The National tribune., 1907-07-18
THE PETERSBURG MINE.
The Second Division of the Tenth Corps
Took u Large Share In the Memorable
Event.

Editor National Tribune: AS 1 have
never seen any account of what our di-
vision Of the Tenth Corps did at the
Battle of the Mine, / thought l would
write my recollections of that miser-
able affair. as Grant justly called it. l
was up to the camp of the 4Sth Pa, the
regiment that did the work on the
NINE July 30, in the afternoon. l had
| been here tefore when sharpshooting
along the ii g, and knew some of the
| boys. | inquired how they We're getting
| along. One Sergeant that L knew tod
me they had powder enough under that
| fort on the hill to blow it to kingdom
come He told me how many tons there
| were, but L have forgotten now. He
said they had run galleries all around
under the wall of the fort, so when the
| train was fred it would lift the fort up
| bodily. He also told me that Grant was
going to send division of the Tenth
! Corps to make the assault after the
| mine was fired, to make sure thing OF
it. the object of attack being crest
of the bank, about 400 yards in the rear
of the fort. the idea being that if we
| had batteries on the little hill they
| would command Petersburg. The Ser
| geant was very sure of success, as he
| figured the rebs would run out of the
works on both sides of the fort when
| the explosion came, and our men could
| slip into the works and make every
| thing safe before the rebels got over
| their scare. A splendid scheme, l told
him. But if there was a division to be
sent from the Tenth Corps l knew it
would be ours, as L knew what Gen.
Grant thought of it. / would go back
at once. When / got back where l be-
| lonSed on our lire of works the boys
| thought we were going to Deep Bottom
again. But after we had got down over
the hills, out of sight of the rebels. we
We're halted, got our supper and lay
down Several brigades passed us, all
going to the right as every one sup
posed, for Deep Bottom. After dark we
were ordered out, but / noticed at once
we were going the other way, to the
left. We went well back in the rear,
| out of sight and sound of the fort.
| About in the morning we marched
down into the lines directly in front OF
the mine. The boys Were lost, as they
saw that that wasn't Deep Bottom at
all. l told them where we were. as l
had been there before when sharp
| shooting along the line. l also told
them about the mine and that We had
! been detailed and We're marching to
the rear. 1 fell in with my company
and marched up over a little hill and
| out to the road in plain sight of the
rebels. Then we took the road that led
to the right of our lines, to Deep Bot
| tom again, the boys said. After we got
| DNtT Tie IluSt Oul VI SiSil anu nearing
! of the rebels we were halted and told
to make our coffee. We had supper be-
fore dark. but still did not move. Some
| other troops were passing over the
ridge every little while. After dark we
We're ordered out, but / noticed we were
| going to the left instead of the right.
| We kept back from the front out of
sight and hearing of the rebels.
Thought 1t n Great Scheme.
|
little hill into the works in front of the
l Ninth Corps Then the boys saw that
| it wasn't Deep Bottom. l told them
where we We're; that l was there in the
afternoon; told them what the Sergeant
told me. The boys thought just as
did; it was a great scheme. They were
eager to try 1t. Just as we had got the
works all captured and stacked arms,
in our minds. there came an order for
us to get back up on to the hill. On
our way out we ran onto one of Burn
sides Aids. He told our Colonel
Smith-who was marching out with our
company, we being the leading COM
pany-and we all heard him make the
lstatement-that they, the Ninth Corps,
had done all the work, and the mine
was on their front. Burnside's division
commanders would not stand such a
deal as that; they would storm the forts
in front themselves, and have the credit
for it.
We marched back to the battery
where the brass cannon We're mounted
on the hill. Then we lay down in lit
tie field. / thought to myself what a
good time the rebel artillery men would
have if they only knew we were lying
there in the open field We listened
and waited for the explosion to take
place at 430.
Afterward we learned that the fuse
went out, and Lem Dourty and Serg't
Rees, of the 4Sth Pa, went into the