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The graveyards are full of indispensable men. -- Charles de Gaulle |
Crater, 1864(184 total words in this text)(2057 Reads)  Other Names: The Mine Location: Petersburg Campaign: Richmond-Petersburg Campaign (June 1864-March 1865) Date(s): July 30, 1864 Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS] Forces Engaged: IX Corps [US]; elements of the Army of Northern Virginia [CS] Estimated Casualties: 5,300 total Description: After weeks of preparation, on July 30 the Federals exploded a mine in Burnside?s IX Corps sector beneath Pegram?s Salient, blowing a gap in the Confederate defenses of Petersburg. From this propitious beginning, everything deteriorated rapidly for the Union attackers. Unit after unit charged into and around the crater, where soldiers milled in confusion. The Confederates quickly recovered and launched several counterattacks led by Maj. Gen. William Mahone. The break was sealed off, and the Federals were repulsed with severe casualties. Ferrarro?s division of black soldiers was badly mauled. This may have been Grant?s best chance to end the Siege of Petersburg. Instead, the soldiers settled in for another eight months of trench warfare. Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside was relieved of command for his role in the debacle. Result(s): Confederate victory |
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1775:
In Massachusetts, British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the Patriot arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Patriot minutemen.
1847: U.S. forces defeat Mexicans at Cerro Gordo in one of the bloodiest battle of the war. 1864: At Poison Springs, Arkansas, Confederate soldiers under the command of General Samuel Maxey capture a Union forage train and slaughter black troops escorting the expedition. 1885: The Sino-Japanese war ends. 1943: Traveling in a bomber, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor, is shot down by American P-38 fighters. 1983: A suicide bomber kills U.S. Marines at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon. |
