Union High Tide

By 8:30 am, nearly 4,000 black Union soldiers, then known as United States Colored Troops or USCT, swept northward across open ground, capturing Confederate troops, battle flags, and nearly three hundred yards of trenches. Twice they charged from those captured trenches across the field toward Blandford Cemetery, and each time devastating Southern artillery and rifle fire stopped them. As they attempted a third charge, Confederates counterattacked. Some of the USCT retreated to the Crater or back to the Union lines, carrying with them supporting Federal troops that had just arrived, while others held their ground and were among the last Union soldiers north of the Crater to leave. By the end of the battle, though defeated, these men had suffered the greatest number of Union casualties and had advanced farther than any other Union division on the field.

Petersburg, Virginia · United States