A Charge as Gallant and Magnificent as any in this war: With the 45th Pennsylvania at the Crater

The combat that marked the July 30, 1864, fighting at the Battle of the Crater was noteworthy in part because of its intensity culminating in a rare instance of hand-to-hand combat. 

    Recalling the moment when the Federal assault began to fall apart, one veteran of the 45th Pennsylvania said "Before our boys were aware of it, a line of graybacks with fixed bayonets was upon us, the officers swinging their swords and calling out, “Surrender, you Yankee sons of b-!” They actually threw themselves upon our bayonets and a terrible hand to hand conflict commenced all along the line. Swords and pistols were used with good execution while personal encounters with the bayonet were frequent. The Rebel officers, by their coolness and daring, did more execution with their pistols than the men who seemed to care but little whether they fired or not. As we were found more with the Negroes, the Rebels did not hesitate to butcher some of the prisoners before our eyes, especially the officers, against whom they seemed to entertain a peculiar spite."

          The following account, penned by a survivor of Co. G, first saw publication in the August 17, 1864, edition of the Wellsboro Agitator.

 

"After the lapse of a few moments, a sheet of flame and dust, cannons, carriage wheels, pieces of timber, sandbags, and human beings arose from the Rebel fort. After quivering for a few seconds in midair, they fell back into the yawning chasm beneath. The shock was very great, jarring the earth for miles around and fearfully in the near vicinity," our correspondent noted. 

Before Petersburg, Virginia

August 5, 1864

          The apparent inactivity that for six long weeks has rested on the Army of the Potomac has at last been broken by the terrible din of battle and its attendant deplorable circumstances. Since the 18th of June, when the unsuccessful assault by our army on the Rebel lines proved that the enemy’s works were too formidable to be carried in that wat, General Grant determined to try the mining process.

          Accordingly, the fort in front of the position held by our brigade, being located on favorable ground, was chosen for the experiment and the work of digging commenced at once and in earnest. Up to the time of its completion, the miners belonging to the 48th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, under the supervision of Lieutenant Colonel [Henry] Pleasants of that regiment, were constant and indefatigable in their work. This accounts for the unusual picket firing which has been in progress along our front, its object being to keep the Johnnies from peeping over our breastworks and discovering the mine.

          Notwithstanding our vigilance, the matter leaked into the Rebel lines probably through some of the pickets of other parts of the line where firing had by mutual consent been suspended. Yet the Rebels were slow to believe that their fort could be blown up by any digging that Grant’s men could so and until the explosion took place, had strong faith in its failure. This they acknowledged after the battle.

          At 4:30 on the morning of the 30th of July, everything being ready, the troops consisting of the 9th Corps, supported by the 10th and 18th Corps, massed in front ready to take advantage of the breach and confusion which the explosion might produce in the Rebel line. The match was applied. After the lapse of a few moments, a sheet of flame and dust, cannons, carriage wheels, pieces of timber, sandbags, and human beings arose from the Rebel fort. After quivering for a few seconds in midair, they fell back into the yawning chasm beneath. The shock was very great, jarring the earth for miles around and fearfully in the near vicinity. Some of the videttes said that it actually caused them to turn somersaults in their pits. It is estimated that from 200-300 Rebels were buried in the ruins, some of whom afterward dug their way out with spoons, and many others were dug out by our pioneers and sent to the rear as prisoners.

          Simultaneously with the report of the explosion, our batteries opened with great vigor along the whole line and for a few minutes the cannonading was one continual roar from one end of the line to the other. It was some time before the Rebel batteries replied and then but feebly, evidently reserving their fire for closer work. As soon as the artillery opened, the infantry was ordered to charge into the breach.

The Crater

The First Division of our corps took the advance and rushed over the rifle pits into the breach with a wild hurrah amid a terrible shower of grape, canister, and musketry. They were followed by the Third, and subsequently by the Second divisions. Our brigade, having stood its tour of picket, was relieved and marched to the rear, we began to think that we were not to participate in the assault, but we were soon put at rest on that score by an order to move forward at once which we did, not stopping until we had passed all who had gone before and taken a position in a traverse beyond the captured fort.

The Fourth Division (colored) was then ordered forward to charge the works, which since our entrance into the fort had been pouring a destructive fire of shot and shell, grape and canister, and musketry into it, inflicting terrible carnage upon our massed battalions. At first, the charge of the Negroes was as steady and cool as that of veterans, but as they neared the works before them, a galling fire of musketry, grape, and canister into their ranks from front and both flanks was more than they could stand. The sable column wavered a moment and fell back; its support, the 10th Corps, giving away at the same time, when the Rebel infantry, which had been secretly massing in our front, charge upon the Negroes, turning their retreat into an ungovernable panic.

On they came, headlong over the white troops and into the fort- many not stopping until out of range of Rebel guns. This encouraged the enemy and before our boys were aware of it, a line of graybacks with fixed bayonets was upon us, the officers swinging their swords and calling out, “Surrender, you Yankee sons of bitches!” They actually threw themselves upon our bayonets and a terrible hand to hand conflict commenced all along the line. Swords and pistols were used with good execution while personal encounters with the bayonet were frequent.

The Rebel officers, by their coolness and daring, did more execution with their pistols than the men who seemed to care but little whether they fired or not. Many prisoners were made on both sides but in the confusion a majority of them were lost. Many of our boys surrendered themselves and afterward made their escape. As we were found more with the Negroes, the Rebels did not hesitate to butcher some of the prisoners before our eyes, especially the officers, against whom they seemed to entertain a peculiar spite. It is not supposed, however, that all their captives shared the same fate.

Captain [Theodore] Gregg [Co. F], commanding our regiment, was fiercely attacked by a Rebel officer when, seizing a pistol from the hand of his assailant, the captain knocked his adversary down and ran him through with his sword. Corporal [David] Bowen of our company took 8 prisoners, but in marching them to the rear in the confusion, lost them all but one. Instances of coolness and personal daring occurred in profusion but with all the valor displayed by the regiments of the 9th Corps, the confusion created by the colored division together with the pressure of the Rebel infantry in our front and the murderous enfilading fire from both flanks upon our huddled masses, soon made it apparent the day was lost.

 


"A large rebel officer, who appeared to be in command of the force, rushed upon me, and catching me by the throat, ordered me to surrender, at the same time bringing his revolver to my head. I succeeded in taking his revolver from him, and after a sharp struggle left him dead on the spot. A rebel soldier who had come to the rescue of his officer attempted to run me through with his bayonet, but was killed by Sergeant [David] Bacon of Company G. His sword was taken from him, but after a sharp contest he succeeded in recovering it and killing his antagonists." ~ Captain Theodore Gregg, Co. F, 45th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry


After having accomplished all that human endurance could stand, the line was withdrawn to the position we occupied before the assault. In the retreat from the fort we lost many men, the interval of about 100 yards being raked from both sides by Rebel batteries. Brigadier General [William Francis] Bartlett, commanding a brigade in the First Division, with between 100-200 men black and white, still remained in the fort. The general had an artificial leg which, in the melee, was broken rendering his escape impossible. [Bartlett had lost his leg at Yorktown in May 1862 while serving with the 20th Massachusetts; he was wounded twice at Port Hudson the following year while in the 49th Massachusetts] The little garrison still presented a bold front, keeping the enemy at bay until 2 p.m. when a final charge was made by the Rebels, capturing all who were in the ruins. Thus ended one of the bloodiest contests of the war. The ground between our lines and the destroyed fort was literally strewn with the dead and wounded who had to be abandoned in the retreat.

Our loss could not have been less than 2,000 killed, wounded, and missing, a large portion being Negroes against whom the Rebel artillery was chiefly directed. The loss of the enemy was, in all probability, fully equal to ours. Though nothing substantial save the destruction of the fort was gained, the mining proved a complete success and those acquainted with General Grant have reason to believe that what would have proved a brilliant success but for a combination of unfortunate circumstances will be repeated on a larger scale ere the siege of Petersburg is raised.

Some are inclined to throw the whole blame on the Negro troops. Had they kept their line intact instead of breaking into confusion, thereby endangering the whole line, the result might have been different but too much should not have been expected of them, green as they were, it being the first time that many of them had been under fire. Their charge at first was gallant and magnificent as any in this war, but once broken, their retreat became a panic, a irresistible as their advance but a moment before. No impartial judge who witnessed the pressure brought to bear against them, the terribly destructive range of the Rebel artillery, and the fierce onset which met them in front, will say that the disaster of the day was wholly attributable to the conduct of the Negroes, but rather poor generalship.

During the afternoon, we were relieved from the immediate front and marched into camp parched with heat and thirst, the clothes of many of the boys besmeared with blood and dirt, our ranks fearfully thinned, having left many comrades in the deadly breach and many more to drag out weary months in Southern prisons. Our regiment went in with less than 200 men and lost 67, including 7 commissioned officers killed, wounded, and missing. Co. G lost 7 out of 13. [Captain Gregg reported that he charged the Confederate works with 110 men.]

Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) Theodore Gregg
45th Pennsylvania

As night set in, the usual picket firing was resumed and save the terrible spectacle of the carnage in front of our corps where they fighting had been done, nothing indicated that a battle had been fought. On the following day, a flag of truce was sent in to the Rebel commander in order to bury the dead. It was so late, however, before the requisite formalities were got over that the truce was postponed to the next morning, the hours of 7-9 a.m. being designated.

At the appointed time, all firing between the pickets ceased and details with stretchers, picks, and shovels set to work. The flag of truce was planted midway between the lines in the midst of a group of officers of both armies who, a moment sooner, could have met but in mortal strife. The men were not allowed to pass beyond a certain limit except the details which, under a Rebel guard, were left to gather the dead wherever found. No arms or accouterments were permitted to be taken off the field by either party.

The ruins of the fort had been fixed up into a rifle pit and garrisoned with two lines of battle. Graybacks were as thick as bees on the parapets. Rebel officers of all grades from lieutenant general down to second lieutenant were strutting about, some in their shirtsleeves or careless undress, and others in full regimentals including big boots and gauntlet gloves. The men, as is usual with them, were variously dressed, mostly in gray, some decently, and others quite shoddily, none, however appeared to be suffering. The dignified bearing of the officers could not but be noticed while the promptness with which their orders were obeyed spoke well for discipline in the Rebel army.

The dead, as they laid in a row midway between the lines where a pit was being dug for their reception, presented a ghastly and sickening spectacle. All were alike swollen, full of maggots, and totally disfigured, while the stench filled the air for miles around. At 9 o’clock, the mournful task was hardly finished, but the truce had expired and those who for a few moments under the white flag had been friends were again mortal enemies. Both parties retreated to their respective lines of entrenchments and commenced popping away at each other as usual.

But little artillery firing has been in progress since the battle and chiefly on the part of the enemy. Last night, they gave us quite a shelling but did no harm beyond cutting down a few trees. Rumors are afloat about our corps being relieved from duty in the Potomac army but these are not credited. Having received no pay since our reenlistment, greenbacks are getting scarce with us but as sutlers are permitted to follow their regiments again, we are supplied with all the necessaries from that source.

          Captain Gregg, of whom honorable mention is made in the beginning of this letter, has been commissioned major of our regiment, the former major having died of wounds. Nothing further having been heard from the missing and no authentic information having been received of their meeting a worse fate, we naturally conclude that they are prisoners of war.

Sources:

Letter from Veteran, Co. G, 45th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, Wellsboro Agitator (Pennsylvania), August 17, 1864, pg. 1

Report of Captain Theodore Gregg, commanding 45th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), pages 553-556


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