Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-01-12

ported seeing tae shaft. but the men
we'll
PLACING THE POWDER.
When the mine had been finished,
Nrant suddenly discovered that it was a
/ grant thlng and certain to work, though
dnrin@ lis progress burnside, Tunnel
was rs much ieercd at as Buffers Dutch
Gap Canal. Powder was brought ND for
IT and carefully carried through the
iong, dark hole until eight tons were
heaped under the fort. Then "A single
sentinel held the place until Grant
should be ready.
GRANT WAS READY
On the 3Oth of August He had sent a
force To the north of the James to COM
| pei Lee to draw Oft some Of his force
from the Petersburg lines, and every
federai lori the length of the long line
! was ordered To open fire from every gun
at n given signal, Ii was hoped that
this terrific lire would keep the Confed-
crates from rallying to repulse the coll
/ umn OF assault at the fort TO be blown
up.
| WAITING.
Al half-past ) o. clock on the morning
OF the 30th it would be break .of day. 1t
| would also be the hour when even
| watehfnl soldiers would regard the dan
| gers OF the night as passed and feel sleep
Juggling at their eye-lids Long before
that hour Marshall's brigade of Ledlie's
| division had marched silently down
| from the pine forest and drawn up in
column for an assault. within half-pstol
shot of the fort; other brigades followed.
and in the gray Of morning there stood
Bumsides whole corps in battle line.
every man knowing of the mine, and
every man believing that success was
sure. The last regiment down had been
standing in line hall an hour when the
stars paled, dim light crcpt over the
fields, and men whispered to each other
that they could see the flag on the fort.
/, The moment had come for the explosion,
and whole corps was trembling with
excitement.
THE FIRST eIUNDER.
Men who had planned, eNcavated and
placed the powder could surely be trust
! ed 81 lay the fuse and light it, but either
fear or carceSsnesS upset the whole plan.
The fuse burned a little way and then
the Gre died out. Daylight came faster
and grew broader. From being barely
able to discern the flag flying over the
sleeping fort, the soldiers could, at
length. see the roofs and spires of Peters
burg. Il mile and "A half AWAY. Rtyeile
was sounded all along the Confederate
lines when a volunteer descended the
shaft, replaced the fuse, and made sure
of his work.
THE EXPLOSION
There first came Il slight heaying of
the earth, then a sinking down. and all
at once the fort rose in n cloud of flame
and smoke, and the ground shook for
mile around. Even before the sods and
dirt had ceased falling the New York
Fourteenth Artillerymen were da>hing
into the cloud of smoke, closely followed
by whole brigade
WHAT THEY SAW
As the men rushed for .he spot where
the fort had stood they found the ugly
hole which has since been known as the
Crater The burned and blackened and
mangled bodies of nearly POO Confeder-
ates were lying in and around the pit,
some half buried in the dirt, some gasp
ing in agony. and some crushed to pulp
under the heavy guns which had follow
ed them into the air and fallen back to
earth with an awful thud The fort had
been swept away, and here was the gap,
but to pass through Lees lines the Fed
erals must jump down those ragged
banks, Chamber over that horrible dc6riS
and scramble up height of twenty-five
feet and reform. Those who had plan |
ned the destruction of the fort had not
planned this horrible death-trap for Fed
eral soldiers, but it was to prove one,
just the same.
FORWARD! FoRwARDw
Wild with excitement the officers cried |
"Forwardn and company after company |
and regiment after regiment tumbled |
into the pit on one side and tried to
climb out on the other All organization |
was at once lost, and the horrible sights
in the pit dampened all enthusiasm. 1t
was mob in the Cratcr-a shouting,
struggling mob, and when one got out |
three fresh men charged in as the as
saulting columns advanced
IT WAS a SURPRISE
To the Confederates. even when so
manywere awake and daybreak had |
come. Had this explosion taken place
as planned, Lees lines would have been
broken. As it was, the men in the two
flanl.ing forts were so dumbfounded
and dazed by the shock that not n gun
was fired until the rumble Of Grants
cannon had gone clear down his lines
and back and the Crater was fril Of
Federals Then the Confederates real
lied the situation and acted quickly.
The fort was gone, but the parallels had
not been disturbed. Moving to the
threatened point from right to left they
soon had force enough TO hold the gap
Indeed they soon held the pit with It's
mob of disorganized soldiers, and not
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