350 THE ARMY BEFORE PETERSBURG. and captured their guns, trains, and five hundred men, with a loss to himself of only about fifty men.' Grant was now satisfied that an efficient force was needed in the Shenandoah Valley, for the protection of Washington from seizure, and Maryland and Pennsylvania from invasion, and he proceeded to consolidate the Washington, Middle, Susquehanna, and Southwest Virginia Departments into one, called the Middle Military Division, under the command of General Hunter. The latter expressed a willingness to be relieved, and August 7. Grant assigned General Philip H. Sheridan to the command of the new organization. He entered at once upon his duties, and found himself at the head of over thirty thousand troops, with which to confront Early with about twenty thousand." 1864. 3 Let us here leave Sheridan, and return to the army before Petersburg. We have observed that the Nationals had secured a footing at Deep Bottom, on the north side of the James, and a quick communication between it and the main army by means of a pontoon bridge. This movement was a part of a plan of assault on the Confederate lines at Petersburg, in connection with the blowing up of one of the most powerful of the enemy's forts, situated within about a thousand yards of the city. This was to be done by the explosion of a mine under the fort, which had been for nearly a month in preparation, under the immediate supervision of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Pleasants, of the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, of Burnside's corps. He was a practical miner; and a greater portion of the men of his regiment had been recruited in the mining district. He suggested the enterprise to General Potter, and when that officer proposed it to General Burnside, their corps commander, he heartily approved it. With indifferent tools and a great lack of proper materials, Pleasants began the task on the 25th of June, and on the 23d of July the mine was ready for use.* 1 So wild were rumors, that on the day when Averill defeated the Confederates at Moorfield, the impression was so strong that Early was across the Potomac with his army, heading toward the Susque⚫ August 4. hanna, that Governor Curtin issued a proclamation calling out 30.000 militia, and the inhabitants of the Cumberland Valley commenced another exodus from their homes, with cattle and other property. 2 Sheridan's column for active operations consisted of the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps, and the infantry and cavalry of West Virginia, under Generals Crook and Averill. To these were added the cavalry divisions of Torbert and Wilson, sent to him from the army before Petersburg. His cavalry force was about ten thousand strong, and in fine condition. 3 See page 339. 4 The advance of the Ninth (Burnside's) Corps was within 200 yards of one of the strongest of the Confederate forts on the Petersburg lines, under which a mine was constructed. It was commenced in a hollow within Burnside's lines, just in the rear of a deep cut of the City Point railway, entirely concealed from the Confederates. The work was performed by the enlisted men of the Forty-eighth Regiment, nearly 400 in number, under the special direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants. The excavation was made through soft earth for some distance, when a stratum of marl, of the consistence of putty, was encountered, to avoid which the direction of the gallery was made to assume that of an inclined plane for about 100 feet. The earth (18,000 cubic feet in bulk) was taken out in barrows constructed of cracker-boxes, and concealed under brushwood, for it was important that no knowledge of the work should reach the Confederates. On the 17th of July the main gallery was completed, 510 feet in length, when lateral galleries were made under the doomed fort, for the magazines of gunpowder. These extended about 37 feet on each side of the termination of the main gallery. The powder, consisting of 320 kegs in bulk, or about 8,000 pounds, was placed in eight magazines, connected by wooden tubes half filled with powder. These were connected with three lines of fuses in the main gallery. These excavations were made secure from accident by lining the sides and tops of the galleries with timber and plank, in the manner shown by a section of the main gallery here represented. The gallery was 4 feet in height, and a little less in width at the bottom. SECTION OF MAIN GALLERY RICHMOND MENACED. 351 It was at about this time that the lodgment at Deep Bottom was made. Lee sent troops to expel Foster, but their attempts to do so were unsuccessful. Finally, when the July, 1864. cation across the river would be seriously menaced. These troops crossed the James on the night of the 26th," and on the following morning, while Foster amused the Confederates on their front, Miles's brigade of Barlow's division flanked them, and captured four of their guns. They fell back to a strong position behind Baylis's creek, where they blocked the way to the heavy works on Chapin's Bluff, which Sheridan attempted to flank. He gained an advantageous position on high ground, and was preparing to make an attempt to get in the rear of the Confederate stronghold, when night compelled him to suspend his movement. July. These menacing operations had the desired effect. To meet the seemingly impending danger to Richmond, Lee withdrew five of his eight remaining divisions from the south side of the James, between the 27th and 29th, and the opportunity for the assault which Grant had been waiting for was now offered. The lines before him were weakened, and Early was yet in the Shenandoah Valley; so he arranged for an explosion of the mine on the morning of the 30th, and a co-operating assault upon the Confederate works in front of Burnside's corps, where, within one hundred and fifty yards of his lines, a strong six gun fort projected beyond the average of the front of his adversary. This was the doomed fortification. About four hundred yards behind it was Cemetery Hill, crowned by a battery, which commanded Petersburg and the most important of the Confederate works. It was believed that if that crest could be seized and held by the Nationals, the city must quickly fall, with heavy loss to its defenders. This crest was, therefore, the chief objective in the impending assault. Every thing was in readiness on the night of the 29th of July. The explosion was to be followed by an immediate opening of the great guns all along the front, and by an assault at the breach to be made by the active mine. This was to be done by a division of Burnside's corps, one of which was composed of negro troops. The Lieutenant-General refused to have the 1 In this little picture Chapin's Bluff is denoted in the extreme distance by a series of white spots along the edge of the water. The spectator is standing in an embrasure of Fort Darling, on Drewry's Bluff, looking directly down the James River. The single bird in the distance is over the place of the fortifications at Chapin's Bluff. The three birds nearer are hovering over the remains of obstructions in the river, just below Fort Darling. 352 THE MINE AT PETERSBURG. latter-named division employed for the purpose, and Ledlie's, composed of white men, was chosen by lot for the perilous duty.' It stood ready for action at half-past three o'clock in the morning, the hour appointed for the explosion. An accident postponed that event until almost five o'clock,' when the fort, its guns, cais sons, and other munitions of war, and its garrison of three hundred men, were thrown high in air and annihilated. In the place of the fortification was left a crater of loose earth two hundred feet in length, full fifty in width, and twenty-five to thirty MAGAZINES OUTLINE OF THE CRATER AND THE MAGAZINES.3 feet in depth. The National guns then opened a heavy cannonade and bombardment, with precision and effect, all along the line. To this only a feeble response was given by the astounded Confederates, and the way seemed open for the easy capture of the coveted Cemetery Hill beyond the crater, by the assaulting column. 6 But that column moved slowly and feebly, first in clearing away most dangerous obstructions, and then in halting in the crater, as if seeking shelter from a storm of shot and shell. No such storm occurred until long after the explosion; yet Ledlie's division went no further than the site of the ruined fort. Portions of the divisions of Potter and Wilcox followed, but their way toward the crest was blocked by Ledlie's halted column. Then the division of colored soldiers, under General Ferrero, was sent forward to storm the hill. For a moment it seemed as if those troops would be successful. - They pushed well up toward the crest, and captured some men; but they, 1 This division was composed of two brigades, the first led by General J. J. Bartlett, and the second by Colonel Marshall, and consisted of the Ninth, Twenty-first, Thirty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and Fiftyninth Massachusetts, under Bartlett, and the One Hundredth Pennsylvania, One Hundred and Seventy-ninth New York, Third Maryland, Second Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, and the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, under Marshall. 2 Pleasants lighted the fuse at a quarter past three o'clock, and waited an hour for the explosion, when Lieutenant Jacob Douty and Sergeant Henry Reese, of Pleasants's regiment, volunteered to go in and examine into the cause of the delay. The fire had stopped where the fuses had been spliced. They were relighted by these daring men, and at sixteen minutes before five o'clock the mine exploded. See Pleasants's Report. 3 This shows the outline of the crater and the position of the magazines which composed the mine. It is copied from Pleasants's Report. 4 General Hunt, the Chief of Artillery, in his report, speaks of the manner of firing on that occasion, as "partaking of the nature of target practice," and which "was very effective." The Confederates had received intimation of the construction of this mine, and had begun a counter-mine in search of it; but they had no positive knowledge concerning its progress or destination. • In front of their works the Confederates had strong abatis, and also tripping wires, such as the Nationals used at Knoxville and elsewhere. Among these were sharp stakes, which might impale those who were thrown down by the wires. Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants, in his report, made on the 24 of August, says: "I stood on the top of our breastworks, and witnessed the effect of the explosion on the enemy. It so completely paralyzed them, that the breadth of the breach, instead of being two hundred feet, was practically four or five hundred yards. The rebels in the forts both on the right and left of the explosion ran away, and for over an hour, as well as I could judge, not a shot was fired by their artillery. There was no fire from the infantry from the front for at least half an hour, none from the left for twenty minutes, and but few shots from the right." MOVEMENT AGAINST RICHMOND 353 too, were soon hurled back by a heavy fire. They rallied and again advanced, when they were repulsed a second time. Then they fled in confusion to the vicinity of the crater, where the whole body of disordered troops, huddled in small space, were confused and mingled, and subjected to a concentrated fire from the Confederates, who had rallied and were bringing to bear upon the swarm of assailants their musketry and heavy guns with terrible effect. Shot and shell and minie bullets were poured upon the confused mass like hail, and the slaughter was dreadful. To remain was to court death; to retreat was to invite destruction; for the ground between the lines was swept by the Confederate artillery. At length a column of the foe charged upon the Nationals at the crater, and were repulsed. A second charge scattered the dismayed fragments of the Ninth Corps, which had made attempts to retreat in squads, when it was found that their comrades in the trenches could not aid them. Each man was now attentive only to his own safety in flight. In this wretched affair the Nationals lost about four thousand four hundred men, and the Confederates less than one thousand, including those who were blown up with the fort. It was a most conspicuous and disastrous failure, and the Confederates were greatly encouraged and comforted by it. Grant was disappointed, but not discouraged, by the failure of the 30th. He paused about twelve days, and then ordered Hancock to attack the Confederates in front of Deep Bottom. Hancock was joined, for the purpose, by the remainder of the Tenth Corps (to which Foster's division belonged), under Birney,' and Gregg's cavalry division; and for the purpose of mislead ing the foe, the whole expeditionary force was placed on transports at City Point, and its destination was reported to be Wash- August 12, ington City. That night" it went up the James River to Deep Bottom; but so tardy was the debarkation, that an intended surprise of the Confederates was prevented. b 1864. August 13. It was nine o'clock in the morning before the troops were ready to move, when Hancock pushed out the Second Corps by the Malvern Hills and New Market road, to flank the Confederate defenses behind Baylis's Creek. He sent Barlow with about ten thousand men to assault the flank and rear of the foe, while Mott's division threatened their intrenched front, and Birney's corps attacked them nearer the river. But the delay had allowed Lee to send re-enforcements, and the operations of the day were of little account to the Nationals, excepting advantages gained by Birney, who captured four guns. Considering Richmond in danger, Lee rapidly sent re-enforcements, and the Nationals were compelled to adopt new plans and make other disposi с tions. On the morning of the 16th, General Birney made a di- August. rect attack on the Confederate lines with General Terry's division. That gallant officer carried the lines, and captured nearly three hundred men, with three battle-flags; but the foe soon rallied in heavier force, and drove him back. In the mean time, Gregg, supported by Miles's "fighting brigade," of Barlow's division, had been operating on the Charles 1 Several changes had been made. General Gillmore was succeeded in the command of the Tenth Corps by General Birney, and General W. F. Smith, of the Eighteenth Corps, was succeeded by General Ord. VOL. III.- 101 |