t
the mine had been sprung and Burnside had taken possession. Burnside's
corps was not to stop in the crater at all but push on to the top of the
hill, supported on the right and left by Ord's and Warren's corps.

Warren and Ord fulfilled their instructions perfectly so far as making
ready was concerned. Burnside seemed to have paid no attention whatever
to the instructions, and left all the obstruction in his own front for
his troops to get over in the best way they could. The four divisions
of his corps were commanded by Generals Potter, Willcox, Ledlie and
Ferrero. The last was a colored division; and Burnside selected it to
make the assault. Meade interfered with this. Burnside then took
Ledlie's division--a worse selection than the first could have been. In
fact, Potter and Willcox were the only division commanders Burnside had
who were equal to the occasion. Ledlie besides being otherwise
inefficient, proved also to possess disqualification less common among
soldiers.

There was some delay about the explosion of the mine so that it did not
go off until about five o'clock in the morning. When it did explode it
was very successful, making a crater twenty feet deep and something like
a hundred feet in length. Instantly one hundred and ten cannon and
fifty mortars, which had been placed in the most commanding positions
covering the ground to the right and left of where the troops were to
enter the enemy's lines, commenced playing. Ledlie's division marched
into the crater immediately on the explosion, but most of the men
stopped there in the absence of any one to give directions; their
commander having found some safe retreat to get into before they
started. There was some delay on the left and right in advancing, but
some of the troops did get in and turn to the right and left, carrying
the rifle-pits as I expected they would do.

There had been great consternation in Petersburg, as we were well aware,
about a rumored mine that we were going to explode. They knew we were
mining, and they had failed to cut our mine off by countermining, though
Beauregard had taken the precaution to run up a line of intrenchments to
the rear of that part of their line fronting where they could see that
our men were at work. We had learned through deserters who had come in
that the people had very wild rumors about what was going on on our
side. They said that we had undermined the whole of Petersburg; that
they were r