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  1. Trench Warfare and Artillery at the Crater
    date July 30, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Battle of the Crater, Civil War, Artillery

                 One of the opening battles of the Petersburg Campaign and one that foreshadowed some of the tactics used in the trench warfare of the First World War was the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864.  At this point in the war, the armies of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant had settled into trench warfare in the area just to the south of Richmond, with the U.S. Army attempting...

  2. Damage to the Confederate Line at the Battle of the Crater
    date July 30, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Battle Damage, Mine Explosion, Trench Warfare, Civil War

               The Battle of the Crater in the early stages of the Petersburg campaign resulted in a massive amount of damage to the center of the C.S.A. breastwork.  In the early stages of the Petersburg campaign, as the battle settled into trench warfare, a Union officer named Henry Pleasants hatched a plan to dig, plant explosives, and explode a mine in the middle of the Confederate breastwork. ...