ARMY OPERATIONS. 



133 



Foster m his old position on the extreme left, 

 at Deep Bottom. 



The position of the enemy was in front of 

 the 2d corps. They occupied rifle-pits, de- 

 fended by one battery. An advance upon them 

 was made by the 2d corps, during which Gen. 

 Miles's brigade under cover flanked the whole 

 position under a brisk charge. The enemy im- 

 mediately retreated, losing their guns and some 

 prisoners. A mile further in the rear they took 

 a new position on a ridge. The Federal loss 

 during the day was about a hundred. On the 

 next day the demonstrations were continued, 

 and a cavalry battle took place on the right with 

 a loss of about two hundred and fifty. On 

 Friday about four hundred empty wagons were 

 taken across on the bridges as if an advance 

 on Malvern Hill was to be made in great force. 

 Nearly twenty thousand men and twenty can- 

 non had thus been sent north of the James. 

 Meanwhile the enemy hurried off a considera- 

 ble force from Petersburg to meet these demon- 

 strations, and during Thursday still more were 

 sent. On Thursday evening, therefore, the 3d 

 division of the 2d corps' was secretly removed 

 to Petersburg. After some skirmishing with 

 the enemy on Friday afternoon, the rest of the 

 2d corps and the cavalry, after dark, retraced 

 their steps and arrived before daybreak at Pe- 

 tersburg. At this place there had been the 

 usual cannonade during the four preceding 

 days. 



All those movements were preliminaries to the 

 explosion of a heavy mine which had been 

 planted under one of the enemy's heaviest 

 works. It had been suggested by Lieutenant- 

 colonel Pleasants of the 48th Pennsylvania 

 regiment, who with his regiment had been ac- 

 customed to mining before the war. By them 

 the whole work was accomplished. It was 

 begun on June 25th. It started in the side of 

 a ravine in front of the 9th corps and pushed 

 toward a formidable fort of the enemy situated 

 about two thousand yards from Petersburg. 

 The distance to be mined was about five hun- 

 dred feet. The gallery was made in the usual 

 shape, being about four feet wide at the bottom 

 and sloping up to the top. Its height was 

 about four and a half feet. A ventilating 

 shaft was sunk near the entrance. The ground 

 rose toward the enemy's position, and the tun- 

 nel was sloped upwards as it advanced. When 

 the fort was reached, it was about twenty feet 

 overhead. Wings were extended to the right 

 and left, so that the main gallery might open 

 into two diverging galleries, running along the 

 outer line of the fort. Eight chambers were 

 formed in these latter, separated by sand-bags 

 and wood, Wooden pipes ran about a hun- 

 dred feet from the magazines toward the 

 mouth of the gallery, and were connected there 

 by a hose or fuse which extended the rest of 

 the distance. The chambers were charged with 

 four tons of powder. After its completion a 

 delay of some days ensued, during which the 

 feint at Deep Bottom was made. 



Every effort to conceal the work was made, 

 but it was supposed that the enemy wero 

 aware of its existence. 



The plan of assault was to explode the mine 

 and immediately to open a cannonading from 

 every gun on the line. Under cover of this 

 Concentrated fire, which might somewhat un- 

 nerve the enemy, a storming party was to 

 rush through the gap made by the explosion 

 and endeavor to carry the enemy's position 

 beyond. In the rear of his first line was a 

 strong crest, which commanded Petersburg. 

 Tbe Federal lines were less than a hundred 

 and fifty yards distant from the enemy at the 

 nearest points. The approach to the part to 

 be charged, which was about the same distance, 

 had been made difficult by abatis and entangle- 

 ments. Nearly a hundred heavy guns had 

 been brought up by Gen. Grant, some of 

 which were eight-inch and some even heavier. 



The assaulting force was the 9th corps, sup- 

 ported by the 18th corps, with the 2d in re- 

 serve on the right, and the 5th on the left, the 

 whole closely massed, and leaving only the 

 necessary garrisons to hold the more distant 

 intrenchments. This force was in position 

 soon after midnight on Friday, July 29th. The 

 9th corps was arranged with Gen. Ledlie's 

 division in advance, Gens. Wilcox and Pot- 

 ter's next in support, and the colored division, 

 in command of Gen. Ferrero, in the rear. 

 The fuse was to be lighted at 3J o'clock A. M. 

 But, owing to dampness, the fire went out in 

 the gallery. It was renewed after much delay, 

 but the explosion did not take place until 

 twenty minutes of five o'clock, and after sun- 

 rise. A heaving and trembling of the earth 

 was followed by huge clouds of earth and all 

 the contents of the fort, as guns, caissons, lim- 

 bers, and the soldiers which manned them 

 being thrown into the air. To the spectators 

 it resembled a great fountain in appearance; 

 then, poising for & moment, it quickly de- 

 scended. A crater, one hundred feet or more 

 in length and half as wide, and a depth of 

 twenty feet, with heaps of ruins, remained 

 where once stood a six-gun fort, its camp 

 equipage, and two hundred men. Immediately 

 after the explosion, the cannonading from a 

 hundred guns commenced. Gradually recover- 

 ing from his surprise the enemy began to re- 

 spond, and soon their entire line was engaged. 

 Meantime, after a few minutes' delay, Gen. 

 Marshall's brigade, of Gen. Ledlie's division, 

 began to advance across the deadly plain. The 

 supporting brigades spread out and enveloped 

 the flanking rifle-pits, capturing about two hun- 

 dred prisoners. The breach was gained, and 

 the troops began to reform for assault. In- 

 stead of bursting at once upon the frowning 

 crest, four hundred yards distant, the advance 

 brigades were suffered to throw up intrench- 

 ments and spend time in getting two guns to 

 bear on the enemy. Meanwhile the latter 

 rallied and poured a terrific enfilading fire 

 upon the captured fort. At length the 7th 



