Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1901-08-22
Battle of The Crater.
Richmond Times.

"Oh, yes, | recall the battle of the Ora
ter as wildly rs if it had occurred yester-
day." said Captain James K. Philips.
at occurred on the Both OF July, 1854.
| was then in command of the Richmond
Grays. john E. kaughton and Thomas
| Z. Pollard are, as far as l know, the only
persons living now in Richmond who were
in Mahone's great charge. John Laugh
ton was shot in the breast, but did not give
up, he was also wounded in the wrist.
at was, in some respects, the greatest
battles ever fought in the history of TIE
world" replied the Captain, who was begin
ming to warm up to his subject don't ex-
cept Pickett, don't except Napoleon, don't
except anybody when declare the world
that when Malone, with six hundred
men, drove back $4,000 Federals, he ac'
complished the greatest military feat his
tory has recorded.
Colonel Campbell, who was from the
mining regions of Pennsylvania, conceived
the idea of digging tunnel and blowing
up tie Confederate army. His plan
worked fairly well. The two armies were
SO near together you could almost see the
whites of the enemy's eyes. The dirt dug
out WAS placed in old cracker boxes and
carted away. What was left at daybreak
was covered up with pine twigs. Finally,
the day for the blowing up came. The ex'
plosion was something awful. The hole IN
the ground was nearly hundred feet
! long, forty feet wide and sixty feet deep.
The men in Elliott's brigade, from South
Carolina; General Bushrod Johnson's di'
vision, and Beauregard's command suffer
ed great slaughter. 1t is wonder that
the Federals did not march into Peters
burg, but they we're evidently towards.
For short time our people were ratified.
There was conference held, in which
Generals Lee, Beauregard, and A. P. Hill
and Bushrod Johnson participated.
"What shall we do?" asked General
Lee.
81 think General Malone can make a
chargsand recapture the position we have
lost" replied General A. P. Hill. q.
"Mahone was three miles away. Orders
were rushed to him and he hurried up
with six hundred men. He was directed
to charge l said to myself: Jimmy,
old boy, your time has come to die But
the good Lord spared my life. Talk about
Thermopylae or anything you please, but
Malone in that one battle accomplished
more than all the great generals who had
lived before him. 'Boys,' said he, what
we do must be quickly done That hand
ful of six hundred charged and drove
back $4,000 Federals. We recaptured
the lost position; six thousand of the
enemys men lay dead. We renamed all
day and all night in the trenches without
anything to eat or to drink. In the morn
ing after the fight a flag of truce was hCls
ted and the dead were buried.
"No man shall in my presence run
down Mahone," said the Captain as he
brought his fist down upon the table
ale was one of our greatest generals.
His men were devotedly attached tC
him."
"Were you mad when you made the
charger" asked the reporter.
Eyes, was" answered the Captain.
81 was hot in the collar There hangs
my room a sword that | used upon the
enemy. l cut him but did not kill him
= In the fracas l grabbed an old muske
from negro soldier and killed him. Oh
yes, was mad, for l had fist fight Will
a Federal soldier and knocked him out
That was hot day, an exciting time, anc
Malone deserves to be ranked among tn
heroes of all the great battles of th'
world"