soon rallied a counterattack that drove the Federals back and turned the battle into what one soldier called a "turkey shoot." 

          A large force was thrown through the opening and our men gave way to the right and left and the Yankees came marching down on our battery. Knowing I had no support, I perceived that we must fight and fight hard to save ourselves and perhaps the city as there were no troops between our battery and Petersburg. The Yankees were pouring through the breach and prisoners say they were surprised finding any force in the rear of our main line.

          Our guns all being loaded with canister as the enemy came out into line, we fired two rounds into them which so astonished them that those who were not killed or wounded broke and fled back to the works. Numbers of them threw down their arms and ran into our lines, among them many Negroes. They ran into my gun pits crying out “Massa, I haven’t done anything.” An old Negro ran up to me, showed me his cartridge box, and said he had not fired a shot. I examined and found one cartridge missing and that was in his gun. He said he was a slave; he may be a harmless creature, but our men say some of his comrades fought like dogs. Well, as soon as our battery broke their lines, the infantry took advantage of it and drove them from our works with slight loss to us but with great loss to the enemy. The Negroes were slaughtered on sight by our men and General William Mahone had to issue an order to stop the bloody work before they were all killed.

General William Mahone

          On Monday morning, a truce being granted the Yankees to bury their dead, I went down to the place where the explosion occurred and there was one of the most appalling and heart-rendering scenes I have ever witnessed. The chasm was about 75 yards in circumference and 40 feet deep. Some of our men were blown to pieces and others crushed to death, some entirely buried and some of their limbs protruding out of the earth. A party of men were digging out the dead bodies and others were standing around ready to recognize their friends as they were taken out. The two pieces of artillery in position here were thrown 30 feet outside our works, but two of the artillerymen were left alive.

I looked outside and saw a sight that convinced me that the Yankees had met a just retribution for the ground was literally covered with them. Four hundred of them were lying dead in the small space of half an acre. They carried off a good many dead while our battery was firing on them. Two men would take one dead one and drag him along. While they held our lines I threw shell and shrapnel into them, killing a great many. I saw afterwards some of their heads half off, others with the head off and lying ten feet from the trunk. This was certainly done by artillery and ours was the only battery playing on them. The Yankees admit a loss of 5,000 here while our loss was comparatively small.

The Negroes do not deserve our sympathy, but I can’t help feeling for the poor creatures as but few of them survive after their capture. But few white Yankees were engaged in the fight. I guess Grant will find that mining Lee’s army will not pay. While we were working our battery, five Yankee forts were firing on us though our works were so strong that not a man in the battery was killed or wounded. Our pits were struck often, and we were several times covered with dirt, but not one man flinched from duty.

I have written you this letter that you may see what part we took in the fight as I see no mention of us at all in the papers. North Carolina troops are seldom mentioned in Virginia papers except when they happen to make a failure. Ransom’s North Carolina brigade was the first to retake any of our works. General Pendleton, the chief of artillery of this army, complimented us on our firing. Whether we saved Petersburg or not, it is certain that there was no force between us and the city, and the Yankees were charging us when we broke their lines.

M.

 

 

This iconic image from the Photographic History of the Civil War depicts the camp of the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers in April 1863. The 150th was the third Pennsylvania regiment called the Bucktails and the men wore a distinctive bucktail fastened to their caps. Sergeant Samuel Ransom witnessed the Battle of the Crater from a reserve position only a half mile away. 

Letter from Sergeant Samuel C. Ransom, Co. D, 150th Pennsylvania


Fort Tilton near Petersburg, Virginia

August 2, 1864

          We had quite a time here on the 30th of July. At 1 a.m. we were awakened and ordered to take down tents preparatory to a siege which was to commence by blowing up a fort in front of the 9th Corps at 3 a.m. But for some reason, it was put off until 4:30 a.m. The first we heard was a low, rumbling sound and in looking up that way we could see human beings, timber, dirt, etc. ascending into the air, the fort being only one-half mile from us and in plain sight. Immediately after the explosion, the artillery from one end of the line to the other began such a cannonading as has not been heard since the siege of Vicksburg. The Rebs to the left of the Jerusalem Plank Road did not fire. To the right of it and near the fort that was blown up, they kept up a slow fire by sharpshooters. But the 121st and 142nd Pennsylvania regiments were acting as sharpshooters and when one of them showed his head several bullets were sent at him.

          Fort Tilton’s armament consists of six 32-pounders, four 12-pounders, and four 10-pound rifled cannon. There are embrasures for 19 guns in all. Immediately after the explosion, it was followed by a charge of the 9th Corps. They carried the works and took some prisoners and artillery. The enemy made three charges on the 9th Corps and in the third succeeded in driving our boys back to where they started. This took place about 3 p.m. The Negroes were engaged in the fight. Our loss was considerable but that of the enemy was more than ours. The dead and wounded were left on the field.

General Ambrose E. Burnside

Sunday morning General Burnside sent in a flag of truce asking leave to remove the wounded and bury the dead that lay between the lines. It was not granted until Monday morning. All this time, our wounded lay in the scorching sun which was so hot that we could hardly stand it without being wounded. In this time, the Rebs had given our white men water but none to the wounded blacks. They made the blacks that they had taken prisoner bury our white soldiers that lay below their breastworks and carry all the blacks over in front of them between the two lines and lay them all in a row for our boys to bury.

It has been very quiet here since the fight, the Rebs not daring to open on us for fear of our rifled 32-pounders. There was not one man wounded in our brigade as I can learn. It is supposed that they are undermining the fort that we are in, but measures are being taken to foil this attempt. Florida men continue to come in whenever they are on picket. Here’s one of the notes sent to me by one of the Florida boys:

Mr. Yank, dear friend,

          I write you this to let you know that we have orders prohibiting our trading or communicating in any way with you, but in this bundle, you will find two pieces of tobacco that I wish to exchange for a good canteen and haversack. If you wish to exchange, just bring them halfway and leave them and I will get them.

Your friend,

Reb

          The paymaster is here and is paying off our brigade today. It makes us feel good to see a greenback having seen nothing but graybacks for some time.

 Samuel C. Ransom, Co. D, 150th Pa. Vols. 


Sources:

Letter from Sergeant Samuel Cortright Ransom, Co. D, 150th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Union County Star & Lewisburg Chronicle (Pennsylvania), August 12, 1864, pg. 2

Letter from Second Lieutenant Martin Luther Stevenson, Branch’s North Carolina Battery (Co. F, 13th North Carolina Battalion-Light Artillery), Wilmington Journal (North Carolina), August 18, 1864, pg. 1

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