covered from
his first surprise, their charge would have been successful.
But it was made too late. The fire to which they were
exposed was very hot and destructive; it came from front and
flank, it poured into the faces of the men. It enfiladed
their lines. The enemy's rage against the colored troops had
its bloody opportunity."

And they made use of it.

Captain W. L. Fagan, of the 8th Alabama Regiment, thus gives an account
of the fight, from the confederate side:

"The crater combat, unlike other battles in Virginia, was a
series of deeds of daring, of bloody hand-to-hand fighting,
where the survivor could count with a certainty the men he
had slain. A few days ago a soldier said to me: 'I killed
two at the crater; they were not three feet from me when
they fell. I had followed the fortunes of the Confederacy
from Williamsburg to Appomattox Court House, and had, to the
morning of July 30, only seen two bayonet wounds;--one
received at Frazier's Farm, the other at Turkey Ridge, June
3, 1864.' Men stood face to face at the crater. Often a
bayonet thrust was given before the Minie ball went crashing
through the body. Every man took care of himself, intent on
selling his life as dearly as possible. The negroes did not
all stampede. They mingled with the white troops. The troops
of Mahone, Wilcox and Wright were greeted with defiant
yells, while their ranks were mowed down by withering fires.
Many officers commanding negro troops held their commissions
for bravery. Encouraged, threatened, emulating the white
troops, the black men fought with desperation. Some
Confederate soldiers recognized their slaves at the crater.
Captain J----, of the Forty-first Virginia, gave the
military salute to 'Ben' and 'Bob,' whom he had left hoeing
corn down in Dinwiddie. If White's Division had occupied
Reservoir Hill, Richmond would have been evacuated."

But let the writer of the following tell what the brave black men met
after having advanced beyond the crater, where they grappled with the
sullen foe filled with the recollection of the capture, in June, of
their works, guns and comrades by the "niggers" of the 18th Corps. It
was not _lex talionis_ that they observed, but a repetition of the Fort
Pillow Massacre. Under the head of "The Confederate Charge," the
particulars are given: