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.
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.
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.
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.
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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