The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-02-09

were tney instructed now TO act at the
signal to go. All they knew was that
a mine was to be exploded under the
Confederate wOrks-which many of
them had never seen in daytime-and
that they were TO charge into the
breach. The firing of the mine was
delayed by defect i'm the fuse. but it
finally exploded nearly two hours late.
Meanwhile the COnfederates were not
mapping. The fort itself was occupied
by Captain X. G. Pegram's Virginia
battery. and the trenches. which means
the system OF walled bitches, bomb
proofs and other shelter for infantry
on both sides Of the battery, by the
Eighteenth and Twenty-second South
Carolina infantry. These men, num-
bering several hundred. were asleep.
all except the sentinels, but they had
had frequent warnings and were either
careless or worn out with ceaseless Ia
bor and vigil. The battery and the
sections of works adjoining on both
sides were hoisted into the air, and 2S8
officers and men were buried in the de-
jury fled the scene, and all the confu-
sion given to the enemy by the explo-
sion was confined to this handful The
Confederate division manning the
works along the threatened crest had
been aroused during the night and put
under arms ready to move at a mo-
ment's notice" 1t was we'll known in
Lees camps that Grant was up to
something in front of Cemetery hill.
He was reaching out for that height
and within the preceding twenty-four
hours had withdrawn heavy bodies of
troops from the north side Of the James
and concentrated them in the vicinity
Of Burnsides lines. The existence of
a mine being known TO Lee. much could
be cOnjectured. and his subordinates
knew just what to do in an emergency
like that of July 30.
The explosion, when it came, actual
ly confused Grants soldiers more than
it did Lees. They were in a state of
feveriSh expectancy, and when the
ground rocked beneath their feet and
an immense mass of earth. timbers,
cannon and men, enveloped in clouds
of powder smoke and dust, suddenly
leaped into the air and hung over them,
as it seemed, ready to bury them in
falling. hundreds shrank back appalled,
and unnamed. The leader of the First
brigade, Colonel Elisha G. Marshal.
leaped upon the wall and. waving a sig
,nl 10 oh -
Officers and soldiers to the number of
Il couple of hundred joined him almost
instantly, climbing the barrier by help
of their bayonets and on one anothers
shoulders. The party dashed forward
to the pit and there found great hole,
encircled by wall made of the falling
earth ana debris. Marshal's brigade
was quickly followed by General W.sF.
Bartlett's, and by the time the two
commands had closed up on the desig-
mated spot the lines were hopelessly
mixed Astonishment, mingled with
curiosity, then took the place of sol
diery self control in a great measure.
However, in response to the calls of
their leaders, the men dashed into the
pit and attempted to Chamber up the
side toward the Confederate lines.
Some avoided the pit and rushed in
among the bomb proofs.
Successfully Potter's and WilcoXs
white divisions and Ferrero's colored
troops followed Ledlie's men, and in a
short time the crater and the adjoin-
ing network of sheltering walls We're
packed with men standing too thick to
move. Attempts We're made by the
officers to rally sufficient numbers to
charge out and capture Cemetery hill,
but in every case the brave men were
driven back by the pitiless fire. In
point of fact the Confederates held their
best fire. They considered the Federal
men in the breach as being hopelessly
entangled and virtually prisoners. Colo
mel Willie Pegram's famous battery
was dragged by doubled up teams to
q height commanding the crater and
ordered to stand ready with double
shotted guns to repel further advance.
RifiemeG were likewise thrown around
the breach at a distance of 100 to 200
yards, with orders to keep down the
heads" of the Federal men iRand around
the crater. Inthe Observation-Disclosures reign
ed. Men who were shot on the crest tum-
bled back upon the wounded already
lying in torture at the bottom. The
day was hot. Sulphurous gases es-
capped from the assures of the mine.
and there was no water to relieve the
horrible thirst, The way back to the
Union lines was swept by canister and
was already corduroyed with Federal
dead. Refusing to retreat men i'll
squads sought death by attempting to
charge forward. Officers heroically
threw away their lives by mounting
the walls to inspire the men to move
out and relieve the horrible jam in the
pit. But nothing Notwithstanding could
avail. Le1's batteries and riflemen
were masters of the situation. Burn
sides corps was in a trap, and nothing
but a wanton waste of life and Il mon
nmental firzle could come of il. He
lost nearly 1000 killed and wounded
and nearly ms many taken prisoners
when the Confederates advanced in a
spirited counter charge. Who had
Numbered the record plainly shows,
but it is nv DrONincp to say merely how