^-^THE^-^ 
 
 LE OF THE CRATER 
 
 N PR0NT 0F PETERSBURG. 
 
 JULY 30, 1864. 
 
 A Memorable Day In History, 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 Delivered Before the A. P. Hill Camp of Confederate Veter- 
 ans, Petersburg, Va., in that City, on the 24th of 
 June, 1890, by Comrade Geo. S. Bernard. 
 
 Published by A. P. Hill Camp, C. V., the proceeds to be applied 
 towards the erection of a Monument to General A. P. Hill. 
 
 For Sale by T. S, BECKWITH & CO., Booksellers, 
 
 PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA. 
 PRICE, 15 CENTS." 
 
 Petersburg Index-Appeal Presses. 
 
[The following from the Rural Messenger, (Petersburg, Va.), of July 19, 1890, 
 is selected from several favorable press notices descriptive of this pamphlet:] 
 
 " THE BATTLE OP THE CRATER." 
 
 " We have received, with the compliments of the author, Geo. 
 S. Bernard, Esq., of Petersburg-, a pamphlet copy of an address de- 
 livered by him before the A. P. Hill Camp of .Confederate Veterans, 
 of that city, on June 24th, 1890. The address covers eighteen double 
 columns of closely printed matter reciting the author's individual 
 •impressions as a participant in that memorable action, supplement 
 ed by liberal quotations from other sources. 
 
 " We had read the thrilling account with absorbing interest as it 
 first appeared in the Dally Index- Appeal ', and look upon it as an 
 exceedingly valuable contribution to the history of that ever to be re- 
 membered war day, July 30th, 1864, when the Federals exploded 
 their mine under the Confederate works, and produced that horrible 
 hell-hole that is destined be known on the pages of history as 'The 
 Crater.' Comrade Bernard was one of that gallant band, of Confed- 
 erates who recaptured the broken section, and restored Lee's line. 
 His graphic account of what he saw and heard and felt on that oc- 
 casion must vividly recall,to all those who participated in that death- 
 struggle, scenes and events now perhaps fading from the memory, 
 but which time's wearing touch can never quite efface. Every old 
 soldier ought to have a copy, to refresh his memory as to how 
 men fought and died then in defense of the right; and every son of 
 a soldier should read it, to imbue his mind with an adequate sense 
 of the duty of devotion to one's country." 
 
 ALBEMARLE HOTEL. 
 
 Centrally Located. Newly fitted up. Guides and Convey- 
 ances furnished at moderate rates to those wishing to 
 visit the Battlefields and other points of interest. 
 
 FBEEH4X W. JOZIES, 
 
 Proprietor. 
 
 PYLE & DeHAVEN, 
 
 Real Estate Agents 
 
 AND LAND BEOKEES, 
 
 Also, Agents of -Virginia Immigration Society. 
 
 OFFICE, NO. 1 MECHANICS BUiLDING, TABB ST., NEAB POST OFFICE, 
 
 IPIETiEIR-SIBTJ'IR.O-, ^7~J±. 
 
 JQp'Great Bargains in Farms, Timber Land, and Mineral Land. 
 
 Write for Circulars Containing Description. Sent Free. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE CRATER. 
 
 ttjjltz' 30 7 iee4- 
 
 LE DAY IN HISTORY, 
 
 j^nsr .ajdidie^ikiss 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE A. P. HILL CAMP OF CONFEDERATE 
 
 VETERANS, OF PETERSBURG, VA., IN THAT CITY, ON THE 
 
 24TH OF JUNE, 1890, BY COMRADE GEO. S. BERNARD. 
 
 Comrades : It was my fortune as a 
 member of the Petersburg Riflemen, Com- 
 pany E, 12 th Virginia infantry, Gen. 
 Wm. Mahone's brigade, to take part in 
 the memorable engagement known as 
 "The Battle of the Crater," and it is now 
 proposed to give some account of the ac- 
 tion — to tell a war story from the stand- 
 point of a high private in the rear rank, 
 supplementing information within my 
 personal knowledge with some material 
 drawn from other sources believed to be 
 reliable, this being necessary to a proper 
 understanding of what will be told. 
 
 On Saturday morning, the 30th of 
 July, 1864, when the mine under the 
 angle in the Confederates works around 
 Petersburg known as "Elliott's salient" 
 was exploded, blowing up, or burying 
 under the debris of earth and timber, be- 
 tween two hundred and fifty and three 
 hundred officers and men occupying the 
 works at this point, making therein a 
 huge chasm described in the report of the 
 Committee on the Conduct of the War as 
 "from 150 to 200 feet in length, about 
 60 in width, and from 25 to 30 feet in 
 depth, and aptly called "a crater," from 
 its resemblance to the mouth of a vol- 
 cano, Mahone's brigade was occupying 
 the breastworks on the Wilcox farm im- 
 mediately south of our city, say, about a 
 point which would be reached by a pro- 
 longation of Adams street. The site of 
 the "Crater," as is well known to proba- 
 bly all now present, is east of the Jerusa- 
 
 lem plank road and about a half mile 
 south-east from Blandford cemetery, be- 
 ing located a short distance beyond our 
 city limits in the county of Prince George 
 on the farm of Mr. T. R. Griffith. 
 
 Some time during the night preceding 
 the explosion, our brigade received or- 
 ders to be "ready to move at a mo- 
 ment's warning," which, of course, indi- 
 cated that something was expected re- 
 quiring a movement of the command. 
 
 It was well understood that the enemy 
 were mining somewhere on our line, but 
 exactly at what point was not known. 
 A' countermine was made by the Con- 
 federates several hundred yards to the 
 right of the Crater, near the point at 
 which the Confederate breastworks cross 
 the Jerusalem plank road, as may be 
 seen at this time. At the Elliott salient 
 a countermine was begun, but was aban- 
 doned for want of proper tools. 
 
 The explosion took place between day- 
 break and sunrise (4:44 A. M. was the 
 exact time), and the impression made 
 upon those hearing it may be likened to 
 that of the nearly simultaneous discharge 
 of several pieces of artillery. The con- 
 cussion of the atmosphere was unusual. 
 We were all soon in the breastworks. 
 Something extraordinary we knew had 
 happened. Soon a report came down 
 the line from the direction of the scene 
 of action that a mine had been exploded 
 and a part of our works blown up and 
 was occupied by the enemy. 
 
A little after six o'clock, when the 
 Crater had been in the enemy's posession 
 for more than an hour, a staff officer 
 rides rapidly past us; General Mahone's 
 headquarters, which were at the Branch 
 House, just west of the Wilcox farm, is 
 the point of destination of this staff- 
 officer, who is Colonel Chas. S. Veuable, 
 aide-de camp to General Lee. Colonel 
 Venableis bearing a message to General 
 Mahone who was then, as he had been 
 since the wounding of General Long- 
 street at the battle of the Wilderness, in 
 command of Anderson's division, which 
 was compu.-ed of the brigades of General 
 Wm. Mahone (Virginians), General A. R.. 
 Wright (Georgians), General J. C. C. 
 Saunders (Alabamians), General N. H. 
 Harris (Missi^sippians), and General 
 Joseph Finnegan (Floridians). 
 
 The message borne to General Mahone 
 is to send at once two of his brigades to 
 the support of General Bushrod it. John- 
 son, who commanded that part of the 
 Confederate lines embracing the works 
 now in the enemy's hands. 
 
 Very soon, under orders received, the 
 men of Mahone's brigade of Virginians 
 and Wright's brigade of Georgians began 
 to drop back from their places in the 
 breastworks, one by one, into the corn- 
 field immediately in their rear, and when 
 they were well out of sight of the „ ene- 
 my, theline was formed and the two brig- 
 ades marched to the Ragland House,* 
 were there halted and the men were di- 
 rected to divest themselves of knapsacks, 
 blankel-iolls and other baggage; an order 
 which to the veteran plainly bespoke se- 
 rious work and that in the near future. 
 
 In a written statement made by Col. 
 Venable in 1872, referring to the carry- 
 ing of the message from Gen. Lee to Gen. 
 Mahone, he says : 
 
 "Be sent me directly to Gen. .Mahone, (say- 
 ing that to save time the order need not be 
 sent through Gen. A. P. Hill,) with the re- 
 quest that he would send, at once, two of the 
 brigades of his division to the assistance of 
 Gen. Johnson. I rode rapidly to Gen. Ma- 
 hone's line, and delivered my message. He 
 immediately gave orders to the commanders 
 of the Virginia and Georgia brigades to move 
 
 * The fagland House stood on the west side 
 of the plank road and on the south side of 
 New road, some three or four hundred yards 
 in front of the present residence of Mr. Jno. 
 J. Cocke. 
 
 to the salient and report to Gen. Johnson. 
 The troops moved promptly, the Virginia brig- 
 ade (Gen. Weisiger) in front. We rode on to- 
 gether, at the head of the column, Gen. Ma- 
 hone giving instructions to his officers and in- 
 quiring as to the condition of things at the 
 salient. « hen we reached the peach orchard, 
 in rear of the Ragland House, noticing that 
 the men were encumbered with their knap- 
 sacks, he halted the column, and caused both 
 brigades to put themselves in battle trim. 
 \v bile the men were throwing aside their 
 knapsacks, he turned to me and said, 'I can't 
 send my brigades to Gen. Johnson,— I will go 
 witb them myself.' He then moved the col- 
 umn towards the opening of the covered way. 
 which led to the Crater salient. I left him at 
 this point, to report to Gen. Lee, who mean 
 time, had come to the front. I found trim sit- 
 ting with Ger. Hill, among the men in the 
 lines, at a traverse near the River salient. 
 v\ hen I told him of the delivery of the mes- 
 sage, and that Gen Mahone had concluded to 
 lead the two brigades himself, he expressed 
 gratification." 
 
 Leaving the Ragland house we marched 
 along the edge of the hills skirting Lieu- 
 tenant Run to New Road, or Hickory 
 street, and entered this road a hundred 
 or two more yards east of the bridge, 
 then marched westwardly to within a few 
 yards of the bridge over this run and 
 then filed northwardly down the ravine 
 on the east side of the run to Hannon's 
 (now Jackson's) old ice pond, here en- 
 tered a military foot path leading along 
 the pond eastward to the head of the pond, 
 thence filed eastwardly up a ravine along 
 the same military foot path to the Jeru- 
 salem plank road. We are now at a 
 point a few feet from the southwestern 
 corner of the Jewish cemetary of today, 
 and the position of the foot path in this 
 ravine along which we came is yet plainly 
 marked. 
 
 At the plank road we are halted and 
 countermarch by regiments, thereby 
 placing each regiment with its left in 
 front. Here we see on the roadside Gen. 
 Mahone, with other officers, dismounted, 
 their horses standing near by. Mahone 
 had then reported to Gen. Beauregard at 
 the headquarters of Gen. Johnson, which 
 were at the old house which until a few 
 years ago stood on the crest of the hill a 
 short distance northwest from the north- 
 west corner of Blandford cemetery and 
 near the road leading southwardly 
 up the hill to the cemetary. It -was now 
 about half past eight o'clock, and the 
 enemy were just as they had been for 
 nearly four hours, in quiet occupation of 
 
tlie crater, with about oue hundred aud 
 fifty yards of our breastworks to the 
 south and some two hundred yards of 
 these works to the north of the Crater, 
 reaching down to the foot of the hill on 
 the north side. To these limits on either 
 side the Confederates occupying the lines 
 north and south of the Crater confined 
 them. 
 
 Gen. Mabone, having had the regiments 
 countermarch at the Jerusalem plank 
 road, goes ahead along the covered way 
 leading directly across the road, south- 
 eastward^ to the ravine in rear and west 
 of the Confederate works *iow occupied 
 by the enemy. Ascending the little 
 knoll at the point where the ravineis en- 
 tered by another smaller ravine or gully, 
 into which the zig-zag covered way led 
 and terminated, he sees the Confederate 
 works rilled to overflowing with Federal 
 troops, and, counting eleven regimental 
 flags, estimates the Federal force in pos- 
 session as at least 3.00U men. The situa- 
 tion is an extremely grave one. His own 
 little force of two brigades then ap- 
 proaching in the covered way, if assailed 
 in this position, would be inevitably cut 
 to pieces and destroyed. So Mahone 
 orders Courier J. H. Blakemore to go at 
 once back aud bring up the Alabama 
 brigade (Saunders') to come by the same 
 route which the Virginia and Georgia 
 brigades had taken. 
 
 Whilst Gen. Mahone is at the knoll 
 surveying the enemy and arranging for 
 the attack, we are cautiously approach- 
 ing the ravine along the covered way. 
 At the angles, where the enemy could see 
 a moving column with ease, the men are 
 ordered to run quickly by, one man at a 
 time; which was done for the double pur- 
 pose of concealing the approach of a 
 body of troops and of lessening the dan- 
 ger of passing rifle balls at these exposed 
 points. 
 
 I should have mentioned that there was 
 constant shelling as we moved along our 
 route from the breastworks at Wilcox's 
 farm, but we were well protected by the 
 • shelter of intervening hills. As we 
 passed the Hannon pond, I remember 
 seeing a solid shot, or shell, fired from 
 one of the enemy's guns descend into the 
 8n* 
 
 water but a few feet from our moving 
 line. 
 
 Arriving at the ravine, we found Gen. 
 Mahone standing near the mouth of the 
 gully into which the covered way led 
 and along which we were filing into the 
 ravine, now and then exchanging a word 
 of encouragement with some passing offi- 
 cer or man in the ranks.* 
 
 In this ravine are some artillery men, 
 with one or more mortars in position, 
 and I have a strong impression that I saw 
 skirting the slope of the hill a slight, line 
 of breastworks which looked as if it had 
 been made that morning for temporary 
 shelter by men working with their bayo- 
 nets. 
 
 Soon the line of battle is formed ; the 
 12th Virginia on the left of the brigade, 
 the 6th Virginia on the right, the bri- 
 gade sharp-shooters on the right of the 
 6 th. The middle regiments were the 
 16th, the 41st and 61st, the 61st being 
 the center regiment. 
 
 On the field today may be seen a tree 
 that marks the position of the right of 
 this line of battle. 
 
 The line formed, we advanced some 
 twenty yards up the slope of the hill and 
 lie flat on our faces. In this position we 
 are concealed from the view of the ene- 
 my, now two hundred yards in our front. 
 
 Our brigade is under the command of 
 Col. D. A. Weisiger, colonel of the 12th, 
 whilst the 12th is commanded by Capt. 
 Richard W. Jones, the 6th by Col. Geo. 
 T. Rogers, the 16th by Capt. L. R. Kil- 
 by, the 41st by Major Wm. H. Ethe- 
 ridge and the 61st by Lieut. Col. Wm. 
 H. Stewart. The sharp-shooters are 
 •commanded by Capt. Wallace Broadbent. 
 A few minutes after we take the recum- 
 bent position, Capt. Drury A. Hinton, 
 acting aid-de-camp to Col. Weisiger, 
 walks along the line and directs the regi- 
 mental officers to instruct their men to 
 reserve their fire until the enemy are 
 
 *"Filing down the reinforcing ditch that ran 
 perpendicular to the works," says Lieut. W. 
 A.S.Taylor, adjutant of the 61st Virginia regi- 
 ment, in a statement made July 16, 1880, "I saw 
 Gen. Mahone at the angle formed by this ditch 
 and the one that ran parallel to the works. As 
 we filed to the right he made some encourag- 
 ing remarks, adding 'Give them the bayo- 
 net 1 ". 
 
 
4 
 
 reached. As soon as Captain Hint on 
 passed down the line Captain Jones step- 
 ped out in front of us, as we lay on the 
 ground, and, with great coolness of man- 
 ner, said : "Men, you are called upon to 
 eharge and recapture our works, now in 
 the hands of the enemy. They are only 
 about one hundred yards distant. The 
 enemy can fire but one volley before the 
 works are reached. At the command 
 'forward' every man is expected . to rise 
 and move forward at a double-quick and 
 with a yell. Every man is expected to 
 do his duty." 
 
 This short address, delivered under the 
 gravest of circumstances, wasimpiessive 
 in the extreme, and well calculated to 
 nerve up the men to do their best work. 
 The words and manner of the speaker 
 sank deep in my memory. 
 
 How Captain Jones came to deliver 
 this address is explained in a letter writ- 
 ten by him to General Mahone from Ox- 
 ford, Miss., under date of January 3rd, 
 1877: 
 
 '"On getting my regiment in position in 
 the ravine your courier delivered me a 
 message to report to you at the right 
 of the brigade. I went immediately, walk- 
 ing in front of the brigade, and found all of 
 the other regimental commanders before you 
 when I arrived. At that moment you gave 
 the order to have the Georgia brigade moved 
 up rapidly to its position on the right of the 
 Virginia brigade, and then turning to the of- 
 ficers you delivered a stirring address to this 
 effect: 'The enemy have our works. The line 
 of men which we have here is the only bar- 
 rier to the enemy's occupying the city of Pe- 
 tersburg. There is nothing to resist his ad- 
 vance. Upon us devolves the duty of driving 
 him from his strong position in our front and 
 re-establishing the Confederate lines. "We 
 must carry his position immediately by as- 
 saulting it. If we don't carry it byithe firstjat- 
 tack we shall renew the attack as long as there 
 is a man of us left or until the works are ours. 
 Much depends upon prompt, vigorous, simul- 
 taneous movements.' I do not profess to give 
 your words, but your address and orders were 
 given with such peculiar emphasis and under 
 such impressive circumstances that the senti- 
 ments were indelibly inscribed on my mind. I 
 at once placed myself in front of my command 
 and had bayonets fixed, I explained to them 
 the character of our work and perilous posi- 
 tion of our army." 
 
 "The works are only one hundred 
 yards distant," said Capt. Jones : a for 
 
 tunate mistake. They were, in point of 
 ftct, two hundred yards distant.* 
 
 "The enemy can fire but one volley 
 before the works are reached. " A timely 
 reminder was this, as, whilst advising 
 the men of the gravity of the situation, 
 it warned them of the great import- 
 ance of a quick movement towards the 
 foe.f 
 
 Let me here mention all incident : 
 Lying next on my right was a young 
 friend, Emmet Butts, a member of the 
 bar of our city. His proper position was 
 on my left. Having a superstitious be- 
 lief that the • safest place for a man in 
 battle is generally his proper place, I said 
 to my friend, "Emmet, suppose we 
 change places ? I am in yours, and you 
 in mine." "Certainly," was his reply, 
 with a pleasant smile, and we then 
 changed places. I never saw the poor 
 fellow alive afterwards. Soon after 
 reaching the works he fell, his forehead 
 pierced with a minnie ball. 
 
 Immediately after Captain Jones de- 
 livered his address the expected com- 
 mand "forward" was given — by whom I 
 could not of my personal knowledge say. 
 Each man sprang to his feet, and moved 
 forward, as commanded, at a double- 
 quick, and with a yell. 
 
 The line was about 100 yards in length 
 when it started forward, but with the 
 men moving at slightly different paces 
 and lengthening out a little on the right 
 as the right regiments and sharp-shooters 
 obliqued to the right towards the crater, 
 before we were half across the field, the 
 line had probably lengthened a hundred 
 or two feet, and widened to twenty feet 
 
 *For twenty-three years my impression 
 and belief was that the works were about one 
 hundred yards distant. In June of 1888 I 
 visited the ground and carefully noted it. To 
 my amazement I discovered that the distance 
 was double what I would have sworn it was. 
 So surprised was I at this discovery I asked 
 several of my comrades who were in the 
 charge what was their recollection as to the 
 distance, and found that several of them, like 
 myself, thought the distance only 100 yards. 
 
 + Captain Jones, afterwards major of the 
 12th, having received a copy of this portion of 
 this address, writes as follows : "I think you 
 give the substance of my orders except that I 
 charged them (my command) specially to fix 
 bayonets and not to stop to fire a gun until we 
 were at the works." 
 
or more, and the men thus moving for- 
 ward with open ranks, no spectacle of 
 war could well have been more inspirit- 
 ing than the impetuous charge of this 
 column of veterans, every man of whom 
 appreciated the vital importance of get- 
 ting to the works and closing with the 
 enemy in the quickest possible time, every 
 man feeling that to halt or falter for a 
 moment on the way was fatal. 
 
 The charge was probably as splendid 
 as any of which history has made record. 
 Just as we were well over the brow of 
 the hill, I cast my eyes to the right, and 
 I will ever carry a vivid impression of 
 the rapid,but steady and beautiful, move- 
 ment of the advancing line of some 8O4) 
 men — the greater part of whom, being to 
 my right, were within the range of my 
 vision — as our five Virginia regiments, 
 their five battle-flags, borne by as many 
 gallant color-bearers, floating in the 
 bright sunlight of that July morning, and 
 the battalion of sharp-shooters double- 
 quicked across the field they were uncon- 
 sciously making famous. 
 
 A Federal soldier thus describes the 
 charge : 
 
 "The second brigade had hardly raised their 
 heads when the cry broke out from our men, 
 'The rebels are charging-. Here they come.' 
 Looking to the front 1 saw a splendid line of 
 gray coming up the ravine on the run. Their 
 left was nearly up to the bomb-proofs, and 
 their line extended off into the smoke as far 
 as we could see. They were coming, and com- 
 ing with a rusb. We all saw that they were 
 going straight for the second brigade." See 
 address of Lieut. Freeman S. Bowley, deliv- 
 ered Movember 6, 1889, before the California 
 commandery of the Loyal Legion of the 
 United States. 
 
 Getting within ten paces of the ends 
 of the little ditches or traverses, which 
 led out perpendicularly from the main 
 trench of our breastworks some ten or 
 fifteen paces, to. my surprise I saw a ne- 
 gro soldier setting up from a recumbent 
 position on the ground near my feet. He 
 was the first colored soldier I ever saw, 
 and this was my first knowledge of the 
 fact that negro troops were before us. I 
 had not then fired my rifle, and I might 
 easily have killed this man, but regard- 
 ing him as a prisoner I had no disposition 
 to hurt him. Looking then directly 
 ahead of me, within thirty feet of where 
 I stood, I saw in the trench of the breast- 
 works crowds of men, white and black, 
 
 with arms in their hands, as closely 
 jammed and packed together as ^e some 
 times see pedestrians on the crowded 
 sidewalk of a city, and seemingly in 
 great confusion and alarm. I distinctly 
 noticed the countenances and rolling eyes 
 of the terror-stricken negroes. I par- 
 ticually noticed in the hands of one of 
 the frightened creatures the new silk of 
 a large and beautiful stand of colors, the 
 staff swaying to and fro as the color- 
 bearer, his eyes fixed in terrified gaze at 
 his armed adversaries, was being pushed 
 and j' stled by his comrades. With my 
 gun still loaded I might have fired into 
 this mass of men, but I regarded these 
 also as practically our prisoners. Cast- 
 ing my eyes upon the ground over and 
 beyond the brestworks — east of them I 
 mean — I there saw large numbers of the 
 enemy retreating to their own brestworks. 
 Many, however, were taking shelter be- 
 hind, that is, on the east side, or out side, 
 of our breastworks, as I could see from 
 the tops of their caps, just over the 
 parapet. Into a squad of those I saw 
 retreating to their own works I fired my 
 rifle, and not stopping to note the dam- 
 age done by my shot, or to enquire who 
 was thereby hurt, I jumped into one of 
 the little ditches leading out from the 
 main trench. This ditch was about as 
 deep as I was high and about eighteen 
 inches wide. Proceeding down it to- 
 wards the trench, or main ditch, I was 
 suddenly confronted by a negro soldier at 
 the other end of it, standing with his 
 gun pointed towards me at "a ready," 
 and looking me in the face with a grin 
 on his. 
 
 As may be imagined, I was now in 
 quite a predicament. What should I 
 do? Shoot the fellow I could not 
 — my gun, having been just fired, 
 was empty. Bayonet him I could not, 
 as I had no bayonet on my gun. I had 
 lost my bayonet at the battle of the Wil- 
 derness, and glad of having done so, as I 
 was thus lawfully relieved of that much 
 weight on a march, I had never bothered 
 myself about getting another, never hav- 
 ing expected to get close enough to an 
 armed enemy to need < it. Nor could I 
 club this man — the narrowness of the 
 
ditch prevented. Nor could I turn my 
 back upon him with safety. But there 
 was a protecting hand to save me. Just 
 in front of me, and to my right, was a 
 large recess in the earth, perpendicular 
 to the little ditch in which I stood and 
 parallel to the main ditch or trench, large 
 enough for a horse to stand in, say, eight 
 feet in length, four in width and of the 
 same depth with the little ditch. Into 
 this recess, by a rapid stride to my front 
 and right, I made my way and there load- 
 ed my rifle in the quickest possible time — 
 no muzzle-loader was ever loaded in less 
 time. I was now less than five feet from 
 a trench full of Federal soldiers with arms 
 in their hands, and was in a position 
 critical and perilous in the extreme. 
 
 Just as I got into this place, I discov- 
 ered near me, at my feet, a negro soldier, 
 who immediately began to most earnestly 
 beg me not to kill him. "Master, don't 
 kill me ! Master, don't kill me ! I'll be 
 your slave as long as I live. Don't kill me !" 
 he most piteously cried, whilst I was rap- 
 idly loading my gun and he doubtless 
 supposed that its next shot was intended 
 for himself "Old man, I do not intend 
 to kill you, but you deserve to be killed," 
 was my reply. I addressed him as ' 'old 
 man, " as he was apparently over the mil- 
 itary age, and to my then young eyes 
 seemed old. All the time he was begging 
 for his life he was cringing at my feet. 
 As soon as I assured him I did not projDose 
 to molest him, he began to vigo- 
 rously fan a poor wounded Confederate 
 soldier, doubtless one of Elliott's men 
 who held the breastworks at the time of 
 the explosion, lying on his back appa- 
 rently in extremis. I thought he 
 was dying. Manifestly the old 
 negro's idea was that this attention to the 
 helpless Confederate would serve to pro- 
 tect him against other in coming Confed- 
 erates. 
 
 In the absence of evidence as to his 
 identity, it cannot be positively affirmed 
 that this old fellow was not the ex- 
 preacher referred to by Lieut. Bowley in 
 his address before the California com- 
 mandery of the Loyal Legion of the 
 United States in the following para- 
 graph : 
 
 'Among the sergeants of my company was 
 one, John H. Offer, by name, who had been a 
 preacher on the eastern shore of Maryland. 
 He exerted great influence over the men, and 
 he deemed the occasion a fitting one to offer 
 some remarks, and, assuming his "Sunday 
 voice,' he beaan: 
 
 "Now men, dis am gwine to be a gret fight. 
 de gretest we seen yet; gret things is 'pending 
 on dis fight: if we takes Petersburg, mos' 
 likely we'll take Richmond, and 'stroy Lee's 
 army an' close de wah. Eb'ry man had orter 
 lift' up his soul in pra'r for a strong heart. Oh, 
 'member de pore colored peope ober dere in 
 bondage; oh, 'member dat Gineral Grant, and 
 Gineral Burnside, and General Meade, an' all 
 de gret giuerals is right ober yander a watch- 
 in' ye, and 'member de white soldiers is a 
 watchin' ye, an' 'member dat T&e a watchin 1 
 ye, and any skulker is a gwine to get prod ob 
 dis bayonet; you heah me!' " 
 
 About the time I got my rifle loaded. 
 Comrade John R. Turner, the esteemed 
 afljutant of our camp, then a member of 
 my company, came into the recess, and 
 certainly one and possibly two other Con- 
 federates.* 
 
 Ready now to give the enemy a shot, 
 I looked around the corner towards the 
 place near the intersection of the ditch 
 with the trench where I saw the fellow 
 who pointed his gun and grinned at me, 
 but he was not to be seen. All I could 
 see in this direction were the ends of 
 rifles and bayonets held by men in the 
 trench concealed from my view by the 
 angle of the treuch and small ditch. 
 Whilst I was making this observation, a 
 Federal soldier in the irench near this 
 angle fired his gun, and its muzzle was 
 close enough to the dry eartheu angle to 
 make the dust rise in the air as the wind 
 of the exploding rifle- charge knocked 
 away a part of the sharp corner of the 
 trench and ditch at this aocrle. 
 
 *My impression has always been that Ser- 
 geant W. W. Tayleure (of whom hereafter) 
 was one of the other Confederates. iSmce this 
 paragraph was written. Sergeant Tayleure 
 (now a resident of Brooklyn, N. Y.) has vis- 
 ited Petersburg and informed me that my im- 
 pression was correct, as he distinctly recollects 
 the old negro's vigorous fanning of the 
 wounded Confederate as the latter would say 
 to him. "Damn you, fan me fast," and the old 
 fellow would reDly, "yes. sir — yes, sir;" from 
 the use of which language by the wounded 
 Confederate we may safely infer that he was 
 not as near death's door as for over twenty- 
 five years I believed him to have been, but it 
 is to be hoped that he is today somewhere in 
 this world alive and in sound health. Strange 
 to say. Sergeant Tayleure has no recollection 
 of seeing either Comrade Turner or myself in 
 this recess, nor does Comrade Turner recollect 
 seeing Sergeant Tayleure, the wounded Con- 
 federate or the old negro. 
 
Finding in this direction nothing at 
 which to shoot, although only a wall of 
 some five feet intervened oetween the 
 place where I stood and a ditch full of 
 men in blue, I stood tip-toe and looked 
 eastward towards the ground beyond our 
 breastworks. Here I saw numbers of 
 the eDemy crowdiag behind the outer 
 or eastward part of our works apparently 
 three or four deep, the tops of their caps 
 only being visible, and there were at the 
 same time others of the enemy retreat- 
 ing across the open field between our 
 works and theirs, and at these I fired 
 this, my second shot, and again re- 
 loaded. 
 
 About this time a conference took 
 place between Comrade Turner and my- 
 self as to the propriety of remaining in 
 the place where we then stood. The 
 suggestion was made that we fall back to 
 our line, I mean that part of it repre- 
 sented by the Petersburg Riflemen, all or 
 the greater part of whom, we believed, 
 were standing or lying at or near the 
 ends of the ditches leading out from the 
 trench. We agreed, however, that whilst 
 we were in a very dangerous position, it 
 was our safest. Besides ihis, a back- 
 ward movement, by even as few as two 
 men, might have started others, perhaps 
 the whole line, to falling back. So we 
 concluded to remain where we were. 
 Had we attempted to fall back, we would 
 have gone from a position in which we 
 were comparatively safe (unless our 
 whole line had been beaten back) to one 
 of great danger, and would probably 
 have lost our lives. 
 
 Both of us now fired several shots from 
 this place, probably four or five. I then 
 thought I would take an enfilading fire at 
 the enemy in the trench to my right, who 
 wtre in plain view, there being an angle 
 in the breastworks to our right, the re- 
 cess in which Comrade Turner and my- 
 self stood being so located as to enable 
 us, when on tip-toe, to look southeast- 
 wardly down the trench towards the Cra- 
 ter, some seventy-five yards to our right. 
 When taking a survey of this part of the 
 trench I saw men struggling there, which 
 indicated that some of our men opposite 
 that part of the breastworks had effected 
 
 an entrance therein. Seeing this I de- 
 termined to withhold my proposed shot 
 down the trench. Just at this time, 
 looking to my left, I saw Federal soldiers 
 comiug out of, and many of our men 
 passing into, the trench along the little 
 ditch by which Comrade Turner and my- 
 self had entered ; whereupon I went at 
 once into the trench into which the Con- 
 federates were now entering in num- 
 bers from the litt e ditches up and down 
 the line. 
 
 Casting my eyes up the line towards 
 the Crater I saw Confederates beating and 
 shooting at the negro soldiers, as the lat- 
 ter, terror-stricken, rushed away from 
 them. I saw one negro running down 
 the trench towards the place where sev- 
 eral of us stood and a Confederate sol- 
 dier just in his rear drawing a bead on 
 him as he ran. The Confederate fired at 
 the poor creature, seemingly heedless 
 of the fact that his bullet might have 
 pierced his victim and struck some of 
 the many Confederates immediately in its 
 range. 
 
 A minute later 1 witnessed another 
 deed which made my blood run cold : 
 Just about the outer end of the ditch by 
 which 1 had entered stood a negro sol- 
 dier, a non-commissioned officer (I no- 
 ticed distinctly his cheverons), begging 
 for his life two Confederate soldiers, who 
 stood by him, one of them striking the 
 poor wretch with a steel ramrod, the 
 other holding a gun in his hand with 
 which he seemed to be trying to get a 
 shot at the negro. The man with the 
 gun fired it at the negro, but did not 
 seem to seriously injure him, as he only 
 clapped his hand to his hip where he ap- 
 peared to have been shot, and continued 
 to beg for his life. The man with the 
 ramrod continued to strike the negro 
 therewith, whilst r,he fellow with the gun 
 deliberately reloaded it, and placing its' 
 muzzle close against the stomach of the 
 poor negro, fired, at which tne latter fell 
 limp and lifeless at the feet of the two 
 Confederates. It was a brutal, horrible 
 act, and those of us who witnessed it 
 from our position in the trench a few 
 feet away could but exclaim: "That is 
 too bad ! It is shocking !" Yet this, I 
 
have no doubt, from what I saw and 
 afterwards heard, was but a sam- 
 ple of many other bloody tragedies 
 during the first ten minutes after our 
 men got into the trench, many of whom 
 seemed infuriated at the idea of having 
 to fight negroes. Within these ten min- 
 utes the whole floor of the trench was 
 strewn with the dead bodies of negroes, 
 in some places in such numbers that it 
 was difficult to make one's way along the 
 trench without stepping upon them. 
 
 But the works are not yet ours. To 
 the north of the Crater and in the ditches 
 immediately behind and west of it the 
 Confederates were in possession; but the 
 Crater itself is held by a large number of 
 the enemy, several hundred of them, not 
 yet ready to surrender. There were also 
 some fifty yards of our works south of 
 Crater in the enemy's possession. To 
 drive out these, about ten o'clock 
 — a little more than an hour af- 
 ter the charge made by the Vir- 
 ginia brigade — Wright's brigade of Geor- 
 gians was ordered forward from the same 
 ravine from which the Virginia charged, 
 but such was the severity of the fire the 
 men of this gallant brigade were forced 
 to oblique to the left and take shelter 
 among the works now in the hands of the 
 Virginians, thus failing in their attempt. 
 When this charge was about to be made, 
 the Virginians in the trench were noti- 
 fied and directed to fire upon the enemy 
 in their front as rapidly as possible, in 
 the language of the order, "to keep their 
 heads down;" an order which was obeyed 
 with a will, as nearly every man standing 
 in the trench was supplied with several 
 guns, his own, and one or more of the 
 hundreds of captured guns which lay all 
 along the trench. Not only when the 
 charge was made, but all of the time after 
 our men got in the trench did they fire 
 from our breastworks at the enemy when- 
 ever they showed themselves along the 
 crest or rim of the Crater, as they con- 
 stantly did, or whenever they attempted 
 to run the giuutlet from the Crater across 
 the field to their own works, a move- 
 ment which was attempted by many and 
 by some successfully. 
 
 About the crest of the Crater next to 
 
 theFederal lines might be seen sometimes 
 a man from the outside climbing over to 
 get within the Crater and sometimes a 
 man from the inside climbing over to get 
 outside. I remember seeing a gallant 
 Federal officer mount the edge of theCra- 
 ter at this point and with conspicuous 
 bravery wave his glittering sword over- 
 head as if calling on his men to follow 
 him — a sight which commanded my ad- 
 miration, as it must have done that of 
 all who witnessed it. 
 
 An incident occurred about this time, 
 or a little later in the morning, that I 
 have often recalled. Happening in my 
 immediate presence, it very deeply im- 
 pressed me. In my company two men, 
 Orderly Sergeant W. W. Tayleure and 
 Private Buck Johnson, of the Petersburg 
 Riflemen, came very near having a per- 
 sonal difficulty. Tayleure had been stand- 
 ing on the step, which was about nine 
 inches above the floor of the trench and 
 upon which all men of ordinary height' 
 had to stand m order to be able to shoot 
 from the parapet, and had been firing at 
 the enemy from this position. Just at 
 this time Buck Johnson, who had doubt- 
 less been engaged in the same way else- 
 where, and who was never known to 
 flinch, bearing a splendid reputation as a 
 soldier, as indeed did Tayleure, happened 
 to be standing on the floor of the trench. 
 Tayleure asked him why he did not get 
 up on the step and fire at tne enemy. 
 Johnson's high spirit promptly resented 
 the imputation against his courage im- 
 plied in this question and he used some 
 very strong language to Tayleure. One 
 word led to another, and the two men, 
 both being of approved courage, were 
 about to come to blows, when Joe Sacry, 
 a member of the Richmond Grays, stand- 
 ing on the little step above mentioned, 
 having just fired his gun, received a bul- 
 let in his head and fell lifeless at the feet 
 of the two men. The quarrel instantly 
 ceased. Poor Sacry's bleeding corpse 
 substituted profound seriousness in the 
 place of angry words, and I believe the 
 needless quarrel was never renewed. 
 Both Johnson and Tayleure served to 
 maintain on several subsequent fields of 
 battle the good name that each had al- 
 
ready well won in their three years of 
 active service. 
 
 Wright's brigade of Georgians about 
 eleven o'clock is called upon to make 
 another attempt to carry the works about 
 the Crater and south of it, but this like 
 the first attempt, is unsuccessful. As 
 on the occasion of the first charge, word 
 is passed down the line to the men in the 
 breastworks to fire rapidly to keep the 
 enemy's heads down, and the order is in 
 like manner obeyed. 
 
 What has been going on in the Crater? 
 Those who were in it can best tells us, 
 and I may, therefore, properly draw from 
 the interesting address of Lieutenant 
 Bowley above referred to. Here is what 
 he says: 
 
 "With a dozen of my own company I went 
 own the traverse to the crater. We were 
 the last to reach it, and the rifles of the Union 
 soldiers were flashing in our faces when we 
 jumped down in there, and the Johnnies were 
 not twenty yards behind us. A full line 
 around crest of the crater were loading' and 
 firing as fast as they could, and the men were 
 dropping thick and fast, most of them shot 
 through the head. Every man that was shot 
 rolled down the steep sides to the bottom, and 
 in places they were piled up four and five 
 deep. For a few minutes the fire was fear- 
 fully sharp. Then the enemy sought shelter. 
 The cries of the wounded, pressed down under 
 the dead, were piteous in the exireme. An 
 enfilading fide was coming through the traverse 
 down which we had retreated. General Bart- 
 lett ordered the colored troops to build a 
 breastworks across it. They commenced the 
 work by throwing up lumps of clay, but it was 
 slow work; some one called out, "Put in the 
 dead men, 1 and, acting on this suggestion, a 
 large number of dead, white and black. Union 
 and rebel, were piled into the trench. This 
 made a partial shelter, and enabled the work- 
 ing party to strengthen their breastworks. 
 Cartridges were running low, and we searched 
 the boxes of all the dead and wounded. 
 
 "The day was fearfully hot; the wounded 
 were crying for water, anl the canteens were 
 empty. A few of our troops held a ditch a 
 few feet in front of the crater and were keep- 
 ing up a brisk fire. In the little calm that 
 followed, we loaded a large number of mus- 
 kets and placed them in readiness lor instant 
 use. Another movement was soon attempted 
 by the enemy, but our fire was so sharp that 
 they hastily sought cover The artifiiery on 
 Cemetery Hill and Wright's Battery kept up a 
 constant fire of grape and kept the dirt flying 
 about us. A. mortar battery also opened .on 
 us, after a few shots, they got our range so 
 well that the shells fell directly among us. 
 Many of them did not explode at all, but a few 
 burst directly over us and cut the men down 
 most crueliy. Many of the troops now at- 
 tempted to make our lines, but, to leave, they 
 had to run up a slope in full view of the 
 enemy, that now surrounded us on three 
 sides, nearly every man who attempted it fell 
 back riddled with bullets. At 11 o'clock a 
 determined charge was made by the enemy: 
 we repulsed it, but when the fire slackened 
 
 the ammunition was fearfully low. About 
 this time two men, each carrying all the car- 
 tridges he could manage in a piece of shelter 
 tent, reached us. 
 
 "The white troops," continues Lieutenant 
 Bowley,"were now exhausted and discouraged. 
 Leaving the line, they sat down, facing in- 
 wards,and neither threats nor entreaties could 
 get them up into line again. In vain was the 
 cry raised that all would be killed if captured 
 with negro soldiers; they would not stand up. 
 From this time on the fire was kept up, mainly, 
 by the colored troops and officers handling 
 muskets. A few Indians, of the 1st Michigan 
 Sharpshooters, did splendid work. Some of 
 them were mortally wounded, and drawing 
 their blouses over their faces, they chanted a 
 death ^ong and died— four of them in a group. 
 An attempt had been made to dig a trench 
 through the side of the crater towards the 
 Union line, but the rebs got the range of that 
 hole, and. plugged the bullets into it so thick 
 and fast that no one would work in it. Of the 
 men of my company who had rallied with me, 
 all but one, a sergeant, lay dead or dying. The 
 troops seemed utterly apathetic and indiffer- 
 ent The killing of a comrade by their very 
 sides would not rouse them in the least. Be- 
 tween 1 and 2 o'clock in the afternoon our men 
 in the ditch, wutside the crater, had expended 
 all their ammunition, and were quickly cap- 
 tured. Then the rebels planted their battle 
 flags on the edge of the crater, front and both 
 flanks, not six feet from our men. They 
 quickly pulled them back, but we knew that 
 they were there, just on the other side of the 
 clay bank. Muskets, with bayonets, were 
 pitched back and forth, harpo< >n style. In this 
 last movement the Confederates exposed 
 themselves most fearlessly, and had all our 
 men stood up at that time, th rebel loss would 
 have been much more severe. I have good 
 reason to believe that my own revolver did 
 some effective work at this point." 
 
 Here ends Lieutenant Bowley's account 
 of what was transpiring in the Crater, 
 and I will resume the narrative from our 
 standpoint. 
 
 It is now about one o'clock. We re- 
 ceive another order to keep the enemy's 
 heads down. A charge is about 10 be 
 made, this time by the Alabama brigade, 
 Gen. Saunders, who form in the ravine 
 from which the Virginians had charged, 
 but farther south and accordingly more 
 nearly opposite the Crater The charge 
 is successful — those who witnessed it say 
 it was splendidly executed. The works 
 are surrendered, and the prisoners pour 
 out, making their way back, however, 
 under a severe fire from their own batte- 
 ries, some of them falling on the way. 
 
 What was here transpiring those of us 
 in the breatworks to the north of the 
 Crater could not see, but we immediately 
 knew the result of the charge. 
 
 t rom this time during the balance of 
 the day everything is comparatively 
 
10 
 
 quiet. When night came on we are 
 made to fall in line and move up the 
 trench towards our right. In the trench 
 that led around and to the rear of the 
 Crater, dead men lie so thick that to walk 
 along without stepping upon their bodies 
 or limbs was very difficult. 
 
 Our movement to the right is ended 
 when we have been so shifted as to 
 bring the Riflemen immediately in rear of 
 the Crater. Here we are halted and a 
 detail of two or more men from each 
 company is called for. Of this detail it 
 falls to my lot to be one. What is to be 
 done ? The dead are to be buried ! Aud 
 this detail is to do the work ! My horror 
 can be better imagined than described. 
 Before work commenced, somebody — 
 who I do not know, but some one whose 
 authoritity and orders in the premises, 
 legal or illegal. I was prompt to recog- 
 nize and obey — came aloug and put me 
 in charge of a burying squad. I congrat- 
 ulated myself that I had no nearer con- 
 nection with this disagreeable work. In 
 a big grave, not a hundred feet in rear of 
 the Crater, a large number of the bodies 
 were placed. The work was done by a 
 squad of negro prisoners. In the gray 
 light of morning I went into the Crater 
 and there I saw the burying parties in 
 this place still at work. 
 
 This gloomy night's work had at least 
 one humorous incident. Our worthy 
 commander, Comrade Hugh R. Smith, 
 then adjutant of the 12th, I am glad to 
 know, lives today to vouch for the cor- 
 rectness of what I am about to narrate: 
 
 Comrade Smith had selected for his 
 night's rest a grassy spot near the men 
 in the trench, all of whom except those 
 on guard or special duty were fast asleep, 
 and like them was wrapt in the arms of 
 Morpheus. He had the advantage ot his 
 sleeping comrades in that he had a soft 
 and cool bed of grass upon which to rest, 
 but he was in close vicinity to the pile of 
 dead men then being buried. Things, 
 however, were fairly evened up, when, 
 some time during the small hours of the 
 night, one of the negro prisoners, looking 
 out for a corpse to bury, seized our gal- 
 lant adjutant by the ankle and was hur- 
 rying him to the grave, when the adju- 
 
 tant, not then ready to be buried, awoke 
 to the great consternation of the poor 
 prisoner, who thought he was handling a 
 genuine corpse. 
 
 It is Sunday morning, and breakfast 
 time. Are we to eat in this horrible place, 
 the air .filled with offensive odors 
 from the presence of hundreds of 
 bodies, still un buried, many of them 
 within a radius of a few feet from -us 1 
 Yes, or starve. My messmate and my- 
 self, I well remember, made our break- 
 fast on hard-tack and fried pickle-pork. 
 My impression is we had no coffee. I 
 have a distinct recollection that the meal 
 was not enjoyed. 
 
 It is in order just here to reproduce 
 for what they are worth as a contempor- 
 ary record the following entries in my 
 diary, the first made during the af- 
 ternoon of this day, the others on the 
 days of their respective dates : 
 
 "Sundav. July 31, '64. Yesterday witnessed a 
 bloody drama around Petersburg, perhaps as 
 bloody as any affair of tne war. Fort Pillow 
 not excepted. At this point, about half a mile 
 southeast of the Old Blandford church. the ene- 
 my exploded a mine under a tort in our works, 
 blowing up 4 pieces of Pegram's battery with 
 two lieutenants, Lieutenants Hamlin and 
 Chandler, and twenty -two meD, together with 
 five companies of the 18th S. C. regiment, El- 
 liott's brigade, whereupon they immediately 
 rushed upon and captured that portion of our 
 works and about two hundred yards of the 
 works t<> the left of the exploded portion. 
 This occurred soon after sunrise, soon after 
 which our brigade and Wright's, which occu- 
 pied the extreme right of our line, were put 
 in motion for this point, approaching it cau- 
 tiously by the military roads recently con- 
 structed. We were not long in le rning that 
 our brigade would be assigned ihe task of cap- 
 turing the works, supported by Wright. Ar- 
 riving opposite the works, fortunately just at 
 the moment, we were about to charge, the ene- 
 my were also about to charge, when, seizing 
 our advantage and rising with a yell we rushed 
 forward and got into the works about one hun- 
 dred yards distant, receiving but little tire 
 from the enemy, who turned out to be ne- 
 groes! The scene now baffles description. 
 Hut little quarter was shown them. My heart 
 sickened at deeds I saw done. Our brigade 
 not driving the enemy from ihe inner portion 
 of the exploded mine, Saunders and Wright's 
 brigades finished the work. I have never seen 
 such slaughter on any battlefield. Our regi- 
 ment lost 27, killed and wounded, the majority 
 of whom were killed and among them Emmet 
 Butts, of our company. Put Stith, of our 
 company, was wounded. Colonel Weisiger, 
 commanding the brigade, was wounded. 
 From what I have seen, the enemy's loss 
 could not have been less than from 500 to 700 
 killed, to say nothing of those wounded 
 and between live hundred and one thousand 
 prisoners. Ours probably did not exceed 400 
 killed, wounded and missing. Negotiations 
 under a flag of truce are now pending. Prob- 
 
11 
 
 ably Grant wants to bury the dead between 
 the lines. Permission was granted to water 
 his wounded. I observed several citizens 
 from the enemy's line take part in this act of 
 humanity. They were probably members of 
 the sanit a y committee. I saw also a woman 
 standing in the Yankee breastworks. We in- 
 dulge a hope that our brigade will be relieved 
 tonight and return to its quiet position on the 
 right." 
 
 •'Tuesday, August 2, 1864. Back at Wilcox's 
 farm. Our brigade and Saunders' relieved 
 last night. Truce for four hours yesterday 
 morning for burying the dead between the 
 lines. Express of this morning states that 
 12 of our men were found between the lines 
 and about 7U0 of the enemy. There could not 
 have been as many as 700. We made the ne- 
 gro prisoners carry their dt ad comrades to the 
 Xankee line, where the Yankees made their 
 negroes bury them. Loss in our regiment 18 
 kd. and 24 wd. The 6th regiment lost 70 kd. 
 and wd. out of 80 carried in the tight. The re- 
 mainder of the regiment was on picket. Cp. 
 C ot sharpshooters, a detachment from the 
 12th, lost out of fifteen 5 kd. and 8 wd. The 
 enemy admit a loss of over 4,000. Col. Thomas, 
 commanding one of the negro br ; gades, told 
 Capt Jones (ot our regiment) yesteiday dur- 
 ing the truce that he canied in 2,200 men and 
 brought out only 800. 
 
 "It is said we cantured 20 flags from the ene- 
 my and that the prisoners captured repre- 
 sented two corps— 9th (Burnside's) and 2nd 
 (Hancock's). 
 
 . "Thursday, August 5. Yankee accounts of 
 the affair put their loss in kd., wd. and pris- 
 oners at 5.000 They say I he pian was to spring 
 a mine at 3 o'clock Saturday morning, but that 
 the fuse failed to ignite tiie powder twice — 
 that they had six tons of powder in the mine. 
 The 9 h aud 18th corps made the charge and 
 the oth was in reserve. Our losses foot up 
 1,200. of which 300 are no doubt prisoners, the 
 enemy claiming to have taken that number." 
 
 "Saturday. August 6. The loss of our bri- 
 gade in the fight of s-aturda. was 270 Kd., wd. 
 and missing, of whom 88 were killed on the 
 field, just one-half of the whole number (176) 
 that had been killed irom the battle of the 
 Wilderness to the present time." 
 
 "Monday, .jugust 6, 1864. ben. Mahone in a 
 congratulatory order to Mahone 's, launders' 
 and Wright's brigades for their conduct in the 
 affair of Saturday, July 30, says that with an 
 effective force of less -ban 3,000 men and 
 with a casualty list of 598 they killed 
 700 of the enemy's people, wounded 
 by his own account over 3,000 and captured 
 1,101 prisoners, embracing 87 officers. 17 stands 
 of colors, 2 guerdons a-nd 1,916 stand of small 
 aj*ms, deeds which entitle their banners to the 
 inscription, 'The Crater, Petersburg, July 30, 
 1864.' He says the enemy had massed against 
 us three of his corps and two divisions of an- 
 other." 
 
 The foregoing -brief entries are all that 
 I find in my diary relating to the battle. 
 
 From information subsequently ob- 
 tained I am able to correct some of the 
 statements therein made : 
 
 In Comrade W. Gordon McCabVs ad 
 mirable address entitled '-The Defence of 
 Petersburg," the accuracy aDd fullness of 
 the information contained in which are 
 only equalled by the clear and beautiful 
 
 language in which it is conveyed, the 
 statement is made that the loss of life 
 caused by the explosion of the mine was 
 256 officers and men of the 18th and 22nd 
 South Carolina regiments and two offi- 
 cers and twenty men of Pegram's Peters- 
 burg battery This battery was com- 
 manded by Captain Richard G. Pegram, 
 who was absent ou duty, and thus es- 
 caped what befell his two lieutenants, 
 Hamlin and Chandler. 
 
 In a letter published in September, 
 1873, Dr. Hugh Toland, surgeon of the 
 18th South Carolina, locates this regi- 
 ment as on the left, or north, of Pegram's 
 battery, and the 22nd South Carolina as 
 on the right, or south, of this battery at 
 the time of the explosion. 
 
 "My brigade," says Dr. Tolaad, "had 
 sutlered severely — the 22nd South Caro- 
 lina had lost its gallant Col. Fleming, 
 and many a brave soldier. My regiment 
 had lost 163 men. Two whole compa- 
 nies, A and C, Eighteenth South Carolina, 
 had not a man left, who was on duty, to 
 tell the tale. One hundred and one of 
 my men, including Capts. McComich and 
 Birdgis w<-re dead — buried in the Crater 
 or scattered along the works — and 62 
 missing." 
 
 Giving the Federal loss in this engage- 
 ment, Capt. McCabe in his address says : 
 
 "In this grand assault on Lee's lines, for 
 which Meaae h*d massed 65,000 troops, the en- 
 emy suffered a loss of 5.000 men, including 1,101 
 prisoners, among whom were two brigade com- 
 manders, whilst vast quantities of small arms 
 and twenty-one standards fell into the hands 
 of the Victors. " 
 
 The quantity of powder used in ex- 
 ploding the mine was not six tons, but 
 8,000 pounds. "The charge," says 
 Lieut. -Col. Henry Pleasants, of the 48th 
 Pennsylvania Veteran volunteers, the 
 originator of the mine, in his report of 
 the explosion, "consisted of three hun- 
 dred and twenty kegs of powder, each 
 containing about twenty-five pounds. It 
 was placed in eight magazines, connected 
 with each other by troughs half tilled 
 with powder. These troughs from the 
 lateral galleries met at the inner end of 
 the main one, and from this point I had 
 three lines of fuses for a distance of 98 
 feet. Not having fuses as long as re- 
 quired, two pieces had to be spliced to- 
 
12 
 
 gether to make the required length of 
 each of the lines." 
 
 In the concluding paragraph of this re- 
 port Col. Pleasants says: 
 
 "I stood on top of our breastworks and -wit- 
 nessed the effect of the explosion on the ene- 
 my. It so completely paralyzed them that the 
 breach was practically four or five hundred 
 yards in breadth. The rebels in the forts, both 
 on the right and left of the explosion, left 
 their works, and for over an hour not a shot 
 was fired by their artillery. There was no fire 
 from infantry from the front for at least half 
 an hour; none from the left for twenty min- 
 utes, and but few shots from the right." 
 
 Major W. H. Powell, acting aide-de- 
 camj) of General Ledlie, the command- 
 ant of the first division of the Ninth 
 Corps, at the time of the explosion, in 
 his article entitled "The Tragedy of the 
 Crater," published in the September, 
 1887, number of the Century, says : 
 
 "I returned immediately, and just as I ar- 
 rived in rear of the first division the mine was 
 sprung. It was a magnificent spectacle, and 
 as the mass of earth went up into the air, car- 
 rying with it men, guns, carriages and tim- 
 bers, and spread out like an immense cloud as 
 it reached its altitude, so close were the Union 
 lines that the mass appeared as if it would 
 descend immediately upon the troops waiting 
 to make i he charge. This caused them to 
 break and scatter to the rear, and about ten 
 minutes were consumed in reforming for the 
 attack. Not much was lost by this delay, how- 
 ever, as it took nearly that time for the cloud 
 of dust to pass off. ******* " 
 
 "Little did those men anticipate what they 
 would see upon arriving there: an enormous 
 hole in the ground about 30 feet deep, 60 feet 
 wide and 170 feet long, filled with dust, great 
 blocks of clay, guns, broken carriages, pro- 
 jecting timbers, and men buried in various 
 ways— some up to their necks, others to their 
 waists, and some with only their feet and legs 
 protruding from the earth. ******** 
 
 "The whole scene of the explosion." con- 
 tinues Major Powell, "struck every one dumb 
 with astonishment as we arrived at the crest of 
 the debris. It was impossible for the troops of 
 the second brigade to move forward in line, as 
 they had advanced; and, owing to the broken 
 state they were in, every man crowding up to 
 look into the hole, and being pressed by the 
 first brigade, which was immediately in rear, 
 it was equally impossible to move by the flank, 
 by any command, around the crater. Before 
 the brigade commanders could realize the sit- 
 uation, the brigades became inextricably 
 mixed, in the desire to look into the hole. * * *" 
 
 From the next paragraph of Maj. Pow- 
 ell's article it appears that Col. Pleasants 
 was in error as to the extent of the demor- 
 alization of the Confederates incident 
 upon the explosion, as the South Caro- 
 linians in the trenches near the Crater 
 were quick to recover their equanim- 
 ity and to make the in coming Federals 
 feel their presence. In this paragraph 
 this Federal officer says : 
 
 "However, Col. Marshall yelled to the Sec- 
 ond Brigade to move forward, and the men 
 did so, jumping, sliding and tumbing into the 
 hole, over the debris of material, and dead and 
 dying men, and huge blocks of solid clay. 
 They were followed by Gen. Bartlett's bri- 
 gade. Up on the other side of the Crater they 
 climbed, and while a detachment stopped to 
 place two of the dismounted guns' of the bat- 
 tery in position on the enemy's side of the 
 crest of the crater, a portion of the leading 
 brigade passed over the crest and attempted 
 to re-form. It was at this period that they 
 found they were being killed by musket-shots 
 from the rear, fired by the Confederates who 
 were still occupying the traverses and in- 
 trenchments to the right and left of the Cra- 
 ter. These men had been awakened by the 
 noise and shock of the explosion, and during 
 the interval before the attack had recovered 
 their equanimity, and when the Union troops 
 attempted to re-form on the enemy's side of 
 the Crater, they had faced about and delivered 
 a fire into the backs of our men. this coming 
 so unexpectedly caused the forming line to 
 fall back into the Crater." 
 
 Mr. George L. Kilmer, of the 14th 
 New York Heavy Artillery, in his article 
 entitled "The Dash into the Crater," 
 published in the same number (Septem- 
 ber number, 1887,) of the Century, 
 makes some striking statements. He says : 
 
 "Some few declared that they would never- 
 follow 'niggers' or be caught in their com- 
 pany, and started back to our own lines, but 
 were promptly driven forward. Then the col- 
 ored troops broke and scattered, and pande- 
 monium began. The bravest lost heart, and 
 men who distruoted the negroes vented their 
 feelings freely. Some colored men came into 
 the crater and there they found a worse fate 
 thandea'hon the charge. It was believed 
 among the whites that the enemy would give 
 no quarter to negroes, or to whites taken with 
 them, j-nd so to be shut up with blacks in the 
 crater was equal to a doom of death. * * * It has 
 been positively asserted that white men bayo- 
 neted blacks who fell back into the crater. 
 This was in order to preserve the whites from 
 Confederate vengeance. Men boasted in my 
 presence that blacks had been thus disposed 
 of, particularly when the Confederates came 
 up." 
 
 It will be asked what was the number 
 of Federal soldiers who were actually in 
 possession of our works at the time of 
 of the charge made by Mahone's brigade. 
 
 As the expression "an effective force 
 of not less than 3,000 men" used in 
 Gen. Mahone's eongn-tulory order to the 
 three brigades, Mahone's, Wright's and 
 Saunders, embraced not only the force 
 of about 800 men of Mahone's brigade 
 who made the charge a little before nine 
 o'clock in the morning, but also the 
 forces engaged in the several unsuccess- 
 ful charges made by "Wright's brigade 
 and the final successful charge made 
 about one o'clock in the afternoon by 
 
13 
 
 Saunders' brigade, and probably the co- 
 operating artillery and other infantry, so 
 
 • the statement made by Gen. Mahone in 
 this order that "the enemy had massed 
 against us three of his corps and two di- 
 visions of another" and Capt. McCabe's 
 statement that ' 'Meade had massed" for 
 the assault "65,000 troops" must- be 
 understood as embracing not only those 
 who were actually in possession of our 
 works but those immediately in, or 
 massed a short distance behind, the Fed- 
 eral works near by who were taking 
 part or ready to take part in the affair. 
 But we are not without data by which 
 to ascertain the probable number of men 
 that occupied the Confederate works 
 when the Virginia brigade numbering 
 about 800 men dashed forward, in the 
 manner that has been described, to en- 
 gage in what every man knew would be 
 a death-struggle for their possession. 
 Gen. Mahone's congratulatory order 
 places the flags captured at seventeen; 
 Capt. McCabe gives twenty-one as the 
 number of standards cpptured. We 
 will take Gen. Mahone's figures and es- 
 
 ' timate each of the seventeen regiments 
 represented by the seventeen flags as 
 containing two hundred and fifty men, a 
 fair average for a veteran regiment in 
 the Federal army at that time. This 
 done and we have a force of 4,250 men. 
 But this average is manifestly two 
 small, when we consider the statement 
 of Colonel Henry G. Thomas, who com- 
 mandedthe Second Brigade of the Fourth 
 Division (Ferrero's) of the Ninth Corps, 
 made in his article in the September 
 number, 1887, of the Century, entitled 
 "The Colored Troops at Peters- 
 burg," in which he says: "There 
 was but one division of dolored 
 troops in the Army of the Poto- 
 mac — the Fourth Division of the Ninth 
 Corps — organized as follows. * * * 
 * * * * Trn 8 made a division of 
 only nine regiments, divided, into two 
 brigades, yet it was numerically a larg e 
 division. The regiments were entirely 
 full and a colored deserter was a thing 
 unknown. On the day of the action the 
 division numbered 4,300, of which 2,000 
 
 belonged to Sigfried's brigade and 2,300 
 to mine. " 
 
 To assume that tbe number of flags 
 captured represented the total number of 
 regiments at the place of capture leads to 
 a very erroneous result. So far from 
 there being only seventeen regiments in 
 our works, there were probably more than 
 double this number. 
 
 There went into our works three white 
 divisions, the First (Ledlie's), the Second 
 (Potter's) and the Third (Wilcox's), of the 
 Ninth (Burnside) Corps, about four regi- 
 ments excepted, and after these the col- 
 ored division of General Ferrero. This 
 appears from the following paragraph in 
 the testimony of Lieutenant Colonel 
 Charles G. Loring, of General Burnside' s 
 staff, before the Committee on the Conduct 
 of the War: 
 
 " General Ledlie's division was to go in 
 first; the whole of that division went into 
 the crater, or lines immediately adjoining. 
 General Potter's division was to go in next, 
 but to go in on the right of the other, I did 
 not see them and I do not know how many of 
 them went into the crater. I simply saw the 
 head of the column going in. I understood 
 that they all went into the enemy's lines, but 
 I cannot say positively about that. General 
 Wilcox's division also went in at the same 
 place where General Ledlie's division went 
 in. I think four of his regiments— I am not 
 sure of the number— failed to get in. In start- 
 ing from onr line they bore off too much to 
 the left and came back to our own line, and 
 did not go in. I think that with that excep- 
 tion the whole of General Wilcox's division 
 went into the enemy's lines. The regiments 
 of his division went in at different times, not 
 as a division, but disjointedly. And at half 
 past seven, about two hours and a half after 
 the mine exploded, the whole of the colored 
 division went in at the same point." 
 
 If the three white divisions numbered 
 each nine regiments (the number of the 
 regiments in the colored division), they 
 aggregated 27 regiments. Deduct the 4 
 regiments of Wilcox's division referred to 
 by Col. Loring, allow 250 men to each of 
 the 24 remaining regiments and we have 
 6,000 men. To these add the 4,300 col- 
 ored troops, and there was an aggregate 
 of 10,300 men! And this without counting 
 a brigade of Gen. Turner's division of the 
 18 th corps, which, according, to his tes- 
 timony before the Committee on the Con- 
 duct of the War, took possession of about 
 100 yards of our works to the north of 
 the Crater. 
 
 Gen. Ord, in his testimony before the 
 
14 
 
 Committee by implication, puts the num- 
 ber of men who went into the Confede- 
 rate works at 10,000 or 12,000, when he 
 says : 
 
 "The ground to the left and front ot the mine 
 was marshy and covered bs- bushes aud trees. 
 No preparations had been made for our troops 
 to pass out to our right or Jeft They could 
 only get out b v a single long trench or cov- 
 ered way; so that in the slow process of get- 
 ting lO.OuO or 12.000 men up through this i. ar- 
 row space and through a single opening the 
 enemy had an opportunity to mate prepara- 
 tions to meet them. All this produced delay " 
 
 With facts and figures like these to 
 sustain the assertion, we are warranted 
 in stating that the force against which 
 our little band of about eight hundred 
 Virginians was hurled out-numbered their 
 assailants more than ten to one ! 
 
 But whilst the highest credit belongs 
 to the Virginia brigade for its achieve- 
 ments on this occasion, itmustbe remem- 
 bered that bad management in the dis- 
 position of the Federal forces greatly as- 
 sisted in producing the result. No troops, 
 crowded as were the Federals in the Cra- 
 ter and in the trenches on either side, the 
 latter having a perfect net- .vork of tra- 
 vesrses and bomb-proofs, which greatly 
 impeded the Federals in resisting an as- 
 sault from the west, or Confederate side 
 of our works, could well have met a de- 
 termined assault made from this direction. 
 "These pits," says Col. Thomas in his 
 Century article, referring to the trenches 
 at this place, "were different from any 
 in our lines — a labyrinth of bomb-proofs 
 and magazines, with passages between." 
 
 How far towards Cemetery Ridge, that 
 is to say, west of the Confederate works, 
 did the Federal forces advance at any 
 time during their four hours' occupation 
 of these works, is a question which nat- 
 turally arises, and was asked several of 
 the witnesses in the official investigation 
 made by the Federal government. Ex- 
 tracts from some of the testimony before 
 the court of inquiry held at the head- 
 quarters of Gen. Hancock on the 1st of 
 September, 1864, will give us some light 
 upon this point : 
 
 Brigadier General S. G. Griffin, who 
 
 commanded a brigade of Potter's division, 
 
 on the stand : 
 
 '■Ques.— Did your command go beyond the 
 crater ? 
 
 "Ans — Tt did. 
 
 "Ques. — About how far ? 
 
 "Ans. I should judge about two hundred 
 yards. It might be more, or it might be less. 
 It could not hive been much less, however; 
 that is as near as I can judge." 
 
 Col. H. G. Thomas, commandin<f the 
 Second brigade of Ferrero's (colored) di- 
 vision, on the stand ; 
 
 Quest. Did you get beyond the line of the 
 crater with your troops ? 
 
 Ans. I did, sir. 
 
 Quest. How far? 
 
 Ans. I should say about between three and 
 four hundred y^rds to the right of the crater 
 and in front of it. I was ordered to support 
 the first brigade when it made its charge. 
 
 Col. Thomas's last answer giving no 
 definite information as to the position of 
 his troops in advance of the Confederate 
 works, and the court manifestly having a 
 doubt as to his troops having gone to the 
 west of these works at ail, he is asked 
 the pointed question : "Did you get be- 
 yond the enemy's line '!" He replies : "i 
 did, sir; I led a charge which was not 
 successful. The moment 1 reached the 
 first brigade I started out the 31st col-, 
 ored regiment, which was in front, but 
 it lost its three ranking officers iu get' 
 ting in position, and did not go out well." 
 The witness's answer, whilst responsive 
 to the question, like his auswer to the 
 preceding question, gives no light as to 
 the point west of the Confederate works 
 reached by his command. 
 
 The next witness, however, testifies 
 very clearly, and probably gives the 
 most accurate information as to the posi- 
 tion reached by the troops that moved 
 forward west of the Confederate works 
 The witness is Lieut. -Col. Chas. S, Rus- 
 sell, commanding the 28th U. S. colored 
 troops, of Col. Thomas's brigade. Being 
 asked the question "How far in advance 
 did you get towards Cemetery hill ?" he 
 replfes : "Not exceeding fifty yards. 
 We were driven back." 
 
 "By what ?" is the next question asked 
 this witness. He replies: "I should 
 judge by about two or four hundred men, 
 infantry, which rose from a little ravine 
 and charged us. Being all mixed up and 
 and in confusion, and new troops, we 
 had to come back." 
 
 The witness is in error as to the num- 
 ber of the Confederates who "rose up 
 from the little ravine," as they were 
 
15 
 
 the men of the Virginia brigade; whose 
 number was approximated by Gen. 
 
 • Griffin, when be (-aid : "Five or six hun- 
 dred men were all we could see. I did 
 not see either tbe light or the left of the 
 line. I saw the centre of the line as it 
 
 } appeared to me. It was a good line of 
 battle." 
 
 Of the condition of things in the Cra- 
 ter and in trenches when the three white 
 division? had entered the Confederate 
 works and tbe colored division was 
 about to go in, about 7 o'clock 
 in the morning, Gen. Turner, who 
 commanded a division of the 18th (Oid's) 
 corps, gives a graphic description in his 
 testimony before the committee. Be 
 says : 
 
 "When the head of my column reached the 
 point at which our assaulting column had 
 passed through our lines, it was. as near as I 
 recollect, about 1 o'clock. I jumped up on a 
 parapet to observe what was suing on. Im- 
 mediately in front of me lay the crater, about 
 seventy-rive tyarda distant. The men were in 
 it and around it in great confusion ; they were 
 lying down, seeking shelter Horn the tire of 
 the enemy, which at that time had become ex- 
 ceedingly warm. The enemy had succeeded 
 in getting a cross fire of artillery and musket- 
 % ry pver the ground lying between our line and 
 the crater. * * * * My idea was that the 
 9th corps would penetrate the enemy's line 
 and double them up to the right and to the 
 left, and then i was to pass out and cover the 
 right flank of the assaulting column, but the 
 enemy still held possession of then lines up to 
 within one hundred yards of the crater when 
 I arrived, which surprised me. It left me no 
 alternative of going out anywhere but direct- 
 ly opposite the crater, where the 9th corps 
 went out. I could see no movement taking 
 place bevond the crater towards Cemetery 
 hill. * * * * The troops lay very thick in 
 and around the crater, evidently more than 
 could find cover from the enemy's fire. * * * 
 The crater was full of men: they were lying 
 all around, and every point that would give 
 cover to a man was occupied. There was no 
 movement towards Cemetery hill; the troops 
 were all in confusion ana lying down. I asked 
 one or two officers there if an attempt had 
 been made to move to Cemetery hill. They 
 said the attempt had been made. 
 but it had failed 1 then said, 
 'you ought to intrench your position here, 
 and you have too many troops here already to 
 intrench. There are so many troops here th->t 
 they are in each other's way; they are only 
 exposed to this terrific fire of the enemy,' 
 which was then growing warmer and warmer, 
 and was a very severe fire, w hile I was talk- 
 ing to an officer— we had sought shelter in the 
 crater— the head of the colored division ap- 
 peared at the crest of the crater, and the di- 
 vision commenced piling over into the crater 
 and passing across it on the other side as well 
 as they could. 1 exclaimed, 'What are these 
 men sent in here for? it is only adding confu- 
 sion to the confusion which already exists.' 
 The men literally came falling over into this 
 
 crat< r on their hands and knees; they were so 
 thick in there thau a man could not walk. See- 
 ing that 1 was g -ing to be covered up, and be 
 entirely useless, 1 thought 1 would go out: As 
 I hnd no control over these troops, and sup- 
 posing there were officers in command, I said, 
 'if y«.u can get the e troops beyond this line 
 so that 1 can ^et out, I will move my division 
 right out and cover your right flank;' and I 
 went back for the purpose of doing so. 1 met 
 General Old on our line at the head of my di- 
 vision. 1 said, "General, unless a movement is 
 made out of the crater towards Cemetery hill, 
 it is murder to ^end more men in there. That 
 colored division should never have been sent 
 in there; but there io a turor there, and per- 
 haps they may move off sufficiently for me to 
 pass rny division out.' " 
 
 General Ord, in his testimony, using 
 vigorous language; says : 
 
 "The men had to go through a long narrow 
 trench, about one-third of a mile in length, 
 before they got into our extreme outwork, and 
 then they went int > this crater, and were piled 
 into that hole, where they were perfettiy use- 
 less. They were of about as much use there 
 as so many men at the bottom of a well." 
 
 The stampede whicb took place when 
 Mahone's brigade made its charge is thus 
 described b} General Turner in his testi- 
 mony : 
 
 "J had got, probably, half way between our 
 line and the enemy's lines — which were per- 
 haps onb a hundred yards apart at that point, 
 and it was a very broken country, thick under- 
 brush and morass— when, looking to the left, I 
 saw the troops m vast numbers coming rush- 
 ing back, and immediately my whole first bri- 
 gade came back, and then my second brigade 
 on my right, and everything was swept back 
 in and around the crater, and probably all but 
 about one-third of the original number stam- 
 peded back right into our lines. Alter some 
 exertion 1 rallied my men of the first and 
 and second brigades after they got into our 
 lines, while my third brigade held the line." 
 
 Gen. Carr, who commanded a division 
 
 of the 18 th corps, iu his testimony thus 
 
 describes the stampede: 
 
 "I saw a vacancy, a gap that I thought about 
 four regiments would fill, and assist that line 
 of battle that was going over our breastworks 
 to take those ritie pits. I immediately took 
 command of part of Turner's division, and 
 ordered them over the line to join the line of 
 troops then advancing, aud told them to 
 charge the rifle-pits in their front, which they 
 did. That was about two hundred yards on 
 the right of the crater. After putting those 
 troops in, I stepped back from the intrench- 
 ment some ten of fifteen yards towards the 
 covered way, and I had scarcely got back to 
 the lower end of the covered way when the 
 stampede began, and 1 suppose two thousand 
 troops came back, and I was lifted from my 
 feet by the rushing mass, and carried along 
 with it ten or fiftteen yards in the covered 
 way. What staff I had with me assisted me in 
 stopping the crowd in the covered way, and in 
 putting some of them in position in the second 
 line; some were in the first, i left General 
 Potter in the covered way." 
 
 I would like to give more extracts 
 
16 
 
 from the sworn and other statements of 
 our adversaries as to what was done and 
 omitted to be done on this memorable 
 day, which marked an event altogether 
 exceptional in the history of the war; but 
 I fear that I have already drawn from 
 these sources of information to the point 
 of prolixity. 
 
 Although all matters of controversy 
 would in this address gladly have been 
 avoided, I cannot pass unnoticed a re- 
 markable paragraph in Col. Alfred Ro- 
 man's work, "The Military Operations of 
 Gen. Beauregard." 
 
 At page 267, after mentioning Gen. 
 Meade's order to Gen. Burnside to with- 
 draw his troops given at 9:45 A. M., and 
 the orders given to Gen. Hancock at 9 :25 
 and to Gen. Warren at 9:45 "to suspend 
 all offensive operations," Col. Roman, 
 basing his statement upon statements 
 made by Gen. Bushrod Johnson and Col. 
 F. W. McMaster,* says : 
 
 "Such was the situation— the Federals un- 
 able to advance, and fearing to retreat — when, 
 at ten o'clock, Gen. Mahone arrived with a 
 part of his men, who lay down in the shallow 
 ravine, to the rear of Elliott's salient, held by 
 the force under Col. Smith, there to await the 
 remainder of the division. But a movement 
 having occurred among the Federals which 
 seemed to menace an advance, Gen. Mahone 
 threw forward his brigade, with the 61st North 
 Carolina, of Hoke's division, which had now 
 also come up. he 35th and 49th North Caro- 
 lina, and the 28th and part of the 17th South 
 Carolina, all under Smith, which were formed 
 on Mahone's left, likewise formed in the coun- 
 ter movement, and three-fourths of the gorge- 
 line were carried with that part of the trench 
 on the left of the crater occupied by the Fed- 
 erals. Many of the latter, white and black, 
 abandond the breach and fled to their lines, 
 under a scourging flank fire from' Wise's bri- 
 
 The statement here made that the 
 charge was made by Mahone's brigade, 
 with the 6 1st, 25th and 49th North Car- 
 olina and the 26th and part of the 17th 
 South Carolina regiments is as clearly in- 
 correct as is the statement that Mahone 
 arrived about ten o'clock, after Gen. 
 Meade issued his orders above referred to. 
 
 Against this statement as to time we 
 may safely place that of Col. Venable, of 
 Gen. Lee's staff, made in 1872, in which 
 he says : "I know that it is difficult to 
 
 *Col. McMaster, of the 17th S. C. regiment, 
 took command of Gen Elliott's brigade when 
 Gen. Elliott received his death wound early in 
 the morning, soon after the Federals took 
 possession of our works. 
 
 be accurate as to time on the battlefield, 
 unless noted and written down at the mo- 
 ment. But I am confident this charge of 
 the Virginians was made before 9 o'clock 
 A. M. I know from my recollection of 
 the notes received and answered by Gen. 
 Lee, that after the charge, the formation 
 of the Georgia brigade, under Col. Hall, 
 was completed, and after some delay was 
 moved around under the slope, more to 
 the right, and made a charge at 10 
 o'clock to recover that portion of the line 
 on the right of the Crater." 
 
 But we are not without a contempora- 
 neous record to prove beyond all contro- 
 versy that the charge of Mahone's brigade 
 was made prior to 9 o'clock A. M., and 
 therefore to the several orders issued by 
 Gen. Meade to suspend operations and 
 withdraw the troops. 
 
 Gen. Meade, in his testimony before 
 the Committee on the Conduct of the War, 
 
 '"At 9 A. M. I received the following dispatch 
 from Gen. Burnside : 
 
 [By telegraph from headquarters 9th army 
 corps.'] 
 '"9 A.M., July 30, 1864. 
 " "Gen. Meade : 
 
 " 'Many of the ninth (9th) and eighteenth' 
 (18th) corps are retiring before the enemy. I 
 think now is the time to put in the fifth (5th) 
 corps promptly. 
 
 " 'A. E. Burnside, 
 
 " 'Major-General. I, 
 " '[Official.] " 'S. F. Barstow, 
 
 " 'Assistant Adjutant General.' 
 "That was the first information I had re- 
 ceived that there was any collision with the 
 enemy, or that there was any enemy present. 
 At 9:30 A. M. the following dispatch was sent 
 to General Burnside: 
 " 'Headquarters Army of the Potomac, I 
 "'July 30, 1864— 9:30 A.M. J 
 
 " '■Major General Burnside, Commanding 9th 
 Corps : 
 " 'The major general commanding has heard 
 that the result of your attack has been a re- 
 pulse, and directs that if, in your judgment, 
 nothing further can be effected, that you 
 withdraw to your own line, taking every pre- 
 caution to get the men back safely. 
 
 " 'A. A. HUMPHREYS, 
 " 'Major General and Chief of Staff. 
 " 'General Ord will do the same. 
 
 " 'A. A. HUMPHREYS. 
 " 'Major General and Chief of Staff. 
 " 'Official: S. F. BARSTOW, 
 
 " 'Assistant Adjutant General.' 
 "Then I received the following dispatch 
 from Captain Sanders: 
 
 [By Telegraph from Headquarters 9th Army 
 Corps.'] i 
 
 "•9 A.M., July 30, 1864. 
 " To Major General Meade : 
 "'The attack made on right of mine has 
 
17 
 
 been repulsed. A great many men are coming 
 in the rear. W. W. ^ANDERS, 
 
 '• 'Oaptain and C. M.' 
 '"Official: S. F. BARSTOW, 
 
 " 'Assistant Adjutant General. 1 " 
 
 The Committee on the Conduct of the 
 War, in their report made after all of the 
 testimony bearing on the subjeet, oral 
 and documentary, had been heard and 
 considered, fully appreciating the impor- 
 tance of stating correctly the order of 
 sequence and accordingly the exact time 
 of the occurrence of the several military 
 movements which were the subject of 
 the committee's investigation, say : 
 
 "The fourth (colored) division was also or- 
 dered to advance, and did so under a heavy 
 fire. Thev succeeded in passing the white 
 troops, already in. bnt in a disorganized condi- 
 tion. They reformed to some extent and at- 
 tempted to charge the hill in front, but with- 
 out success, and broke in disorder to the rear. 
 This was about 8:45 A. M., about four hours 
 after the explosion of the mine. ***** 
 
 "At 9:45 A. M. General Burnside received a 
 peremptory order from General Meade to 
 withdraw his troops. * * * * * *" 
 ******* 
 
 "The troops were withdrawn between one 
 and two o'clock in considerable confusion, 
 caused by an assault of the enemy, and re- 
 turned to the lines they had occupied in the 
 morning. 
 
 The error of Col. Roman in placing the 
 orders of Gen. Meade to his corps com- 
 manders to suspend operations and with 
 draw their troops anterw to the charge 
 made by the Virginia brigade shows ex- 
 ceptional want of care in the preparation 
 of matter published to the world as his- 
 
 tory. Especially is. this true as Col. 
 Roman was a staff-officer of Gen. Beaur- 
 gard, and ought to have been better in- 
 formed as to the subject whereof he 
 wrote. 
 
 As to the statement that other troops 
 besides the Virginia brigade made the 
 charge, and that these troops were f ur 
 reyiments and part of a fifth, it maybe 
 safely affirmed that this is not according 
 to the recollection of nny of the men of 
 Mahone's brigade who participated in the 
 charge, f 
 
 There any pos<ibly have been, and I 
 have no doubt but that there were, a few 
 individual members of these Carolina 
 regiments who charged along with Ma- 
 hone's brigade, but. if any organized 
 body, or bodies, of troops made the 
 charge along with the Virginians, this 
 important fact has hitherto wholly es- 
 caped the attention of the men of this 
 brigade. 
 
 That there was gross mismanagement 
 on the part of the Federals in not so ar- 
 ranging and handling their troops as to 
 place them in possession of Cemetery 
 Ridge within a few minutes after the ex- 
 plosion of the mine none can dispute. 
 
 That the gallant South Carolinians of 
 Elliott's brigade uo to the date of the 
 fall of their brave leader, General 
 Stephen Elliott, and subsequently under 
 
 tCaptain W. Gordon McCabe, who was the 
 adjutant of Colonel Wm. J. Pegram 's battal- 
 ion of artillery, was an eye-witness of the 
 charge. In an account of what he saw, sent 
 me today, he says: 
 
 " t a little before 1 A. M„ Colonel Pegram 
 reported with two batteries (Brander's and 
 'the PurcelD at Bushrod Johnson's headquar- 
 ters, which were east of the road and immedi- 
 ately north of the present first entrance to 
 Blandford Cemetery. 
 
 "General Johnson knew nothing of the ex- 
 tent of the disaster. He had not even been to 
 the front. General Lee came up while I was 
 there, Colonel Pegram having gone to the 
 front to see where to put his guns. 
 
 "Col. Pegram returned In a few minutes, 
 and as. on account of the severe fire sweeping 
 the plank road, we could not move the guns 
 up that road, we went back toward town until 
 we struck the ravine. We pulled our guns 
 along the ravine until we came to the reser- 
 voir. We went up the ravine along the course 
 of .Lieutenant Run to a point near the bridge 
 on New road, which road being commanded 
 by the enemy's guns, we had to as- 
 cend the hill to the north of this road. 
 The hill is very steep there, or was. We 
 left our caissons in the ravine at the foot of 
 the reservoir, 'doubled teams' 4>n the guns and 
 
 pulled them square up this almost perpendic 
 ular hill. It was the steepest pull I ever saw 
 during the war. We then moved forward and 
 came into battery about fifty yards in the rear 
 of the right of the Gee house, a commanding 
 position on the west side of the plank road 
 about five hundred yards in rear of the Cra- 
 ter. 
 
 "Our orders were not to fire at all unless the 
 enemy attempted to re-inforce the troops in 
 the Crater, or the troops there attempted to 
 advance to Cemetery Hill. We ran up piles of 
 cannister in front of each gun and then had to 
 stand idle and take a heavy fire. Col. Pegram 
 and I went forward to the Gee house to see 
 what was going on. We went up stairs and 
 peeped through the bullet-holes, for the 
 whole place was riddled with bullets and was 
 being further riddled while we were there. 
 From this position I saw Mahone's men lying 
 down in the ravine. I saw no troops to their 
 right or left. Suddenly they jumped up and 
 with a wild yell charged and carried the posi- 
 tion occupied by the enemy north of the Cra- 
 ter. I never saw n thing done so quickly. 
 Pegram and I yelled and clapped our hands 
 and ran back and told our men. It was the 
 first good news we had to tell that day. ''Tan- 
 turn vidi," 1 as the Roman says. We pulled out 
 of our position at sun-set." 
 
18 
 
 the leadership of Colonel F. W. McMas- 
 ter, did their full duty, as did other in- 
 fantry by their fire from the flanks, none 
 will deny. 
 
 That the aitillery occupying the forts 
 to the rignt and left and stationed in rear 
 of the Crater rendered most effective ser- 
 vice is beyond question. 
 
 That the Alabama brigade made the 
 final successful charge has never been 
 dispuled. 
 
 But that the charge of the Virginia 
 brigade, commanded by Gen. D. A. 
 Weisiger and directed by Gen. Wm. 
 Mahone, made a little before nine o'clock 
 in the morning, die the substantial work 
 that led to the re-capture of the Crater 
 and the adjacent earthworks is a fact 
 that will always stand out boldly on the 
 pages of history, and the fame of the 
 brigade foi its part in this brilliant ac- 
 tion, increasing as time rolls on, will 
 shine out in the imperishable records of 
 the late war long after its actors shall 
 have passed away. 
 
 Weisiger was an impetuous, dashing 
 man, among the bravest of the brave ; 
 Mahone, cool, courageous, and able, was 
 by nature fitted for generalship as few 
 men are, and none knew this better than 
 the men of his command. Wherever he 
 led or placed them, they always felt a 
 moral certainty that they were being 
 properly led or placed, either to inflict 
 the most damage on the enemy or to have 
 the enemy inflict the least damage on 
 them. Accordingly, on the morning of the 
 charge at the Crater, there was not a 
 man in the brigade, knowing that Gen. 
 Mahone was present personally superin- 
 tending and directing the movement, that 
 did not feel that we were to be properly 
 and skilfully handled, and would be put 
 in just when and where the most effec- 
 tive service could be rendered. This im- 
 pression of these two commanders of the 
 old brigade, whose names have passed 
 into history along with that of the com- 
 mand, I have felt that justice requires 
 that I should here record. 
 
 I feel, too, that I should not pass in 
 
 silence the gallant southerner, Captain 
 V. J. Girardey, who was serving on 
 General Mahone's staff at the time of the 
 action and won by his conduct the com- 
 mission of a brigadier-general, dating from 
 the 30th of July, 1864, and whose splen- 
 did conduct on this and previous oc- 
 casions had commanded the admiration 
 of all of the men of our brigade. 
 
 Nor should I pass in silence the daring 
 deeds of Privates Dean and Valentine, of 
 the 12th As the line was forming for 
 the charge, each picked out and pointed 
 to a stand of Federal colors and said he 
 meant to have it. On the charge, before 
 reaching the works, Valentine received a 
 wound from which he never recovered, 
 and Dean was killed. Both men were 
 members of the Petersburg Old Grays. 
 
 I have now. Comrades, finished my 
 story of the Crater, not however, with- 
 out a painful sense that as a record of 
 this historic battle it is very incomplete. 
 Many brave and gallant deeds done by 
 men on both sides have not been men- 
 tioned. To Capt. McCabe's splendid 
 narrative already mentioned, to the 
 Century articles and other documents 
 from which I have so freely drawn, and 
 to the many old soldiers who participated 
 in the action yet alive, I must refer for 
 much that I have necessaiily omitted, as 
 for instance, for such deeds of valor as 
 those of Capt. Wallace Broadbent, on the 
 Confederate side, who fell pierced by 
 eleven bayonet wounds, and of Lieut. - 
 Col. John A. Bross, on the Federal 
 side, who, attired in full uniform, fell 
 riddled with bullets as he was conspicu- 
 ously rallying his men for a forward 
 move. What has been narrated tonight 
 must be received only as a private sol- 
 dier's individual impressions of the ac- 
 tion, formed partly from personal knowl- 
 edge and partly from information ob- 
 tained from others and believed to be au- 
 thentic. If the story told has interested 
 or contributed to a clearer understanding 
 of how the battle was fought and won, 
 it will have served its purpose. 
 

 Hacks and Horses for Hire. Strangers taken to the battle 
 
 fields and other places of interest around Petersburg. 
 Apply to or address, R. T. STONE, Petersburg, Va. 
 
 IMMIGRATION, LAND AND IMPROVEMENT COMPANY. 
 
 Chartered by Act of the Legislature. 
 Authorized Capital Stock, $500,000. Minimum Stock, $50,000. 
 
 Richard B. Davis, Preident, Jas. D- Brady, V.-President, Carter B. Bishop, Treas* 
 
 W- N. Ragland, Secretary. General Counsel, Wm. Mcllwaine. 
 
 Richard B. Davis, Jas. D. Brady, Carter R; Bishop, David Bailey, Morris Levy, 
 
 W. L. Zinnner, W. Pannill. Directors Commissioned hy the Governor of Virginia. 
 
 Offers its services to all parties desiring to sell or purchase lands. 
 
 WEST-END 
 
 Land and Improvement Co, 
 
 PETERSBURG, VA. 
 
 285 Valuable Building Lots — High, Dry and Healthy. 
 
 Davie & Whittle, 
 
 'amufmcturers of FertiliMerSi 
 
 PETERSBURG, VA. 
 
Wm. E. Dibbell, Pres. Geo. Alex. Brown, V.-Pres. J. O. BowoisH,Treas. 
 
 PETERSBURG 
 
 6P BBJPBRSBaRS,' W 
 
 General Offices, 38 Wall Street, New York. 
 
 Dressed and Polished Monunental and Gemetary Work 
 
 of Every Description. 
 
 Granite for all kinds of Building Purposes, Street Curbing, Paving, etc, 
 
 The Granite from this Quarry has no superior, and we do the 
 
 finest class of work, both in Monumental and Building 
 
 contracts; also set and complete work, Orders by 
 
 mail receive special attention. Prices furnished 
 
 on application. P. O. Box 526, Petersburg, Va