Prelude to the Crater

On July 28, 1864, Colonel Stephen M. Weld of the 50th Massachusetts wrote that the mine was finished, the powder was in, and the fuse was ready, expressing hope that a successful attack would put Petersburg in Union hands. In the predawn darkness of July 30, 1864, intense Union preparations unfolded on this ridge as thousands of troops filed quietly into the ravine and trenches in front, while more than 160 cannon crowded the earthworks on both sides. Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, commander of the attacking force, took his place in the 14-gun battery known as Fort Morton behind this position. By 3:30 a.m., nearly 15,000 Federals and more than 160 cannons were in place for the attack, and only one detail remained: the explosion of the mine. Most of the earthworks that protected them were plowed over by the Taylor family after the war.

Petersburg, Virginia · United States