Battle of the Crater--My World Tuesday

This is My World Tuesday....please click on the link to see My World views from bloggers all over this big wonderful world. Today, I want to share a historic site from the War Between the States with you. Perhaps the first time many of you ever heard of the Battle of Petersburg or the Battle of the Crater was when you saw Cold Mountain. But for aficionados of the War, it is an important site, and one that is near to my present home. A couple of years ago, my dear cousin Kenna (Willo-the-Wisp and Seeking Solace and Sublimity and now her new blog Sojourns) visited the Petersburg Battlefield together. Here are some of the photographs we took that day:




In 1864 Lee was tenaciously defending Richmond, which was then the Capitol of the Confederacy, by defending nearby Petersburg. Miles of trenches, some of which you can see above, were dug in the defense. This was a precursor to the trench warfare of World War I. The Seige of Petersburg was long, and the two enemy forces were in close proximity during the stand-off.


A Union Colonel, Henry Pleasants, who was a mining engineer proposed digging a tunnel under the Confederate lines, then blowing up the enemy forces there, causing confusion, and being able to capture Petersburg as an end result. The Confederates suspected the tunnel was being dug, but could not find the exact location. Here I am standing at the entrance to the tunnel.



On July 30 the Federals exploded a mine blowing a gap in the Confederate defenses, but things did not go as planned. The Confederates quickly recovered after the initial confusion and launched counter-attacks led by Maj. General William Mahone. The break in the lines was sealed, and the Federals were pushed back and suffered severe casualities in the process. There were another eight months of trench warfare that ensued. Here are two photographs of the Crater.



Here is a drawing of the actual trench that was dug. And if you are interested in the church adjacent to the Battlefield, old Blandford Church, check out Mom's last My World post at Life in Wakefield