Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-08-06
rus BATTLE OF PErEnsnUHG.
rhc ninc--How DC was Constructed
"A reinstatement Lee not Deceived
The Expiosion-ttter Destruction
of the Fort-Terribfe Artillery fire
-Great Panic Amongst The Negro
troops They Beircatin Esrror-rhe
Whole Line Forced Bach he Con
Fcderatcs Petake their ~ orAs.


lempls 90 drive The enemy from Petersburg D.
force 1T nlvskst. bAvOne' and cannon, the feast
biiify oi mining Hs- suggested. IL Is not neces
sary To .ay who j. entitled 20 the honor OF hav
IN originated the plan II j. sufficient "a state
hat on the DAY above mentioned, the work Of
excasating tunnel commenced and progressed
steadily until the 25th inst
On that day the tunnel vas completed The
length vss abou; five hundred feet, and at the
.;Id OF The tunnel the mine formed. running
parallel With and directly under the fort that was
- be destroyed. On ths 9Th the enormous
qIasfity .. twelve Thousand pounds OF powder
was placed IL the mine. fuses were constructed
and connected with the magazine, and everything
Vas in readiness for the grand explosion. Every
one acquainted with the details was conhden, of
brilliant success, AID eager for the moment when
the fort that so detisntly resisted all oar efforts
against il would be blown ou OF existence, and
with 10 tlp,e who we're unfortunate enough 20
toe WITHIN ITS III lated walls AZ the appointed hour
IL was arranged that Immediately after the
q plosion grand charge should be made against
the other portions OF the enemy's line. and 90
render success more certain, il was determined 10
draw oil by feint large part OF Lees army
aud when bis lire should be Thus weakened the
charge To be made
On the night Of tie twenty sixth the % corps
moved from It's positon in reserve and crossed
the App0mattoX Next morning, the twenty
seventh. The march was confined. and the troops
crossed the James
You have already bcen informed OF the opera
lion OF that day, bot il j. proper 10 state that
Lee was not deceived by the movement He
knew it to be ruse OF some kind, and content
Ing himself with dsoaichng force suihcien, 70
check an advance toward Richmond, he KEEP: the
greater part of his army still behind It's intrench-
ments. and cslmly awaited the development OF
yfa la ~
the north side of the James until FRIDAY night,
the 29th. and hen quietly and rapid. marched
back and went into position in the rear. With a
portion OF the command resting Oh the right OF
the line IL was arranged to spring the mine on
the following morning. and all aDxionS for
the arrival OF the exciting hour
Three o clock Yesterday morning Was the ap-
pointed time. AZ that hour every elevation,
every spot that could afford view OF the doomed
tort, was crowded by our men. The 9th and
18th corps were ia readiness FOR the brisk work
expected of them. To them had been allotted
the task of charging the line, aud it expect
Ell that by moving at 80 early az hour. tho enc
nv would be completely surprised. and his utter
defeat must be thus rendered a matter of Ger
tainty. The fort toward which all ewes were ex
pec,antly turned was in front OF Burnside's posi-
ton Burnside was 10 order a charge a. soon as
the explosion should bo heard The 18th corps
MAS or Ills llSHl, att y "a, -
Is with the 9th, and these ware 80 be supported
bv the ID and 9Th
Three o'clock was the appointed time Grant
and Meade were al Buffers headquarters. Eyery
thing Vas so well arranged that no DELAY or mis-
take was anticipated The fuses were laid The
men were ~ their post All looked eagerly and
listened frr The terrible roar that Was 70 shake
tlie earth aud send into eternity tho cuardisns Of
the fort Something, went ~rong The iuac was
- - 4 Il
and the IRE died out Hslfpast three Fire WIS
again applied, and i, gain failed Four Some
thing else went wrong. Halfpast four All was
again in readiness Day had dauned, and re-
vesled the presence and unusual stir of large
bodies of mel
The enemy discovered some important move
ment on foot. Forty minutes past four. Sud
denly the earth was thrown toward the sky As
If by mighty eruption OF nature the fort and all
il contained were dashed into fragments and
flung high in air. For some moments every-
thing was obscured by the great mountain of
dust and loosened PARTICLES OF earth that arose
from where few moments before the Confeder-
ate stood threatening ana confronting our men,
There we're some men, perhaps II hundred, in the
fort AZ the time These were thrown into the air
with the flying earth
Guns were mounted il. the enOI asure5 Some
say ten, some say sixteen. we are not sure of the
number. These were also dashed from their
places 4 cavity, deep ana Jagged, like the
mouth Of crater, yawneG when the artillery
roarci from end 10 end of the line Ii COM
mcucei with Butler aud Foster, far to the right;
The terrible thunder of the guns was appalling
The earth erosued aud tremble6. bpt still the
dreadful storm ragged Then there came II
inii Burnside Was TO charge Immediately af-
tex the explosion. bat for some reason his
lines were not ready
bis command consisted of three divisions
One o. them was composed exclusively OF
negroes. Twenty MINUTES had elapsed before
the line was ready Then they advanced boldly
aud steadily The lslh corps was on the right
Warren and Hancock were supporting They
charged the first line. and the CODfedera,es fell
back before them They always do They
never hold their first line They always have
stronger line in reserve BOrDSdes men still
advanced They reached TIE second line and
held part o! il.
Here they were met by terrible fire The
enemys guns commanded every foot of ground
They sent whillw n Is OF grape and shrapnel into
and through Burnsides ranks. The fire
awful, unparalleled. Every gun was brought
into Iequisi;ion. II Burnside and his supporters
could press through tha; concentrated whirl
wind OF death, the enemy mus abandon Peters
bur-. If the enemy could drive back the ad-
,ancing column, Petersburg would be saved,
and the Lieutenant General great plan defeatei
RICH, ,tubbornly The contest wen; or
The commanders urged their troops forward.
but they could not proceed They tried 10 hold
their ground, bot they could nui 30 thar They
were falling IN hundreds. 'mi 30 iucessant iife
poured steadilv into them
The negroes were EFS' thrown into confusion
They bad never before witnessed ,uch 4 fire
They could not >'ars < si;s>. &C.. First a 1ozet.
fell back then q score; then q huutiTci the- re-
iments and brigade Bravely put vainly did ~
commanders strive >. hook -: bat ~ their ct
i"rt- were useless
ho awful storm @. destruction still poured
down. and sDeit IT. rage ou the negro troop~
The Confedera'eS saN the beginning If success.
they determined 20 follow Il W, ard rotakc the
~ofks They pressed down tic cOlOred troop
and the devastating fTe It'll continued. The COZ
fusion became a rout The negroes lied IN ter
tor. hut the RELENTLESS Zoe pursued them. The1
go their suppoTts-the white troops. IN
attempt was made 20 check them. bat il i,ilej
The centre hsing broken. the TANKS hai 10 giYe
way
thousands Of c0.Orcd TROOPS rushing against AMI
breaking through them Back TO the fret line
there 10 stand and try retrieve the fortunes Of
the morning Ii vas vet eaIly-sboGt J. The
fearful ire from more 'hau hundred guns
stl directed gtinsi and dashed into our line
De COnieleratss pressed on. pushing back or
liuc steadily. he prestige vas al. on their SIDE
hey hsd rspulssd the attack and vigorously toi
lowed up their success Their guns commando
tire whole field Not one SPOT was sheltered