The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-08-13

the parallel would have been closer, but In .
both cases somebody Numbered, and the |
poor soldiers who could but do and die
were hopelessly and needlossly sacrificed.
Burnside's mine was laid with cxtraor-
binary skin and labor directly under a
Confederate fort which the defenders of
Petersburg had constructed on spur of
the ridge sheltering the town on the east
The construction of that fort had been car
ried on under the constant fire of Burn
sides guns, and the peculiar nature of its
trenches, adapted as they were to shelter
troops from falling bombs, as well rs from
horizontal firing, had much to do with de
termining the result when Burnside at
tempted to carry that portion of the line
by storm after exploding mine under it
to open breach The excavation for
the powder chamber was made by ex-
tending tunnel a distance of over 800 feet
from a point within the Union trenches
to point under the center of the fort
to be blown up. The laborers were
coal miners belonging to the Forty eighth
Pennsylvania regiment They suffered
intensely in the long, close gallery and
carried all the earth out of the tunnel
and chamber by hand Toward the end
of the task, which lasted "a month,
their strength was supported mainly by
whisky They became too weak to digest
solid food The digging had to be done
with the utmost stealth to prevent betray
al by deserters and discovery by Confeder-
ate pickcts and trench guards who lounged
or slept overhead While the excavation
of the chamber was going on under the
fort its batteries were firing at intervals,
threatening to cave in the roof ON the
heads of the miners below. No accident
occurred, although the Confederates sus-
pected the mine and attempted to balk the
scheme by counter mine. Finally the
charge of 5000 pounds of powder was
securely packed in place, spliced fuse
was laid to the mouth of the mine and the
order given to explode it at daylight on
July 80 The Ninth corps, under Burn
side, occupied the trenches on the right
and left of the mine and three of its divi-
sions - white troops werO ordered to
charge into the breach the moment the eX-
plosion took place. No preparation what,
ever was ordered or made by any COM
mander of the forces, of the army or of
the corps to facilitate the rapid execution
of this charge The Ninth corps trenches
in fron. Of the mine had been constructed
under constant fire from the Confeder-
ate ba teries and riflemen ahd We're so
much Ike those of the Confederates across
Une wa NnaJ one INSCRIPTION Will 10 lOr
both q. stems.
Yves Of and behind the site of the mine
is II b, sc ridge trending northwest and
oulmI lting in n considerable height
known as Cemetery Hill That hill COM
mands the city of Petersburg, and the oh
ject of the operations of Burnside was to
secure by gradual approaches or at some
favorable time by II sudden dash the pos
session of that height Ab.the beginning
of the siege the opposing lines along this
ridge We're several hundred yards apart
but the space had been reduced to about
100 yards by the gradual extension of the
besieging and defensive trenches toward
each other Burnside kept moving for
ward on his mission, and the Confedcrates
worked toward him to get better positions.
On both sides the mortar and rifle batter
les and sharpshooters did their best to in
terfere with working parties and with re-
liefs going in and out between the front
lines and the camps in the rear. The pro
lection for working parties at the extreme
fronts were bitches constructed in zigzag
lines, generally parallel to one another.
Communication between these parallels
and between them and the camps behind
them was had through another system of
bitches generally at an angle with the par
allels. At convenient points bomb proofs
of various sizes were constructed by exca-
waiting cellars from 2 to feet deep and
building up walls and roofs of logs cover
ed with earth and sod and bags of sand.
1t SO happened that the first line of breast
works in front of the Ninth corps oppo
site the mine, was on the crest of a SHARP
ridge and was really higher than a man.
head. The charging columns of the lead
ing division We're expected to mount thi:
obstacle at bound the moment the fort
blew up, and, bayonet in hand, dash acros.