The Washington times., 1937-04-30
Y. NJ. |. CADETS,
i. 5. MARINES
ARE ACTORS
Park Is Dedicated In
Brilliant Day-Long
Ceremony
CONTINUED from Page II


ing the program opened with q
concert by the Marine Band
which was applauded enthuSias
tically. Then came a welcome
from Representative P. H. Drewry
member of a famous old Virginia
family, who represents this dis
trict in Congress.
DR.. Douglas S. Freeman, distin'
guished educator and historian,
then related the story Of the first
phase of the battle over an am
plifying system that was installed
on the field so that all the vast
crowd might understand the pic
ture to be unrolled before them.
Then came the battle. First
was seen the start of the Union
tunnel, a 511-foot shaft that mill
tary experts said could not be
driven, but the tunnel was con-
structed right under the main
Confederate Notifications.
Powder" Is Planted
Next the blue-clad Marines,
who took the part of the Federal
forces, were seen carrying the bags
of powder into the mine, wherein
the battle Of 70 years ago 5000
pounds Of powder were exploded,
killing 300 Confederate troops out
right and wounding hundreds OF
others. -,
only a few feet from the actual
crater blown by the blast-a hole
200 feet long, $50 feet wide and
IS feet deep-a terrific blast was
set off this morning to simulate
that blast Of the battle.
Then came the first charge OF
the blue clad soldiers, with rifles
firing, while from the Confederate
defenses there came volley after
volley as they sought to beat back
the attack.
Wave Attack Follows
But wave after wave Of the Fed
eral troops swept forward, al
though the casualties were heavy,
while artillery units, the field
guns drawn by horses. swept into
action and opened a heavy fire.
The Confederate defenSes were
driven back by sheer force OF
power and the Union forces pene-
trated within the Confederate
lines, as the battle plan called for.
This ended the first phase OF the
battle, and the spectators then
moved to another part Of the bat
tlefieId for the final scenes.
There they witnessed the coun-
ter-attack of the Confederates,
with the Virginia Military 1nSti-
tute cadets and the National
Guardsmen Stimulating the gallant
charge of Gen. William Mahone'S
division in the actual battle, when
the Southern forces beat back the
attackers, trapped hundreds OF
them in the bottom of the crater
and forced their surrender, ending
the battle and scoring a major
victory for the Confederate de-
tenders.
Short, Sharp Conflict
The battle itself was one Of the
most deadly of the entire war.
It lasted only few hours, but the
casualty lists were tremendous.
There were 4,400 Federal soldiers
killed and wounded, while the Con-
federate losses were 1,500.
During the battle General Grant
watched the fighting from about
two miles behind the battle front,
leaving the actual command to
Gen. A. E. Burnside. General Lee
also watched the fighting from
the rear Of the Confederate lines,
while the battle plans were left in
the hands Of General Malone.
Speaking Of the battle, Repre-.
sentative Drewry said:
ut is unique that the Federal
plan was surprisingly and sue
cessfully executed and the Con.
federate line was pierced, but
for some unexplained reason,
after reaching their objective,
the Federal forces halted in con-
fusion and failed to pursue their
advantage.
at is unique also that this
disOrganiZed force Of 10000 Fed
eraI troops, after delaying their
advance for nearly two hours,
was cOunter-attacked by a force
Of about six hundred men and
driven back in disorder after
heavy casualties.
IF PrOvidence-and the Con.
federacy gave Providence the
Credit-had not interviewed, the
city Of Petersburg would have
fallen, and the war, with its loss
of life and terrible cost, would
have ended nearly a year before
the final surrender at AppOmat-
tOx."
Petersburg was saved to ex-
perience the horrors of the longest
siege on this continent. Comment.
ing on the cause of the Civil War,
he said:
"a difference Of opinion on