National Republican., 1885-02-28
NifNen tor nm NArIoNAL nrrrnLIcAN.

Tho weather around Petersburg about
tho close Of July, 1864. was awfully hot
too hot to do anything comfortably but
lie in the shade and use fan--and yet It
was made much hotter for tho confeder-
ato troops by the inconsiderate activity OF
Gen. Grants army both north and south
of tho James river. On the north side the
fighting had reached the dignity Of bat
tie, for considerable bodies Of troops had
been engaged on both sides and the fed
eral forces had succeeded in taking some
redoubts and rifle pits on tho outer line
of defense. and were able TO hold on to
them. What these demonstrations
meant in front OF tho Richmond defonses
we were soon to find out.
For weeks the officers who got twelve
hours leave Of absence from the lines to
visit Petersburg were full OF talk in the
provost marshRps oiiice-a place Of gem
eral rendezvous
OF MINES AND coUNTERMINEs
In course of construction in and about
the forts on the outer line, and the artil-
lery officers in particular, whose batter
les were planted In these forts, appeared
to feel deep interest in the subject. as
well they might 1t is not pleasant ITO
sleep over volcano" as tho saying goes,
and to contemplate the possibility Of
taking an involuntary flight skyward
before one could say Jack Robinson"
Tho element of uncertainty and sus-
pense-very trying to the most cour-
ageous-was added, for while IL was
we'll known that the federals wero dig
ging mine, 1t was doubtful against which
Of the forts in front of the city
their efforts were being directed. /
suppose that most OF these artillery off,
GERS would have rather fought q half
dozen battles in the open field than to
have undergone those weeks of appre-
hension, cooped up in redoubt, and OK
posed to destruction from an enemy
against which all their cannon and their
bravery were powerless. BY tho way,
speaking of bravery in battle, 1t Is my
opinion that IL has but little in common
with that physical courage which makes
man formidable in istic encounters.
THE MOST ARRANT COWARD IN BATTLE
ever saw had been tho bully and terror
Of his county on court days, and he was
the acknowledged pugilistic champion of
the regiment. And the gamest. coolest,
and most determined man in battle | ever
know, had been dubbed milksop and a
coward at the military school whore he
was educated, because he wouldn't fight
ubb uRut. t0lnh Iuub tn0 DTuV9ry Oh
the soldier Is distinctively moral
quality and has little or nothing of ami
NAL pugnacity connected with it. 1t
proceeds from desire of fame, from a
sense Of duty to flag and country, or per-
haps more generally from the sense OF
duty aud canleraderie begotten of subordi-
nation and discipline, and In less degree
the penalties of violation Of the military
law. believe there are few men who
would enter battle for tho mere love OF
fighting. and they deserve to be classed in
character with "Charles XII, the madman
and the Swede." There were never more
misleading lines than
And that stern Joy which warriors feel
For foemen worthy OF their steel"
am convinced that In the civil war
for instance, either side would have been
glad TO see tho enemy "git up and git
after the first few rounds rather than II
stand up stoutly and return hard knocks
But the reader will please pardon tn,
above depression. As above stated, the
subordinate officers did not know wher,
the mine was located. but Gen. Lee anS
his generals did. as was shown by tn,
precautions taken. The writer, as trair
officer, on the morning of
THE "BATTLE OF THE CRATER"
had charge of the passenger train from
Richmond to Petersburg. When the trail
had approached within two or thrc
miles Of tho latter place, about 0 Ia. M, W,
heard an explosion that made the car win
dows rattle; and moment later roar o
cannon and crash of musketry, and tn,
yelling and shouting that plainly indi
Gated that the much -talked-of mine hat
been exploded at last, and need scarccl,
remark that IL was "a bad quarter of al
hour" for us as we listened to it, for n
one could undertake to foretell tn
issue. Now, the depot proper, nea
Pocahontas bridge, and the track 70
mile or two toward Richmond wer
in point-blank range Of the enemy
batteries; 80 we had establishes
q temporary depot some two miles fron
the city, under the shelter of range o
hills. Tho writer had been given dis
patches at Richmond, with instructions +
deliver them without moments delay
The only way l could get to Petersbur
was across the country on foot, for II
vehicles ran between the depot and tn
city that morning. Thinking that tn
hostile batteries, then being hotly engage
with their opponents would not probabl
notice the locomotive, proposed to Cap
Daniel, the conductor, to
DETAcH THE ENGINE FROM THE TRAIN
and run me down to tho old depot. Afto
some hesitation he consented. and so di
the engineer aud fireman, after had cS
planned the necessity of o quick deliver
Of what might bo virtually important dis
patches. We mounted the cab, and crack
ing on all steam were soon outside tn
shelter Of tho hills, and the federal gun
ners, In spite Of the smoke about then
espied us rs soon, and they lot into u
right and left, and with such good air
that some vital part Of the machine wa
broken, and 1t jumped the track. throw
ing us ali into stagnant frog pond by til
roadside. No one was much hurt and W
hastened to scramble out of range. Whe
j got TO tho provost marshal's ofiiC
in the town with tho dispatches the
scarcely recognized mo, as bad lost IN
hat in the adventure and was covere
with mud and frog spawn from head
foot. 1t was no time for ceremony or I
stop to clean of. After brushing up
little, and the battle still being joined, th
noise Of 1t laundering in our ears,
got permission from the provost marshi
to go up TO the old Blandford Church hi
to witness the fight When 1 got thei
but little was to be seen except smok
amid which the dim forms of men coul
be seen moving about like ghosts. As
was not my duty to expose myself by
nearer approach to the fighting line,
returned to the provost marshals Office
await developments.
From survivor Of the garrison of ii
fort blown up aud from others l aftel
ward learned that
THE STORY OF THE BATTLE
was in brief as follows A short time b
fore the day OF the springng of the mil
the confederate engineers had prepared
countermine, and as the opposing mine
could hear tho picking and blows of eac
other, and the noise from tho federal sa
pers had ceased, il was thought that ii
scheme had been abandoned, but the fe,
eral miners were experts from the PEN
Bylvania coal region, and they managed