Battle of 'The Crater'

I have heard some claim that the Union had the chance to inflict a serious, maybe war shortening, defeat on the South after setting off a huge mine,

I also heard the suggestion that one problem was that many of the first lot of troops sent were black and there was less willingness to send them support

(I am not 100% sure of the sources for either of these)

Could the Union have won a quicker victory with better exploitation of the initial shock?

Could this have had any effect on the status of former slaves and especially of black soldiers after the Civil war?
 
I have heard some claim that the Union had the chance to inflict a serious, maybe war shortening, defeat on the South after setting off a huge mine,

I also heard the suggestion that one problem was that many of the first lot of troops sent were black and there was less willingness to send them support

(I am not 100% sure of the sources for either of these)

Could the Union have won a quicker victory with better exploitation of the initial shock?

Could this have had any effect on the status of former slaves and especially of black soldiers after the Civil war?

Actually, the Union army had initially planned to use specially trained divisions of black troops to spearhead the attack, but there were some among the Union high command who felt that black troops couldn't be trusted with such an important assignment and insisted at the last minute that these troops be replaced with veteran white troops instead. The white troops, like many veterans late in the war, were essentially shell-shocked, and once sent into the Crater, refused to advance further. The black troops were finally sent in, but by that time it was too late...the Confederates had recovered from their initial shock and had surrounded the Crater with a ring of steel. The blacks, like their white comrades, were slaughtered in great numbers.

If the blacks had been sent in as the spearhead as planned, Lee's line might very well have been broken, his army shattered, Richmond taken, and the war ended as much as nine months earlier. As to how that might have affected the future status of blacks, that's hard to say. Possibly the 13th Amendment is passed by Congress sooner and ratified earlier.
 
Well, could the successful black spearhead troops have then followed thru with their 'Remember Fort Pillow' battlecry by systematically refusing quarter, esp if they'd already seen some of their trapped comrades shot without mercy by Reb defenders ? Could CS troops have somehow been discouraged from continuing to mistreat and murder black soldiers where they knew that at this point their USCT opponents were more than happy to retaliate in kind and with interest ?
 
What actually happened was that there were four regiments available at the time, three of which had been under fire for extended periods and missing an estimated 15% of their manpower due to death and injury. The fourth was fresh in the field and accordingly chosen for special training regarding action after the mine was detonated.

Then, just before the battle was to be launched, it was realized by Radical Republicans such as Sumner and Stevens that this regiment consisted of colored soldiers and they made enough noise that these men must be seen as expendable and they wouldn't have it that Burnside was ordered to choose a different regiment to lead off with. Thus the change was made by a very foolish paternalistic attitude by men who were, in normal circumstances, the best friends African-Americans had at the time.

At this point, Burnside, who had made every proper decision on this matter, starting with seeing merit in a junior officer's idea and encouraging it, lived down to expectations.

"Burnside was the best poker player I ever saw until it was time to raise $1000 and then he would fold."​

In this instance he had three other regiments, all rather tired and battered, taking heavier losses than the average because the CSA troops in the sector knew about the colored regiment and were behaving with much less courtesy than was the norm for that reason. Two of the regiments were commanded by able men of experience, the third had only recently risen to command and was not only a drunkard(not very unusual) but was that rarest of creature in the ACW, an officer considered to be an outright coward.

Burnside called the three officers together, explained what had changed, and could find no better way to settle the issue than by having them draw cards to determine which regiment would lead off. Guess who won?:rolleyes:
 
I know bumping one's own thread is naughty but I just saw a book review about this issue.

I still wonder

Was there a possibility that this particular battle could have both shortened the Civil War and improved the status of former slaves?
 
Actually, the Union army had initially planned to use specially trained divisions of black troops to spearhead the attack, but there were some among the Union high command who felt that black troops couldn't be trusted with such an important assignment and insisted at the last minute that these troops be replaced with veteran white troops instead. The white troops, like many veterans late in the war, were essentially shell-shocked, and once sent into the Crater, refused to advance further. The black troops were finally sent in, but by that time it was too late...the Confederates had recovered from their initial shock and had surrounded the Crater with a ring of steel. The blacks, like their white comrades, were slaughtered in great numbers.

I was under the impression that the battle failed due to timing and incorrect distance for the blast right? The tunnel wasn't properly navigated and blew in the wrong location. And the troops that were sent in were delayed allowing for a Confederate recovery. If memory serves, even with the blast not being located directly where intended caused severe shock to just about every Rebel in the area. So I don't think it would have matters which troops were poured in ... it was a matter of where the blast took place and the speed in which Union forced exploited. Black or white, if you don't change the blast I'm not sure it changes the outcome. Perhaps if the blacks were better trained they might have made more of a dent but I don't think they could have been decision leaving things around them OTL.

If the blacks had been sent in as the spearhead as planned, Lee's line might very well have been broken, his army shattered, Richmond taken, and the war ended as much as nine months earlier. As to how that might have affected the future status of blacks, that's hard to say. Possibly the 13th Amendment is passed by Congress sooner and ratified earlier.


If the plan went as planned (seems a famous quote warning about trusting this comes to mind ;) then yes, I believe it could have been a game changer, or ender really. And I'm also not really sure how such events could change the status of the blacks. I have my doubts that it would affect anything in that realm.
 
The Crater failed more because the units that attacked went straight thru the hole getting stuck and annihilated. Had they gone around they possibly could have achieved their goal.
Been there seen the hole, read the whole account as part of 1970s Virginia High School History, have a couple of rifle bullets from the siege area, lived were the Yankees camped.
 
I think the cock up theory applies here, it was a badly planned operation that should never have taken place and it finished Burnside's career. On this occaission I doubt race came into it apart from black troops possibly being regarded as more expendable but even so the Union intended to win
 
It was a very sensible plan until the Radicals suddenly insisted Burnside's colored regiment, the strongest one and the only with special training for the operation, NOT be used to lead the attack.

Burnside then characteristically went to pieces under pressure and, with three regimental commanders to choose from, two effective officers and one known to be a cowardly drunkard, had them draw cards to see whose regiment went in first.

So instead of a regiment at full strength with special training another at 80% strength with no preparation and whose incompetent leader spent the battle getting drunk far behind lines led the attack. As a result Burnside got a place in history as the man who singlehandedly prolonged the war by nine months and gave the ANV its last great victory.
 
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