Changes

It was Colonel Henry Pleasants, a man in Burnside's IX Corps, who came up with a plan to end the siege: the men in his regiment, who happened to have been Pennsylvania miners in their lives before the war, would dig a tunnel under the Confederate defenses, pack it with explosives, and set the charge off.  Theoretically, the resulting explosion would open a breach in the Confederate lines which the Union would be able to exploit to their benefit.  Burnside, having received approval from Grant, had the men begin to dig the tunnel, and trained a unit of black soldiers to go around the blasted area and charge throught the (hopefully) battered and shattered and weakened Confederate line, which would, in turn, allow other Federal forces to follow through.   

It was Colonel Henry Pleasants, a man in Burnside's IX Corps, who came up with a plan to end the siege: the men in his regiment, who happened to have been Pennsylvania miners in their lives before the war, would dig a tunnel under the Confederate defenses, pack it with explosives, and set the charge off.  Theoretically, the resulting explosion would open a breach in the Confederate lines which the Union would be able to exploit to their benefit.  Burnside, having received approval from Grant, had the men begin to dig the tunnel, and trained a unit of black soldiers to go around the blasted area and charge throught the (hopefully) battered and shattered and weakened Confederate line, which would, in turn, allow other Federal forces to follow through.   

Several hours before the blast took place, Generals Grant and Mead, who felt uneasy about using black soldiers, ordered Burnside to replace his trained black soldiers with a white unit which was not trained for the task.  Although this decision seems to have been made with a racist frame of mind, the generals were really concerned with two matters: the first was that these black troops did not have as much combat time as other troops.  The second problem was this: if the confederates were not damaged by the blast, they could potentially slaughter the black troops, which would open the commanding genreals to harsh allegations about the "massacre" of troops.  When the explosion took place on July 30, the white soldiers jumped into the crater instead of going around it, and stared at it awestruck.   

Several hours before the blast took place, Generals Grant and Meade, who felt uneasy about using black soldiers, ordered Burnside to replace those trained men with a white unit which was not trained for the task.  Although this decision seems to have been made with a racist frame of mind, the generals were really concerned with two matters: the first was that these black troops did not have as much combat time as other troops.  The second problem was this: if the confederates were not damaged by the blast, they could potentially slaughter the black troops, which would open the commanding genreals to harsh allegations about the "massacre" of troops.  When the explosion took place on July 30, the white soldiers jumped into the crater instead of going around it, and stared at it awestruck.   

The Confederates thus were given time to regroup and open fire from the rim, and the short Battle of the Crater ended in a humiliating defeat with heavy casualties.  Burnside, charged with the fiasco, was sent on leave.  He was not placed in a command again, and President [[Andrew Johnson]] accepted his resignation from the Army on April 15, 1865, the day Lincoln died from an assassin’s bullet.

The Confederates thus were given time to regroup and open fire from the rim, and the short Battle of the Crater ended in a humiliating defeat with heavy casualties.  Burnside, charged with the fiasco, was sent on leave.  He was not placed in a command again, and President [[Andrew Johnson]] accepted his resignation from the Army on April 15, 1865, the day Lincoln died from an assassin’s bullet.