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In an attempt to break the siege of Petersburg Virginia, the Union army engineers dug a 511 foot tunnel from thier trenches all the way to two large Confederate cannons on thier (the Confederates) forward battery. They placed several tons of explosives under the Confederate works which hopefully, would make a gap in the line, enabling an assault force to take the position and allow a force to move forward to Cemetary Hill.


The Confederates won for several reasons. The main reason was that a specially trained division of Colored Infantry was to spearhead the assault on the crater, but General Meade, the man in charge of this operation decided to not allow the troops to lead the attack, deeming them "uncapable" just one day before the battle. So now, a different unit would lead the charge.

The day of the battle, the fuse was lit but did not go off, so several engineers had to enter the tunnel to re-light it. Finally the charge blew, creating a 30 ft deep, 170 ft wide crater in the Confederate lines. The untrained men leading the charge moved forward but stopped, broke formation and stared in awe at the gaping hole in the ground. The two divisions following them made them move forward. But instead of skirting the crater and taking the surrounding trenches, the 3 divisions moved directly into the crater. This is what caused them the battle.

By then, the Confederates had called up reinforcements, and were now standing on the rim of the crater, firing unmercileslly into the trapped Union troops. Soon several 12 and 6lb Howitzers were moved to the rim and began firing cannister into the Union soldiers. General Meade was in the rear, drunk by this time, and General Burnside ordered the Colored Division to push back the Confederates around the crater and free the men inside of it. The Colored men attacked, pushing back the Confederates about 20 yards. Then the Confederates became enraged at the sight of Blacks and counter attacked viciously, forcing the Colored troops into the crater also.

Now the Confederates were in blind fury and began charging down into the crater, bayoneting the Union troops. Many of the Union whites became so scared that they too would be put to the bayonet, that they began shooting the black troops. The Confederates overwhelmed the Unioners and savegely killed many blacks, and whites alike, who attempted to surrender. After the battle, Union dead were stacked in layers of up to 4 men in the bottom of the crater.Also the Union men who managed to get out of the back of the crater were slaughtered by Confederate artillery.

The Confederates won an overwhelming victory(in terms of tactics and casualties, the siege continued afterward) , with 5,300 Union dead, 500 captured and an estimated 4,000 wounded, The Confederates suffered 1,032 dead(500 were killed in the blast), estimated 500 wounded and none captured.

so you are telling me they dug 511 ft and planted tnt and blew a 170ft wide crater. how much delmolition charges did they use?

hu the fcuk nows wt they use u cant make a hole tht big with TNT or anything else

They used black powder and dynamite.

lol ont mind me thn i odnt no much anyways crying

Thats a hell of a strategy too bad it didnt work.

Lee was always the better strategist, but the Union's superior economy, supplies, and numbers won out in the end. And that, my students, is a strategy in itself.

the drunk? wat did he do? its was his soldiers that won the battle