Once More the Guns Roar in
Petersburg's Historic "Crater" * l';;''
il HE guns of the War Between the States have been
stilled for nearly three quarters of a century, but on
I April 30 of this year the quiet little city of Petersburg,
Va., will echo once more to their roar. There on that
date blue-clad "Yank" and gray or butternut brown
I garbed "Johnny Reb" will fight again one of the most
r spectacular engagements in the whole four years of
u i the Civil war ? the Battle of the-Crater.
Vt course, this time it will ?
be only a sham battle, staged
by the National Park Service,
with the "Devil Dogs" of the
United States Marine corps
representing the Union troops
and cadets from the Virginia
Military institute and nation
al guardsmen from the Old
Dominion playing the part of
the Confederates. But to the
thousands of spectators who
are expected to gather in
Petersburg for the re-enact
ment of this battle there will
be a thrill of reality to it as
they see the 1937 prototypes
of the 1861-65 warriors swing
Into action and hear the voice
of Dr. Douglas Southall Free
man, editor, historian and bi
ographer of "Marse Robert"
Lee, describing through a
loud speaker system the bat
tle as it progresses.
With his description supplying
such parts of the battle as must
necessarily be omitted from the
re-enactment, they will hear in
memory the gigantic roar of the
explosion of four tons of powder
as it hurled a mountain of earth,
artillery, planks of wood and
other debris high up in the air,
taking nearly 300 Confederate
soldiers to their death. They will
see the Union storm troops rush
ing down into the huge hole in
the ground, and then, slipping
and gliding, trying vainly to
climb up the other side, while
Confederate rifles and cannon
reap their harvest of death in
that inferno below them. And
.when the gray-clad sdldiers with
a series of brilliant charges re
capture the broken lines, they will
realize anew the full horror of
this terrible fiasco which cost the
lives of nearly 4,000 boys in blue
and gained not a single yard of
disputed terrain in the long
drawn-out fight for possession of
Petersburg ? "the longest siege
on American soil."
Back of the story of this en
gagement is the history of the
stalemate which existed in the
fourth year of the Civil war. The
genius of Robert E. Lee had
balked every attempt of Ulysses
S. Grant with his host of blue
coats to crush the ragged men
in gray in the long series of bat
tles that had raged north and
east of the Confederate capital.
So the Union commander decided
to swing around that beleaguered
city, cross the James river and
strike Richmond from the south
through Petersburg, "the back
door of the Confederacy."
The result was a protracted
siege of nine months. In this
time skirmishes occurred almost
daily, totaling some 150 minor
?ngagements.
A Tragic Climax.
But all of them were leading
Dp to a tragic climax? the Battle
at the Crater. That it was to
Lieut. Col. Henry Pleasants.
turn out thus was no fault of the
man who had the original idea for
attempting the most spectacular
coup of the whole war. He was
Lieut. Col. Henry Pleasants of
the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania
Volunteers, a part of the Ninth
corps, commanded by Gen. A. E.
Burnside. Pleasants had been a
mining engineer and most of the
men in his regiment were Penn
sylvania coal miners.
During the attacks on Peters
burg in June, 1804, Pleasants
"sixed up" the terrain with the
practiced eye of the engineer
The Union troops were behind
high earthworks within 400 feet
o I the Confederates' defensive
trench system and nearly oppo
site a strong point called Elliott's
salient, which was well fortified
? 1 almost impregnable. Pleas
Ktfia
ants had noted, however, that al
though the Union earthworks
were lower than the Confederate,
the land sloped very sharply be
hind the position of the Ninth
corps. Thus what went on be
hind their lines was concealed
from Confederate observers over
a considerable area.
So he conceived the idea of
tunneling under the Union lines
and the "no man's land" be
tween them and the Confederates
and laying a mine under the posi
tion held by the men in gray.
His proposal was sent through
the usual military channels to
his division commander. Gen.
Robert B. Potter, his corps com
mander, General Burnside, both
of whom approved of it, to Gen
eral Grant, who saw in it an op
portunity to crack the Confeder
ate line and pour enough troops
through the crevasse to capture
Petersburg. So he ordered Burn
side to go ahead with the project.
Carrying out those orders was
an epic achievement for which
Pleasants deserves more credit
than history has yet given him.
With his regiment of about 400
miner-soldiers he did the job
despite lack of co-operation from
his superiors. General Meade
and Major Duane, chief engineer
of the Army of the Potomac,
said the thing could not be done ?
that it was all "clap-trap and
nonsense"; that such a length of
mine had never been excavated
in the history of military oper
The Explosion of the Federal Mine (From a contemporary
drawing).
well known in the Union army.
It was disclosed that Ledlie
stayed behind in a dug-out drink
ing throughout the Crater action
and could not be induced to go
out and try to extricate the rem
nants of his division from the
deathtrap in which they were
caught.
When the tunneling operations
had been completed on July 23 a
total of 18,000 cubic feet of earth
had been excavated. The four
tons of powder were placed in
the laterals on July 27 and the
next day the miners' tamping
had been completed. Pleasants
was then ordered to explode the
mine early on the morning of
July 30. He lighted the fuse at
3:15 o'clock in the morning. The
minutes ticked away ? and noth
ing happened! So Lieut. Jacob
Douty and Sergeant Henry Rees
volunteered to risk their lives
and go into the tunnel to see why.
They found that the fire had
stopped where fuse lengths had
been tied together, so they
ones, twos and groups could be
seen running toward the smoking
Crater.
Burnside and Ledlie had failed
to clear their own defense obsta
cles and to prepare passages
out cf and over their own deep
trenches. So their storm troops
were disordered and delayed ac
cordingly. Not a shot was fired
from the Confederate side at first,
but by the time the Crater was
filled by a huddled mob of fore
most men, the Confederate rifles
were cracking from flanks and
front, hostile guns were throwing
gusts of canister, and it was fatal
to go beyond that scene of hide
ous death.
Out of the Death Fit.
Gallant officers of the Union line
sprang out of the death pit and
led a few of their bravest men
as far as 100 yards beyond the
Crater's lips, but forward of that
none went and nothing could live.
Survivors raced back for what
shelter the pit could give them.
There one after another they fell,
torn by rifle balls and shell frag
ments.
Men started despairingly to dig
a trench from the Crater back to
the Union lines. Men in the lines
began to dig a hasty ditch toward
the Crater to save what life they
could from certain death if the
men remained there. Toward
noon orders were gotten into the
Crater for the men to withdraw
as best they could. They dashed
for their lines, but only a part of
them reached safety.
The Confederate loss had been
276 officers and men, and this
"stupendous failure," as Grant
called it, had cost him 3,798
killed, wounded, captured or
missing. In the afternoon the
Confederates swept forward to
drive away the last straggling
Union troops and that night Ma
hone's division "held the Crater
and all the horrors that lay in
and about it."
? ? ?
Years later a farmer clearing
land near Petersburg discovered
by accident a tunnel under the
ground. Further investigation re
vealed the fact that it was only
one small part of an /elaborate
system that had beea-aug by the
Confederates during the long
siege of Petersburg, many oi
The Crater of the Mine Exploded on July 30, 1864, Showing the
Entrance to the Federal Tunnel.
ations and could not be. But
when it was completed at last,
the "impossible" had- been
accomplished. From the steep
slope the shaft ran in for the
more than 500 feet with a clear
ance of about five feet. It was
about four feet wide at the bot
tom and three at the top.
The whole length was shored
and braced with timbers against
the countlcss tons of sand and
clay above. The tunnel ran a
third of its length at a slight
pitch upward, then took a steep
pitch for another third, to re
gain the proper distance from
the curving surface above, and
thence ran nearly level to a point
below the Confederate fort.
Here the main gallery branched
into two laterals about 38 feet
long for placing the magazine.
Into the side galleries, on the
eve of the projected attack, were
carried 8,000 pounds of powder,
the amount to which the requisi
tion was cut by General Meade.
The various magazines thus
made were linked by fuses in
tubes, the fuse led down the gal
lery and tamped with tons of
earth. While this was going on,
those working in the big tunnel
could hear the Confederates
above. Sounds of digging led
them to believe their enterprise
had been suspected and was
about to be countered. More
over, the shock of discharge of
Confederate guns overhead led to
fears of a cave-in. Everything
argued for speedy shooting the
mine, and preparations for the ef
fort to take advantage of the cer
tain breach in the lines were
hastened. But it was here that
the brilliance of Pleasants'
achievement was nullified by the
blundering of higher-ups.
spliced fresh ends, lighted the
fuse again and dashed hastily out
of the tunnel. For a few min
utes the waiting Union troops
stood shivering in the cool dawn
and then ?
A Gigantic Upheaval.
They felt the earth shake un
der them but the only sound they
heard was a dull grumbling roar.
Their eyes, however, told them
the story of what had happened.
Over across "no man's land"
they saw a section of the Con
A Fatal Choice.
While Pleasants was busy with
his operations a division of negro
troops were being trained by
Burnside to lead the assault
through the breach to be caused
by the mine. But at the last
minute Meade and Grant disap
proved of their use for this duty
lest they be criticized for select
ing colored men to be the "bat
talion of death." So Burnside had
the storm division chosen by
drawing straws. As it turned
out, this foredoomed the enter
prise to failure because the lot
fell to Gen. James H. Ledlie,
commander of the First division
of Burnside' s corps.
It was brought out then ana by
a congressional investigation lat
er, that Ledlie's "bad habita"
and consequent unreliability were
Part of (he Confederate tunnel system as it is today. Ap
parently forgotten since shortly after the Civil war, this tonnel
constructed during the long siege of Petersburg, was discovered
by accident about ten yeas ago by a farmer clearing land. In
Uie photograph are shown the entrances to two branches of the
passage. The one on the right is nearly a mile long. The left
one is 1,704 feet long. Both are about 5 feet wide and 12 feet under
the surface of the ground at the entrance.
federate trenches rise up in a
gigantic upheaval. The air above
the spot was filled with a mount
ing cloud of earth, men, guns,
planks and fragments. Confed
erates near the Crater ran in
every direction. The waiting Un
ion legions shrank back, to es
cape the shower of debris. Both
sides gazed astounded, appalled.
A great hole appeared in the
ground, 200 feet long, 60 feet
wide, 25 feet deep, smoking, dust
shrouded, horrible.
The Union artillerymen recov
ered from their surprise first. Al
most immediately they began
laying down a fiery barrage on
both sides of the breach. Five
minutes later, blue soldiers in
them no doubt, to prevent any
repetition of Pleasants' feat. ;
Today the visitor can walk
through those tunnels and mar
vel at the engineering skill which
has made it possible for these un
derground passages to remain but
little changed through the 70
years since they were in use.
Different, however, is the case
with the Crater. Today it is lit
tle more than a depression in
the ground. Shaded by the sur
rounding trees, grass-carpeted
from top to bottom, it little re
sembles that place of horrors
where on a hot July day in 1864
nearly 5,000 Americans died in
vain.
C WtrtcTU Nmpapcr Union.
Keeping Up
W^I^Scierice
$y Sc/ence$erv/ce
C Science Service.? WNU Service.
Clue in Geography
to Tooth Decay
Found by Research
Effects of Latitude
and Drinking Water
Baltimore. ? Dentists seeking
ways to prevent caries or tooth
decay took a lesson in geogra
phy at the meeting here of the
; International Association for
J Dental Research.
Latitude, hardness of drinking wa
ter and nearness to mining regions
all seem to have an effect on tooth
1 decay, Dr. Clarence A. Mills, pro
fessor of experimental medicine at
the University of Cincinnati, told the
; dentists.
The amount of tooth decay in
American school children increases
steadily throughout the United
States as the distance from the trop
j ics increases, Dr. Mills said. The
l increase is roughly 15 more decayed
teeth per 100 children for each add
ed degree of latitude, "or well over
200 per cent from Gulf to Cana
dian border."
Effects of Ultra-violet Light.
Dr. Mills, explains this as being
due to the decreased amount of ul
tra-violet light reaching inhabitants
of the more northern latitudes. The
only exception to the increase of
tooth decay toward the north is
found in the northern plains section,
where the sunlight is more plenti
ful than in other northern regions of
the country. The part played by ul
tra-violet light in stimulating devel
opment of strong bones and teeth
has already been shown, Dr. Mills
pointed out.
Hard water is good for the teeth,
even though it makes dishwashing,
laundering and other household
chores more difficult and presents a
serious problem to factories. Dr.
Mills found almost 30 per cent more
caries among the children of cities
using river and lake water than
among those using water from wells
or springs, even though the mean
latitude of the two groups was the
same. The reason for this, he be
lieves, is the degree of hardness of
the water. His data show that car
- ies diminishes as hardness in
creases. Animal studies have al
ready shown that the calcium and
magnesium supply in the drinking
water and food affect bone and tooth
formation and tooth decay.
Caries ana sou Leacmng.
Another relation between geogra
phy and tooth decay is the finding
that children living near the head
waters of a river have less caries
than those living near the same riv
er's mouth. This is probably related
to soil leaching, Dr. Mills suggests.
A high caries rate is found in min
ing regions in Pennsylvania and on
down the Ohio river. This may be
accounted for by the millions of tons
of sulphuric acid which seep each
year from the mines into Pennsyl
vania streams and on down the
Ohio. Besides corroding boilers,
metal pipes and river craft, Dr.
Mills believes this acid may lead
to tooth decay in persons drinking
the water. Sulphuric acid will lib
erate calcium from bones and teeth
in large amounts, studies on lead
poisoning treatment have shown.
This point and a possible relation
between amount of tooth decay and
amount of oxidized sulphur from
coal combustion in the air of smoky
cities need to be investigated fur
ther, Dr. Mills suggested.
Children's Problems
Solved by Study
of Puppet Shows
New York.? Children's wor
ries about love, marriage and
even sex are being solved for a
group of little patients at Belle
vue hospital here by puppet
shows. These puppet shows
represent for children the prob
lem plays which parents see on
Broadway.
This use of puppet shows was de
scribed to members of the Amer
ican Orthopsychiatry association
meeting here by Dr. Lcuretta Ben
der and Adolph Woltman of the
psychiatric division of Bellevue hos
pital.
Just as the grown-up audience dis
cusses the problem of John and
Mary on the stage, the children dis
cuss with each other and the psy
chiatrist the problems of the puppet
characters. Through such discus
sion, by children or grown-ups,
coi(ies better understanding of their
own problems. With a little help
from the psychiatrist, the children
are then able to find the best way
out of their difficulties. The pup
pet shows are designed to include
all the problems that worry chil
dren and keep them from growing
ap happily.
Intermarriage for
Generations Doesn't
Weaken the Stock
Results of Study of
Japan Fishing Village
INTERMARRIAGE for sever
al generations is popularly
supposed to weaken the stock
and produce a race or people
physically and mentally degen
erate. Evidence to the contrary
appears in a report to the Amer
can Medical association of a
study of conditions in the small
fishing village of Usuki on the
coast of western Japan.
The inhabitants of this village
have strictly kept the custom of
intermarriage for hundreds of
years. According to tradition the
village was settled in 1605 by the
descendants of a noble family
forced to flee in a civil war. The
biologic effect of intermarriage has
been studied in the village since
1933 by Dr. Takeshi Ikemi. His
findings are summarized in the fol
lowing report:
"There are 135 families having
1,786 members in all (904 men and
882 women). They have never min
gled with other villagers or towns
men except in business transac
tions; consequently their habits and
customs are quite different from
other Japanese.
Children Do Well at School.
"Although the children are not
regular attendants at school, an in
vestigation of the school records
shows that they generally do well
at school. Thus intermarriage never
affected their intellectual faculties.
"Crime is rare. During the last
ten years seven violated the fish
ing law, four injured others, four
did some stealing, four broke the
law of weights and measures, eight
were charged with gambling, one
cheated others, two were robbers,
five interfered with government of
ficials in the execution of their duty,
and three other derelictions brought
the total instances of malfeasance
to thirty-eight. Judging from this,
it may be affirmed that intermar
riage does not bring about the de
generation of mental control.
Normally Healthy and Strong.
"The sanitary knowledge of the
people is meager; they have epi
demic diseases, such as dysentery
and cholera, but there is never any
serious hereditary disease. Lepro
sy, syphilis and elephantiasis at
present are not seen among them.
Neither color blindness nor insanity
occurs. The constitution of the
people is strong and they are good
wrestlers in spite of their taking
very simpls food. In the physical
examination for conscription, these
villagers have always ranked first,
in that prefecture, with respect to
health and constitution.
"Divorce is rare. The birth rate,
in comparison to that of the two
neighboring villages, shows that in
termarriage does not affect the
birth rate. Stillbirths are uncom
mon.
"There are now twenty-seven
couples who married cousins."
Information about the offspring of
these couples shows that "when the
excellent are married, no bad re
sults are to be found."
225 ,000,000- Y ear
Old Reptile Bones
Found in Texas
Cambridge, Mass. ? A com
plete fossil specimen of a long
spined Dimetrodon, one of the
earliest of reptiles and appar
ently the commonest animal on
earth about 225 million years
ago, has recently been brought
to Harvard university by Rob
ert Witter of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology.
It was found in the "red beds" of
northwestern Texas, which have
previously yielded numerous skele
tons of the early Permian period,
of which the Dimetrodon was char
acteristic. This flesh-eating creature
had its day and ceased to be, long
before the rise of the dinosaurs.
Most spectacular feature of the
eight-foot animal is a series of long,
bony spines extending two feet up
ward from its back. There is evi
dence that in life these spines were
connected by a web of skin to form
a sort of sail along the middle of
the back.
The function of this sail, if any,
is still a scientific puzzle.
England Has Colored
Fabrics of Asbestos
New York. ? Vari-colored as
bestos fabrics are now being
produced in England with the
aid of a new dye which gives
fast colors, states a report to
the American Institute of Min
ing and Metallurgies Engi
neers here.
The dye opens up a new field of
fireproof cloths including aprons,
rugs and table cov ers. Previous ar
tificial dyes have not been auccesa
y. on asbesto*.
My 7airotite
R<"P' JJSL
Creamed Eggs With Chill
and Rice
To two cupfuls of well-seasoned
medium white sauce add one tea
spoonful chili powder and s i *
hard-cooked eggs, cut in quarters.
Meanwhile, cook one cupful of
rice, season it to suit the taste
and arrange in a border around a
platter. Pour the egg mixture into
the center. Serves six.
Copyright. ? WNO 8?rvle?.
A Reminder
"Well, dear," said Biair alter
tea had been cleared away,
"what are you planning tc do to
night?"
Mrs. Blair shrugged her shoul
ders.
"Nothing special," she replied.
"I'll probably write a letter or
two, read, listen to the wireless,
and so on."
"I see," he replied. "And when
you come to the 'so on,' don't for
get my shirt buttons."
SMART FELLER
Sunday School Teacher ? Now
children, Samson was safe as long
as he kept what?
Bright Pupil ? The key to his
locks.
How Could It Be?
"Yes, sir, these are the ruins of
a building that was in existence
2,500 years ago," declared the
guide.
"What rubbish!" one member
of the tourist party answered.
"Why, it's only 1937 now."
And So He Did
Judge ? Why did you steal the
woman's carpet?
Tramp ? I did not steal it.
Judge ? She says you stole it.
Tramp ? She said, "Take that
carpet and beat it."
biliousness, sour stomach,
bilious indigestion, flatu
lence and headache,
to constipation.
10c and 25c at dealers
Hasten Early -
Hasten in the morning so that
by evening thy work for the day
be accomplished.
FROM Bill TO WOMAN
Mrs. J. A. Hagkr of
1732 Wilkinson St, Char
lotte, N. C., said: "I cw?
much to Dr. Pierce's Fa
vorite Prescription for the
help it gave me when I
was just a girL I would
have a great deal of suf
fering, due to minor fane
uoruu am ur Dan ccs. My mouier bad me UJte
Dr. Pierce'* Favorite Prescription and its
took effects proved to be what I needed to
stimulate my appetite and to relieve mj
disturbances. Boy now of your dealer.
THE CHEERFUL CHERUB
I'm .studying
astronomy .
It rests my mind
.somehow
To think tdxwt those]
f\r-ofF worlds ?
[Our owns so mussed
op now.
1TP*"!