The Crater: Petersburg

by John Cannan

A spectacular early morning underground explosion followed by bloody hand-to-hand combat and unprecedented command malfeasance makes the story of the Crater one of the most riveting in Civil War history. Da Capo's new "Battleground America" series offers a unique approach to the battles and battlefields of America. Each book in the series highlights a small American battlefield-sometimes a small portion of a much larger battlefield-and tells the story of the brave soldiers who fought there. Using soldiers' memoirs, letters and diaries, as well as contemporary illustrations, the human ordeal of battle comes to life on the page.All of the units, important individuals, and actions of each engagement on the battlefield are described in a clear and concise narrative. Detailed maps complement the text and illustrate small unit action at each stage of the battle. Then-and-now photographs tie the dramatic events of the past to the modern battlefield site and highlight the importance of terrain in battle. The present-day historical site of the battle is described in detail with suggestions for touring.

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 2002

Reviews

[David Kent]

Author John Cannan brings us into what became a disastrous assault by Union forces on the Confederate fortifications at Petersburg, Virginia in June 1864. A dubious idea from the beginning - explode 8000 pounds of gunpowder in a mine dug under the Confederate positions, then rush into the crater - the animosity between Generals Burnside and Meade assured the idea would turn out to be poorly executed. Cannan does an excellent job giving us an inside view of the communications between the two commanders and their subordinates, the faulty design, the insanity of sending brigade after brigade into what amounted to a dead end, and the inevitable conclusion. Brief, but informative, the book provides a good introduction to what Ulysses S. Grant would later call "a stupendous failure."