The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-09-08

D - ""S naau9eOn tne evening OF the 18th
81 u The second corps, the advance
OF the army OF the Potomac, had crossed
the James river two nights before,
and at midnight of the 18th, a pontoon
bridge had been constructed, and the 9tb
and 5th and 9Th soon followed. The last
corps that landed was pushed forward t.
Petersburg, and on the night of the 18Th
our line had been broken and held. The
fighting continued for three nights. and the
Union force at times reached and mounted
our very parapets and were only repulsed
after q desperate struggle and a heavy loss.
After this the two great armies remained
quiet, recuperating their strength. During
tne latter part Of June and the whole of
July the armies were engaged in rectifyinp
and strengthening their respective lines
The Union lines then extended from Ammo.
matox to City Point, and in order to meet
them the Confederate lines were naturally
very thin. Earthworks were thrown up.
n much time was consumed in this work.
These lines at some points, were not over
two hundred yards apart, while the picket
lines IN front were not over that many feet
from each other. The s~harpshooters Of
each ! d keptup a continual firing, and q
fellow VINO placed his hat on q ramrod and
pushed it above the earthworks was sure to
\ 9 bullet through it when it came down.
a fellow lying stretched out along the limb
Of q tree, concealed blythe foliage, would
wait hour after. hour, through rain and
shine, for the pleasure of picking off his
man across across the way. While the men
q very. important work was going
on, however. The Federals had among
them a regiment under command Of Lieu
tenant Colonel Peasants, The 48th Penn
s%ylvania. I think under the direction Of a
skillful engineer, executed the idea of
mining and Blowing up a battery of the
enemy. HI work was certainly well exc
cuted. The gallery was begun at noon on
the 18th of June. The utensils were of
the rudess kind, but many hands soon
made great progress. The gallery was well
timbered andperfect in every respect. The
main gallery was completed on July. II, and
was sos feet in length. General Lee bad
Obtained information of the mine and set
his men to work with a. counter mine TO
find it. They did not strike deep enough.
and went above the federals, who could
hear the confederates above them. We
could not hear the federals. though Hear
ing the c~onfederates above them the feder-
al excayated q little beyond but in.rear of
their works. thus giving their gallery a
curved direction. A left and right lateral
gallery were tlen made. and eight maya
zines were placed in position. The order
TO charge the mine was given or the 9th
OF July. and the work was done between 4
n 10 p. M. on that day"
How much powder was placed I'M it?'
"Well, you see the federals desired not
only to blow up the fort above them and
thus break our lines, but they hoped to
create q terrible amount Of confusion, dur.
ing which they could push through and
carry the heights beyond. They therefore
filled the place with 800 kegs Of powder,
each containing Is pounds, or 5000 pound
nal Tamping was finished by the even
ing OF the 28th at daybreak; on the Both of
July, 1854, it was fired. The federal troops
had been drawn up il battle array and the
explosion was to be the signal to. charge.
The hour fixed for the signal came. but
the signal came not. It would not do to
wait long. The fuse had been lit, but twen-
y minutes had passed and there was no ex-
!ploslon. IT might have gone out, yet at any
instant It might explode. It would take m
hour to tell certalnlywhat was the matter.
BY that time the sun would be up and it
would be too late. The armies would be
astir. There was but one thing to do.
Would any man volunteer to enter thr gal-
lery? A man did SO. He crawledon his
hands and knees along the ground tracing
the burntfuse until he cameto q curve THE
gallery, and there he found that it had gone
out. He relit it at that point and then fled
for his life. He had scarcely reached the
entrance wsen the earth shook as though
Its very depths had been stirred. The fort
which had been undermined was at the
time ggarrisoned by Pegram's Battery from
Pc ersburg and consisted Of four guns and
forty men. It overlooked a slight sravine,
and behind it was a level field running to
the base Of Cemetery Hill, which the Fed
erals had hoped to carry. The fort was
blown to atoms, while a deep hole, many
yards in length, and shaped like an & the
sides Of which had been thlown upfby an
explosion. was filled with dying men and
horses, all enveloped in the gray smoke
which poured out of the crevices Of earth
in all directions. When I arrived on the
field. which was soon after my command
consisting Of three brigades, the Federal
troops had command of the remnant Of the