The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-01-12
A SLAUGHTER PEN.
EXPLOSION OF THE MINE IN FRONT
OF PETERSBURG IN 1854.
A Story OF Terrible Carnage which No
Language Can Adequately Describe
The Confederate Kecapturs Curl.
ons Relics Of the Fight.

mo Confederate hecopeuro -Cufi.
Relics Of the Fight.
t"F. D. NJ" in Gin. Commercial Gazette.l
At half past tho fuse was lighted. Upon
the FEDERAL side man graspsd their muskets
nervously. thy h.li their breath in awful
suspense. AMI coull hear their hearts beat
In the black stiffness. The Confederates
slumbsre1 on peacefully In thu doomed fort
tbs men on their picket line in the psrfecs
quiet almost forgetting to peep occasionally
through the eye-holes in the breast.wors,
looking toward the Yankee works 80 feet
away. And all this tims che littls hissiu.
sputtertny lame OK the fuse wa, runnin ?
along through the dark gallery. nearer AMI
nearer 70 the 3s kegs OF powisr ss,rsi
thirty feet beneath them.
There was the first faint streak OF gray
upon the eastern sky the mine explo lei.
Those Waiting felt strange thrill run
through the earth. and then, said one, at
seemed as though the earth had exploisi."
The ground rocked unisr the tremendous
rscol, - . solid mass Of earth rose slowly
100 feet In the air. the exploding gunpowier
blasing through It like Aiightning playing
through . bank OF Clouds" seemed to hang
poised IN instant. and thon with q vast
roaring sound in showers Of stones. broken
ttmbsrs. cannon. blacksned human limbs or
bodies. IL foil, and . heavy cloud Of black
smoke doatsi Cd. The dreadful work had
bssa Thoroughly done. Wh,rs the z lott
aalisat had ssoSd there wa. now ,rribls
chasm 49, feat long. sixty feet wi lie, AMI
il beave garrison lay buried beneath ths
jagged blocks Of blackensJ clay-in all 256
ofassrs and men Of tho Eight~eneh aud
Twonty-socood South C,rolina, and twenty.
two men Of Fsgram's battery
BLOODY CHAPTER.
Instantly the Union batteries opsnsi with
every gun from Appomattox cr.sk to J.ru-
salem plank road. from Fort McGiivsry to
Fort Davis. in horrii uproar. Toe air was
alfvs wish bowling shot and screaming
shslls, and the valley .hrouied in billowy
The orator and over the lines Of the enemy.
summed and demoraliz,i, AMI the day Of
HunGso&s Of people have tried to tell tho
story Of the Battle Of the Crater, which boz
gan With tho explosion at In the morning
and ended with the rscapturs by thu Con-
fsderates about 1 or o'clock in tbs after
Gusgs can adequately describe it. It can
not b painteI. for no color are deep
enough. Tho story from the Federal side
ID not . proud one. Grant callsl it a sms.
cradle affair" and sumnsi upIt wa, a dis
graceful affair to the Union army, AMI st
the Lives Of nearly 1000 men.
The troops were the poorest in the north
ern aTmy-mfxsi white and b:acx-1ni led
BY men who, IL they Possessed any knowl-
edge. bravery, or scnse. failsi to show 4.
upon that occaslon. There was individual
ga0aAtry and naay exhibitions Of high
courage. and there was shs most de operate
and deadly fighting Of tho war. but in gen-
eral there was NO glory in the day f,r the
Yankeoa
Tn, 49,, h,,xa H., - a. ---x. ..
pushing on 70 Csmetery hill. as ordered,
and soon an enflading fire made it as dan
Esrous 70 70 backward as - 60 forward. 1t
was not until O'clock that tbs colorsi
troops were sent in. They charged over
the heads OF the white. crowded. in the
crater. swspt over the crests cheering, and
spread 10 the right. capturing 9 o PRISONERS |
and flag A heavy fire Of artillery AMI
muskstry sent them buck to ad to tho con-
fusion in the crater AMI tho numbers in that
horrible mixture Of men. alive wounded
and dead. and the ghastly debris OF the OK.
plosion-
DESTRUCTIVE STRUGGLE.
Tho Contcdsratss trained their heavy |
guns upon this rel siaugater-peu and |
dropped shells into the fire. ,xisl ma.se- |
The Confederatss charged repeatedly and |
poursd volleys into the crater. Back AMI |
fourth over the edge the men fought in |
ades over. The Confederate. lighted bomb |
shslls and rolled them over the parapet into |
The crater.
Several charges Of tho Confederates vera |
bsatsn back in bloody rspulses by the Fed. |
oral troops and from the vast rim Of the |
crater . steady storm OF bullets pourel |
upon Nahons's mon. and every gun on the |
When all had been retaken but |
the crater tho Confederate batteries
ceased firing upon it, and preparations |
were made for assault Happily. before the |
assaulting party could b. formel . white !
made fast to a ramroi ap- |
psarsd over the edge OF the crater. an after |
. brief pause motley crowi Of prisoners |
poured over the aides and ran for thor lives
70 the rear
The Federals lost about S, 900 in killed AMI |
woun led and 100 prisoner. Two brigade |
were captured an1 twenty ns !
0a1s, according e. tho authority quoted. |
The Confederate loss was very heavy too, |
the destructfulness OF thu fighting being |
shown by the fact that the Sixth Virgins, |
with ninety-eight msn, lost eizhty-sight- |
ono company from Norfolk having every |
man kilisi Tns sharpshooters had eighty |
mon and lost sixty-four.
some QUEER RELICS.
Bullets AMI other relics are still plenty. |
There is a building full of relics picked up
by Mr.. Griffin, tho owner of the place. Soms |
Of them are particularly interesting. Oas |
Is made by two bullets meeting in the air. |
striking point to point in exact range The |
result Is n disk Of lead as large as a silver |
dollar. and about thick. with the ba . OF |
the Yankee bullet showing in the centre on |
ono side and the rebel bullet on the other. !
Had these bullets passed each other ths /
fate Of the men firing them wouli not be |
hard to reckon.
Another queer relic is . Confederate
musket. in the barrel OF which two bullets !
met, splitting the barrel open like a banana
peel There the two butts can be seen
The rebel bullet had got about one-ttird /
out when it met ths prying Yankee bulei
on its way in, and then there troubie /
at once. or course, the Yankee bullet had