1864 — July 30, Federal powder explosion underneath Rebel Redoubt, Petersburg, VA–278
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-20-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 278 Slotkin, Richard. No Quarter: The Battle of The Crater, 1864. NY: Random House, 2009
—>278 Wolfe. “Battle of the Crater.” Encyclopedia Virginia. VA Humanities Found. 6-26-2012.
Narrative Information
Slotkin: “Most of the 18th South Carolina, a third of the 22nd, three companies of the 23rd, and one company of the 17th were killed outright – 278 men torn apart, suffocated, crushed.”[1] (Slotkin, Richard. No Quarter: The Battle of The Crater, 1864. NY: Random House, 2009.)
Wolfe: “….At least 278 Confederates—South Carolinians and Virginians mostly—were killed instantly, and a giant crater—what has come to be known as the Crater—was opened up in the ground where moments earlier they had been sleeping. It was more than 170 feet long, 60 feet across, and 30 feet deep.” (Wolfe, Brendan. “Battle of the Crater.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Brendan Wolfe (ed.). Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. 6-26-2012 update.)
Sources
Slotkin, Richard. No Quarter: The Battle of The Crater, 1864. NY: Random House, 2009.
Wolfe, Brendan. “Battle of the Crater.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Brendan Wolfe (ed.). Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. 6-26-2012 update. Accessed 4-3-2013 at: http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Crater_Battle_of_the#start_entry
[1] Cites: Cavanaugh, Michael A. and William Marvel. The Petersburg Campaign: The Battle of the Crater, “The Horrid Pit,” June 25-Aug 6, 1864 (2nd Ed.). Lynchburg, VA: H. E. Howard, Inc., 1989, pp. 40-41; Stone, DeWitt Boyd, Jr., ed. Wandering to Glory: Confederate Veterans Remember Evans’ Brigade. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2002, p. 189; and Bosbyshell, Oliver Christian. The 48th in the War. Being a Narrative of the Campaigns of the 48th Regiment, Infantry, Pennsylvania veteran Volunteers, During the War of the Rebellion. Philadelphia: Avil Printing Company, 1895, p. 175.