The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1908-01-30

bredern, member de pore cullud fokses
ober yer in bondage. En- member
Marse Gin'ul Grant, en- Marse Gin'ul
Burnside, en- Marse Gin'ul Meade, en-
gunner watch'n yer, en-, moreover, de
| fust niger dat goes ter projeckin' es
gwine ter git dis byarnut inter him.
Fore Gawd, hits sho huff trufe Ise tell
in yer''
Such speeches as these from men of
their own color were perhaps of more
practical value to the common soldier
| than all that was said by the officers.
| But, be this as it may, every man in
the goth u. S. c. T., both white and
colored, felt that a great event for the
Fourth Division of the Ninth Army
Corps was near at hand and that the
results of the coming fight would either
place the colored troops side by side
with their comrades of lighter hue, or
else they would never again be given
such responsibilities as were now be-
fore them.
A Change in the Program.
Morning came and with it change
in the program. A consultation of the
| leading Generals had been held during
| the night and it was decided to let the
white troops take initiative after the
| explosion of the mine. Senator Ben
| jamin +. Wade, Chairman of the Com
mittee on the Conduct of the War, did
not hesitate tn say that this change was
the cause Of the disastrous result. His
| words can be found upon page 10 of
| the official report of that committee.
Gen. Grant in his testimony before this
same committee Dec. goth, 1864, uses
| the following words, viz: Gen. Burn
side wanted to put his division of COL
| ored trops in advance, and l believe
| if he had done SO, it would have been
success" The writer, however has
no criticisms to make, he is merely
telling the story of what his regiment
did on that eventful day.
The explosion of the mine was a sue
cess. The crater made by the explo-
sion of 5000 Iounds of gun powder
was 135 feet long, 81 feet broad and 80
feet deep. Two hundred and seventy
eight men were buried in the ruins.
| 10 add to he terror of the scene, the
Union forces commenced a lombard
ment with 10 cannon and mortars
Elliot's rebel brigade near the crater
were panic stricken and fled in every
| direction. Now was the time for the
| Union charge, which must be well di-
rected and well executed to obtain the
desired results, viz: to make a gap in
the rebel lines thru which the reserve
troops could rush toward Peters,
burg. But the white troops selected
and s o'clock found them huddled in
the crater having made no well-advised
attempt to widen the gap as was the
intention of the colored brigade.
The Confederates Recover
The Confederates had now entirely
recovered from their surprise and were
ready for any farther advance of the
| Union army. We thought all was over,
but in response to repeated orders from
| Gen. Meade to send in more troops
Gen. burnside now sent in the colored
division. The S0th U. S. C. T. was next
to the Union breastworks, and in tones
loud, clear and in quick succession,
came the commands of the Colonel
Attention, battalion" The men sprang
to their feet; Fix bayonetsi' There
was d sharp rafting of steel and
then came "Trail arms!-Forward,
March," and the regiment led by the
Colonel and Adjutant, went over the
breastworks and thru the opening that
had previously been made in the abatis.
in columns of four, out onto the fated
plain and toward the Crater. The APP
pearance of the regimental colors SEEM
ed to be the signal for the enemy's bat
| teries, and it was volley after volley of
canister and shrapnel they gave us.
Every round they fired took set of
| fours, and sometimes a double set
| lie DTdlHS Oh the COlSr sergeant We're
spattered over the flag, but q stalwar,
Corporal seized the staff before the
silken emblem touched the ground
The line officers all shouted Forward.
boys, forward" 1t was our only safety
to reach the rebel lines as soon as pos
sible. Next came volley of musketry
followed by the zip" zip" zip" of
the firing at will, and on every side
were men falling, falling, falling like
1 leaves in the forest in the Of
tumn.
| As We neared the rebel intrench-
meIts a change of direction of the head
of the column to the right brought us
directly in front of the enemy's line, and
then came the order. by the left flank,
March" and over the breastworks
clambered the dusky warriors, officers
vieing with the men as to who should
first be inside of the rebel works. The
abatis made but little impression, even
the breastworks made but q short
pause, and the negroes We're in a hand
to hand fight with as good troops as
the Confederacy had ever mustered.
the eyes glared like those of wild ami
mails, the lips were tightly drawn, show
ing the white teeth, and the expression
on every face was terrible to behcld
as over the works We went. Sur
render! Surrender! Surrender" was
heard on every side, and those who de-
family refused were given the cold steel
without mercy. For Is months 1 had
served in Options Regulars" in the
fighting Sixth Corps. I had been at
South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericks-
burg, Salem Church and Gettysburg,
but never had seen 'lovelier fighting"
as Phil Kearny would say, than this at
the battle OF the Mine. Well do I re-
member the Confederate Captain who
while yainly trying to hold his COM
mand to their work. kept yelling, XIII
emil" Shoot 'em!" Kill the damned