THE BATTLE OF THE CRATER. By B. L. Beaty, Captain Company ■ K, Twenty-Sixth Regiment, S. C. V., at Meeting of Horry County Confederate Soldiers Association at Conway, July 3, 1903 (as by Lt. Col. Hudson in Sketches Comrades, it has been assigned me to give you some account of the Battle of the Crater, which I will endeavor to do, supplementing information from personal knowledge by that drawn from other sources, which I deem necessary to a proper and intelligent under- standing of the whole matter.... ...The Federal General Burnsides, who conducted this operation against us, thus described the work : The main gallery, extending to a point under the Confederate line, was 522 feet long. From the inner end of this main gallery extended side galleries for forty feet in each direction. At the outer end and middle of .these side gal- leries, short galleries were run and chambers or magazines were made to contain the explosives. This was first intended to consist of 1,200 or 1,400 pounds of powder in each of the eight magazines, to be connected by a trough half filled with powder. It was after- wards decided to put only 320 kegs of powder, containing 1,000 pounds, in each of the eight magazines, making a charge of 8,000 pounds. We knew the enemy was undermining our line at this point and had endeavored to countermine and blow up the workmen, but failed foi want of proper tools to do the work. Our brigade had been stationed on this part of our line, or near to it, almost if not ever since it was established, when we fell back on the 18th of June after so stubbornly resisting Grants army when he moved to the south side of the James River, christening also with the blood of our men this new line in resisting several heavy assaults of the enemy before we had completed our breastworks, and holding them in check until General Lee could come to our relief. Our regiment, the Twenty-sixth S. C, was then fighting to the right of the hill where Pegrams Battery was stationed. The earthworks in which this battery was located was afterward blown up, forming the Crater. On the morning of the 30th of July, 1864, Saturday, the brigade of Gen. Stephen Elliott, composed of the Twenty-sixth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second and Twenty-third S. C. Regiments of infantry, occupied the line about the Elliott Salient, the regiments being located from left to right, as here named, with Ransoms North Carolina Brigade joined to the Twenty-sixth S. C. Regiment on the left and Wises Virginia Brigade joined to the Twenty-third S. C. Regiment on the right. Our line at this point was very close to those of the enemy — only 130 yards by actual measurement afterward made. To drown any noise made by their miners, they kept up a constant firing day and night, our men being equally vigilant, not allowing one of them to expose himself without receiving our fire. Many deaths and narrow escapes occurred here. So accurate became the aim from practice, that to hold up ones hat on a ramrod was to have several holes through it very quickly. This constant watching and exertion day and night was very exhausting, so much so that the infantry and artillery stationed here had to do duty by reliefs in the battery and breastworks immediately adjoining. Our regiment, the Twenty-sixth S. C, had not long been relieved from duty in the fort by the Eighteenth S. C. Regiment. We were occupying the line on the left of the brigade. The enemys plan of attack was for the colored division of the Ninth, Burnsides Corps, to make the advance. The location of our fort was pointed out to them and the part they were to perform was given to their officers in detail, as was the work of the other troops. The Thirtieth U. S. Regiment, colored troops, was to advance im- mediately after the explosion as rapidly as possible to the Crater, turn to the left, sweep down our line of breastworks and hold the farthest point gained. Another regiment was selected lo do the same on the right. This would make a fair opening for their troops following to make a bee line for our battery on Cemetery Hill, which was understood to be the key to this part of our line and to command the city. For several days their troops were drilled in just the move- ments they were expected to go through with when the explosion should occur. Time after time did they go through the imaginary advance, turn to the left and advance along the line of our breast- works. Every officer and private knew his place and what he was expected to do. Without a single command, the part assigned to each could have been carried out. But the night before, the plan was changed and white troops sent in without knowing apparently what to do, while the colored division was not ordered forward until full two hours had elapsed and then had no definite idea what was expected of them. The intention was to spring the mine at 2 oclock Saturday morning, but the fuse twice failed to ignite the powder. For the grand assault on our lines the enemy had massed 65,000 men. It was well planned, and if carried out without the confusion resulting from their change of plans at the last moment must have proven very disastrous to us, indeed. The explosion, which occurred at 4 45 a. m., by the records, overwhelmed Pegrams Battery of four guns and all the men on duty with them, the whole of the Eighteenth S. C. Regiment, with very few exceptions. Companies A and — were entirely destroyed — not a man left of them; three companies of the Twenty-second and part of Company A of the Seventeenth Regiment. These all were in that part of the line that was blown up or immediately adjoining it. to be continued...
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 00:15:01 +0000
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