Pennsylvania Coal Miners and the Battle of the Crater

In the summer of 1864, the battle lines of the Civil War in the Virginia theatre stalled near the railroad hub of Petersburg. The Siege of Petersburg began.

*A view of siege lines and trenches sprawling out around Petersburg, VA – Library of Congress*

Soldiers from the 48th Pennsylvania, a regiment that included many mineworkers from Schuylkill County, decided they could dig under Confederate trenches and blow a massive hole in their defenses.

The plan later received approval from US Army command and work began on a mine beneath Confederate lines. By July 30, the mine was ready, packed with explosives, and a massive assault with thousands of soldiers prepared to exploit the breach in the Confederate line.

*Recreated mine entrance at the Crater site on Petersburg National Battlefield – Wikimedia Commons*

One of the miners described what happened when they detonated the mine in the early morning hours of July 30, 1864:

The explosion took place at about quarter to five o’clock.

There was a heavy jar, a dull thud, a big volcano-puff of smoke and dust, and up went the earth under and around that fort for a distance in the air of a hundred feet or more, carrying with it cannons, caissons, muskets–and men.

Poor fellows, their fate was awful, but it was so sudden that the fate of our men who were slaughtered in the crater soon after was worse…

*An artist’s depiction of the mine explosion at Petersburg, VA – Library of Congress*

That account came from Sergeant Henry Reese describing the explosion of the mine at Petersburg on July 30, 1864. Reese was a coal miner from the Coal Region who played a crucial role in the construction and detonation of the mine.

The resulting Battle of the Crater turned from great opportunity to utter disaster when the US attack became confused and Confederate forces regrouped and counterattacked. But the ingenuity, skill, and hard work that blasted out “The Crater” remained a point of pride in the 48th Pennsylvania and Schuylkill County ever since.