What if The Battle of The Crater had succeeded?

Drakker

Banned
During the Civil War, during the Siege of Petersburg, one of Ambrose Burnside's commanders, Henry Pleasants, came up with the idea to blow up a mine under the Confederate lines, followed by a general attack. Burnside gave the go ahead, and a unit of USCT(United States Colored Troops) was trained for the attack. However, General Meade, Burnside's superior, ordered him not to use the USCTs, supposedly in fear of political repercussions if the attack failed and the troops were slaughtered. Of course, that's probably not what his personal reason was, but it made for a convient excuse. As a result, lots were drawn among the commanders of the white units. The man whose unit was selected, James Ledlie, promptly got drunk and provided no leadership during the affair. As a result, the attack moved forward slowly and in confusion, with a lot of gawking at the results of the explosion, and it was destroyed.

My question is this.....,what if Meade hadn't intervened and the actually trained USCTs were used in the attack? Would the plan have worked and Petersburg fallen early? What ramifications would it have on the rest of the Civil War?
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
If the execution of the plan had been even remotely competent, the Army of the Potomac had a good chance to capture Petersburg and inflict a terrible defeat on the Army of Northern Virginia.

It should be kept in mind, though, that the Army of Northern Virginia was closer to what it had been in the Wilderness than what it would be at Appomattox. It had suffered through the terrible winter of 1864-65 with no clothes, shoes, or food, nor had it suffered the attrition of the August and October battles. More importantly, the election of 1864 had not yet taken place, and letters and diaries of the time show that many Confederates remained hopeful of victory. The time of despair had not yet arrived.

Therefore, I think Lee would have thrown every man he had into a counter attack to try to seal the gap and save the position. Maybe he would have succeeded, in which case the fight would have been even bloodier than it was IOTL. If he had failed, Richmond would have had to be evacuated.

The Army of Northern Virginia would have only extracted itself with heavy losses and retired to the west to recover. But the fall of Petersburg and Richmond would have been the great victory that the Northern people had been praying for all year. Confederate morale would have plummeted and the skyrocketing desertion rate that happened IOTL in the fall would have started months earlier.

Outside of its fortifications and with plenty of campaigning time left before winter, Grant would have gone after Lee again in a month or so. I don't think Lee would have made it. Combined with the fall of Atlanta and the melting away of the Army of Tennessee, I see the war ending before 1864. Lincoln is reelected overwhelmingly over a token opponent (McClellan probably would have dropped out rather than lose) and Grant goes down as the greatest American general in all history.

The Lost Cause has an added aspect: the Yankees only won because of a nefarious, cowardly and unethical trick.
 
How will it influence race relations, if one of the most important victorys of the Union was won by a afro-american unit?
 

jahenders

Banned
I agree. Assuming they could withstand a counterattack and Burnside pushes up reserves, it would certainly put a huge dent in CSA lines and put artillery within easy range of Richmond. While it wouldn't have inevitably led to a total collapse it would almost certainly have shortened the war.

If the execution of the plan had been even remotely competent, the Army of the Potomac had a good chance to capture Petersburg and inflict a terrible defeat on the Army of Northern Virginia.

It should be kept in mind, though, that the Army of Northern Virginia was closer to what it had been in the Wilderness than what it would be at Appomattox. It had suffered through the terrible winter of 1864-65 with no clothes, shoes, or food, nor had it suffered the attrition of the August and October battles. More importantly, the election of 1864 had not yet taken place, and letters and diaries of the time show that many Confederates remained hopeful of victory. The time of despair had not yet arrived.

Therefore, I think Lee would have thrown every man he had into a counter attack to try to seal the gap and save the position. Maybe he would have succeeded, in which case the fight would have been even bloodier than it was IOTL. If he had failed, Richmond would have had to be evacuated.

The Army of Northern Virginia would have only extracted itself with heavy losses and retired to the west to recover. But the fall of Petersburg and Richmond would have been the great victory that the Northern people had been praying for all year. Confederate morale would have plummeted and the skyrocketing desertion rate that happened IOTL in the fall would have started months earlier.

Outside of its fortifications and with plenty of campaigning time left before winter, Grant would have gone after Lee again in a month or so. I don't think Lee would have made it. Combined with the fall of Atlanta and the melting away of the Army of Tennessee, I see the war ending before 1864. Lincoln is reelected overwhelmingly over a token opponent (McClellan probably would have dropped out rather than lose) and Grant goes down as the greatest American general in all history.

The Lost Cause has an added aspect: the Yankees only won because of a nefarious, cowardly and unethical trick.
 

jahenders

Banned
While it would only be a part of a huge campaign, it would certainly be seen as significant. It would certainly mean more use of colored troops for the remainder of the war and commensurately more respect.

A more important implication might have been that it shortened the war and allowed Lincoln to set the course for reconstruction (vs Johnson).

How will it influence race relations, if one of the most important victorys of the Union was won by a afro-american unit?
 
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