them. the pinpoint of defeat failed to mention that the federal attack lost more whites in the federal stampede. the division alone would have been sufficient enough to attract attention for those looking to isolate their defeat on july 30th. but the route placed white soldiers in a situation that they had never before faced on a virginia battlefield. the face that collapsed in mahone's countercharge fell back on positions held by their own men. these men who were desperately trying to hold their own positions now found themselves being stampeded by black and bh white comrades with confederates in close pursuit. they responded by trying to fight down the retreating soldiers with their own weapons. mccook of the 104th infantry

said, quote, the whites retreated into the niggers. others were called having to, quote, fix bayonets to stop them. this was a desperate moment for the men in the 4th division, but for the other three divisions, there was now an added element of an enraged enemy that was likely to treat them as accomplices in citing foreign slaves in selection. george kilmer noted, quote, it has been properly asserted that white men fell back into the greater in order to keep whites from confederate vengeance. the 36th massachusetts, quote, mix them up so they, the confederates, didn't show white men any mercy at all. a few days into the battle, charles j. mills of the 56th

massachusetts, spoke for many when he confided to his mother, quote, they cannot be trusted for anything and are, in short, a hideous mistake, i fear. he, of course, was referring to the black division. the three white divisions had spent the morning holding precariously to earthworks in and around the crater. but now their black comrades had unintentionally placed them in an even more desperate spot. relatively few called for the end of the enlistment of black soldiers into the union army, but the experience of fighting in close quarters reinforced the belief that if blacks were going to be used militarily, they should do so independently of whites to avoid the kinds of problems experienced at the crater. the men of the 4th division also succumbed to the vortex of anger that swirled through the crater and adjacent works. their charge was animated by the goals of freedom, the promise of a reunited nation and scivil

rights. but their battle cry also reflected a dark underbelly of revenge for the murder of their comrades and their understanding of what would likely happen in the event of their capture. earlier, on june 15th, 1864, colored troops in brigadier general edward hinx's successfully stormed the line outside petersburg. the assault received a great deal of attention in the press and in the ranks as well. but alongside praise of their battlefield prowess, stories of executioners spread. the republic tribune headed its dispatch. the assault on petersburg, valor of the colored troops, they take no prisoners and leave no wounded. the commander of the 30th usc t informed his family that the black soldiers fought splend i

had -- splendidly and took no prisoners. i saw him today, wrote one soldier. the white folks took some prisoners but they did not. while much more limited in scope compared to what they faced at the hands of confederates, this violence continued at the crater. lieutenant richard dosny of the 20th usct recalled that black soldiers went into the battle of the crater, quote, not expecting any quarter nor intending to give any. one soldier claimed that a prisoner was killed by a black soldier with a bayonet and in an agony of frenzy. the reverberations of this battle echoed throughout the post-war years. very few americans in 1860 anticipated that in a few short years, 4 million slaves would be freed. americans struggled to come to terms with the meaning of the war, the end of slavery and the

role that blacks played -- sorry -- and the role that blacks played in the preservation of the union and emancipation through armed service. memory of the crater and its racial violence remained a particularly thorny problem for the black and white residents of petersburg and the nation at large. the veterans of mahone's virginia brigade, many of whom were from the petersburg area, continued to meet on the crater battlefield to remember fallen comrades, the cause for which they fought and assure one another through the early years of defeat and an uncertain future. for william mahone, petersburg's most prominent citizen, up until his death in 1895, memory of the crater proved to be beneficial to his rise as a railroad magnate, but it cost him dearly in 1879 when he organized the

successful biracial virginia party. for four years mahone's party governed the state and witnessed a dramatic rise in black political power throughout the commonwealth. black and white readjusters abolished the whipping post, poll contatacts which have been and black teachers at the head of the class. african-americans could be found at the treasury department, pensions bureau and other state offices. reconstruction came to virginia not at the hands of meddling yankees but as a result of one of their own, and mahone paid a hefty price for it. comrades who fought at the helm of the crater, including david wissiger, turned on their former

commander. his detractors questioned whether he was even present at the crater or gave the order for the charge that many believe saved the day for the confederate army. the irony of all of this was not lost on prominent black readjuster and petersburg resident robert a. paul. they who had fought on the field of blood and labored in the arena of politics to deprive the colored man of his constitutional rights now pro claimed that colored men should enjoy the full rights and prerogatives of citizens. petersburg's black community held tight to a memory of the war that placed emancipation and black military service at its center. black militia companies such as the petersburg blues and flipper guards regularly took part in political parades to mark lincoln emancipation proclamation on july 21st and

independence day on july 4th. it reminded the community to remember the bravery of black soldiers during the haitian revolt of 1892 as well as their role in such civil battles as fort wagner, illusty and the crater. one local politician i mplored the militia to reject the common belief they had no mission. quote, it made my blood boil to hear that the colored man cannot fight. they urged its readers to never pledge the valor of their sacred dead and create monuments in their honor and shame in the united states who show such little appreciation in valor of american soldiers who died in the preservation of the union. they ordered their readers to support a monument to the black

leaders who, quote, leaped with their muskets and defense and poured out their blood most freely and willingly for our redemption from bondage. the opportunity to commemorate the military service of black americans and sacrifice anywhere in petersburg and specifically at the crater was lost by the early 20th century. white virginians exercised tight control over public memory of the crater through monument dedications, reunion ceremonies, and most importantly, reenactments, or as they called them, sham battles. in 1906, 23,000 people attended a reenactment involving the still living members of the virginia brigade. they marched through the streets of petersburg and put on a show

that now included the children and grandchildren of the civil war generation. one of the attendees was doug freeman who committed himself to telling their stories. there is no evidence that any african-americans attended this event, though the symbol of the loyal and faithful slave was well represented in the form of stonewall jackson's personal servant who led the parade of veterans through the streets. a larger reenactment in 1937 numbering upwards of 50,000 people -- imagine that, 50,000 people over at the crater battlefield. 50,000 people marked the crater battlefield's inclusion into the park service. as was the case in 1903, the ceremony highlighted the bravery of mahone's virginians but made very little effort to acknowledge the presence of the united states color troops. the success of the jim crow legislation in virginia was clearly discerned in the absence

of any serious detention in the presence of black soldiers. it is likely that very few, if any, local african-americans attended. the black community's inability to contribute to local civil war memory was now compounded by the national park service's inheritance of a narrative that celebrated a war of brave white northerners and southerners without any reference to slavery, emancipation and black military service. this whites-only narrative maintained a stubborn hold on america's collective memory through the 1970s. the first cracks appeared in the early '60s in the inevitable conflict between the racial strife of the civil rights movement and the civil war centennial celebration that in the words of the virginia celebration said said, quote, rising above lee and others and the shame of defeat. in petersburg, civil rights and

civil war memory clashed on february 27th, 1960 at the william r. mckinney central library, formerly the home of william mahone. it limited black access to resources by forcing them to use a side entrance in a poorly lit basement. led by the reverend wyattt. walker and r.g. williams, 140 demonstrators from virginia state college and peabody hospital took seats on the first two floors of the walker library. walker approached the library counter and asked for -- wait for it -- douglas freeman's pulitzer prize-winning autobiography of william lee. the request for the autobiography of lee suggests that students were not only

challenging the local power structure but the history that it come to justify it. the combination of social and political unrest in the city of the library, the bluebird theater and the trailways bus terminal restaurant along with broader national trends dampened enthusiasm for an elaborate commemoration of the crater in 1964. and in the course of my research, there is some evidence that in 1960, the local centennial commission was planning to do some kind of major reenactment for the centennial of the crater. that never happened. more importantly, black political action here in petersburg and a more visible presence in local and state government have brought about profound changes to the kinds of stories remembered and commemorated here in the city. the two have always been tightly interwoven. these changes have been gradual over the past two decades, and petersburg, like many other

cities, remains a work in progress. the biggest challenge remains connecting locals to the battlefield. during the course of my research, one gentleman, who lives on pocahontas island as a place, quote, where the war was fought and where an explosion had taken place. the feeling that there was nothing at the crater to give meaning to my life was reinforced during the era of segregation by an unstated belief that the battlefield was the domain of whites. he clearly said we always grew up believing that the crater was part of the white community. for former petersburg mayor rosalind dance, the crater was, quote, a name, but it meant nothing. this nation's collective memory of the civil war has undergone a profound shift since the 1960s. popular hollywood movies such as glory, and more recently lincoln, 12 years a slave have highlighted topics that for much too long have been ignored or

distorted. monuments to the service of black soldiers can now be found on many civil war battlefields. our children's history textbooks now do a much better job at addressing the history of slavery to emancipation and the ability of primary sources on line now allows anyone with the interest to explore these challenging subjects on their own. even with all these changes to the big picture, however, none of this matters if on a local level we cannot connect the entire community to its past. superintendent louis rogers said it best on tuesday. we want to be able to see ourselves in history. many of you in this room in the national park service and in the community have worked hard in recent years in this direction. this challenge is formidable. the battle of the crater raises some of the most difficult questions about our nation's past because it challenges some of the most fundamental belie b

about us. it's much too easy to look away or settle on a celebratory or self-serving narrative that ignores the reflection of the past. the history of the crater is not black or white history. it is our history. ultimately we stand little chance of addressing the tough issues that divide us today if we can't take an honest and deliberate look at our collective past. thanks for listening. [applause] >> i would normally walk around for questions, but i don't think i can because cspan is taping and they need to record it all. so i think they're going to pass a mic around if you have any questions, and i'm happy to entertain. is that the way we're going to do it? so if you have any questions, i'm happy to entertain them. i'll do my best.

there's one here, there's one over here. one over here. >> yes, i'd like to -- okay. all right. >> got it? >> yes. something you said about the community not working together, the blacks and whites not working together to commemorate their history. but if you check the newspapers, if you check the newspapers probably in the 1910, 1920 period, you'll find that the confederate veterans and the union veterans' organizations, both black and white, actually commemorated memorial day together here in petersburg at our cemetaries, and they did it together. they didn't do it separately.

somehow we lost that over some time here and there. maybe the depression and jobs and world war ii changed people, but that's what happened early in the last century. they did memorials together, black, white, union and confederate ancestors, and that's a fact. >> thanks. i didn't hear a question, but i will respond. there is some evidence that in the 1880s, especially with the petersburg militia units, there are occasions, in fact, there is a memorial day celebration that's actually a very large parade where black and white civic organizations do parade together. as far as i was able to discern, that's moran exception than the rule, and i think for our purposes tonight, what's really important here is to understand the focus of my talk is who had access, who had the opportunity to shape the local public meaning of the crater and the war here in petersburg? and if you actually go back

through the records, what you do find, and especially at the crater, you find that it's pretty much a place where white virginians go to remember their lost cause. that is the dominant narrative of the crater that is in place from the period after the war right through the 1970s. in fact, in 1978 or '79, a local school group from howard university, traditionally black college, came up and just did sort of a survey of interpretation here in petersburg and the crater specifically. if you read their report, it's quite fascinating. they expressed a number of concerns, and there were probably no surprises if i just list a couple. very few african-americans interpreting on the battlefield, wayside markers that, of course, pretty much ignore the story of black soldiers, the issues of slavery, black life here in petersburg, and even in the visitors center.

and, of course, i think no one in the national park service here would disagree it's probably about time that the park service gets a new visitors center. those exhibits are from the 1960s for the most part. it's probably time for revision. it's pretty clear that the crater itself, the dominant narrative is a narrative of reconciliation between white northerners and white southerners. this is a place where they're going to come and sort of shake hands over the bloody chasm, if you will, reconcile. but it's not a place that black americans visit. i found very little evidence that black virginians here in petersburg and elsewhere really spent much time at all on the battlefield. >> i got one question. i work with a couple black guys, both of them are probably in their 60s now. they never heard of the crater.

they knew where crater road was. i asked them if they ever heard of the siege of petersburg. they said no, they never heard of it, because they were never taught anything about the civil war in black schools in the '50s and '60s. >> there are a number of very good sources i could point you to. in the 1960s, the state of virginia actually ordered its textbooks to be revised and distributed around the state. those textbooks were sort of authored, written in a way that was very much a reflection of the civil rights movement. so if you actually look at the textbooks coming into virginia schools at that time, it's almost in reaction to the racial strife that you see in virginia and other parts of the country through the 1960s. so again, what you find in those textbooks, and the sad thing, some of those textbooks are still being used in virginia into the 1970s. one of my favorite examples i used to use in class, when you get to the chapter on slavery,

the chapter cover, the illustration is about -- it's a slave family coming off this boat fully dressed. they look upper class and they are shaking the hand of the boat operator. they're being welcomed off the boat. and then if you read the text, the text is even more remarkable. the text basically says that african-american slaves, on the eve of the civil war, were not interested in the issues of the day. think about that. think about that not simply as history but also history written at a specific time in the mid-20th century. think about why these books are being written the way they are. those books, of course, are no longer being used. but those books, of course, i would argue did a significant amount of damage. and if you're interested, i'm happy to share some sources, some wonderful recent sources in the virginia magazine of history

biography. happy to share. >> kevin, in doing the research for your book on the memory aspect, was there any one fact or idea that surprised you extensively or challenged any pre k preconception? >> it sort of gets the one part of the paper that i found absolutely fascinating. and that is i was -- i think when you study memory in the civil war, and i'll make this sort of short, probably the most popular book if you wanted to start somewhere in thinking about the history of how americans have remembered or forgotten parts of the war is david blight's race and reunion which came out in 2000 and 2001. the central thesis is that in the 19th century, white and black americans had largely

reconciled and to do so they were sort of forced to push aside the memory of emancipation, slavery and black service. there is an element of truth to that no doubt, but when i actually got into the archives and looked at the black community here in petersburg and elsewhere, i was really struck by just how rich sort of the local memory of these specific battles, just how vibrant it still was in some of these communities. and churches played a huge role in per ppetuating these narratives, a crucial role in sort of further highlighting these stories. i think that's how vibrant it was. i was pleasantly surprised by it, and it definitely sort of complicated the story. the other part of it, of course, is mahone. he, in my mind, is the most fascinating individual in the story, and i only skirted the issue with mahone in the 1880s. mahone is -- i mean, he is

blasted in the press for his racial politics, and here you have a former cop if he had rat, high-ranking confederate general who you might think of, if you want a modern word for it, a kind of swift-voting, if you remember that from years ago. his alliance with black virginians destroys his reputation. to such an extent that even in virginia textbooks, there is no mention of the western movement. virginians want to just brush that aside. long street ain't got nothing on mahone. long street just accepted a position in grant's administration. mahone went out of his way to bring about the most dramatic, dramatic shift in the racial politics of the state. and it's a story that most people have never heard of. absolutely fascinating.

>> the battle of new market heights, i think there was a half dozen or a dozen medal of honor, colored troop medal of honor winners. were there any at the battle of crater, and if not, was it because there was either no valor or it was so ugly, it was politically -- >> the dorsy is an example for his role in protecting the flags. he's the only one. i think there's one over here and one back there. we'll get to you. >> the party you talked about that mahone ran, did they run candidates just for local elections, did they run candidates for statewide elections, national elections? >> so mahone will align himself.

he selected a senator. he alliaigns himself with the republicans for the most part during his time in d.c. they run the people throughout the state. they control the governorship, so they dominate. they control patronage from beginning to end. the end of it, it's a complicated story, but in 1883, the evidence seems to show that his detractors -- they're named the readjusters because the big issue of the day for virginia is what to do about the state, a massive state debt. we can definitely relate to this issue. do you pay it off entirely, or do you readjust it downward? in other words, pay off just part of it. mahone's position is you only pay off part of it, because he was committed to actually funding certain public works. a and so the funders were the ones who wanted to pay it off.

they tend to be more conservative. they tended to be more committed to sort of the racial status quo in virginia at that time. and so the success of the readjusters, they're running people on county level, the state level, you name it, but in 1883 his detractors i'm pretty sure staged at least one race riot in danville. and it's right on the eve of the election. and that apparently, some historians have argued that had a profound impact on how virginians voted when they went to the polls. but this is really important to remember, because we tend to think that after the war that reconstruction is next and jim crow was inevitable, right? that's what we're taught in schools if you get the right kind of class, that jim crow is inevitable. in virginia, it wasn't. in virginia you have reconstruction for the first few years in the immediate aftermath of the war, and then

reconstruction comes in in this odd way with the leadership of a former confederate. now, how long that could have lasted, who knows? but it does give you a sense that post-war virginia is a bit more complicated and even interesting than you might at first think. at least in my mind it is. mahone -- somebody needs to write a biography of mahone. the last one was written in the mid-1930s, and i can tell you how it hasn't been written. if it's chicken scratch. it's like reading an ekg scan. it's horrible. i was just going page after page and there are hours on end when i'm just sitting there looking at this, going, who could read this? who was he talking to? it's one of those things. somebody needs to get at that. my pleasure.

>> having participated in a whole host of events in the last three days commemorating the battle of the crater, one of the things i was informed of repeatedly is that a central reason for the failure of the union attack was that the colored troops were not brought into the battle as they were planned to be. instead of going in early, they came in very late. and further, that the decision to do that was a political one and that it was elevated to at least general grant. my question is, what information is available since it was a political decision that the person of abraham lincoln, in fact, participated in making that specific decision? >> there's no evidence i've ever come across. i don't know of anyone in the national park service or anyone else.

lincoln is not involved, i think we can safely say that, in the decision making which is pretty much lincoln's approach, anyway, especially when it comes to grant. i think in part it is a political decision. meade, even grant, is worried about the political consequences. keep in mind that there is a presidential election looming in november and there is a concern about the ramifications if these men are thrown in, and you-know-what happens, right? so there is that concern. as far as the change in the plan, i think we exaggerate a bit sort of the -- no doubt the last-minute shift, that's going to sort of put a wrench into anything. i think we tend to exaggerate. there is this common belief that the black soldiers are sort of training on a regular basis for this maneuver. there is no evidence for this. it is true that some units, some reg plimen regimens, are going through some training. some more than others, some

none. it's important to keep in mind that residents of the 4th division, sometimes they're away from the ninth core entirely, they're engaged in other activities. so it's hard to manual they're spending much time at all training specifically for the next crater. i think that gets back to how we tend to want to remember this story. look, it's the sesquicentennial. the story of the black union soldier is front and center, and i couldn't be happier about that. go back to the centennial, and you will be hard-pressed to find any references to black union soldiers. but i think there's been a danger in the way in which this story has been pushed over the last few years, and i think it's become almost sort of the moral narrative of our civil war memory, right? we want to correct for f for forgetting about them for so long, and i think we tend to gloss over some of the darker

sides of black soldiers. i think i sort of touched on one of them. i don't think we're very comfortable talking about black soldiers massacring others. that doesn't fit into our memory right now. but i think the other part of this is, to get at kwour question, i think we want to believe that if those black regimens had been allowed to lead the assault, that would have been it. in other words, we can imagine black soldiers marching, charging over blanford hill, right, into petersburg. that's a very soothing image. i think that tells us more about how we want to remember the war than the battle itself, because anyone who has studied civil war battles, they never go as planned. right? there's always something that goes afoul. so is it any surprise that given this massive detonation that nobody can really predict what it will do to the landscape and what's beyond it. remember, it's not just that front confederate line they have to deal with. this is a complex sort of maze

of bombproofs, traverses. part of the problem is in the 1920s, the crater battlefield was an 18-hole golf course. so a lot of that battlefield has been smoothed over in one way or the other. you really are hard-pressed to get a sense of what it would have looked like in the 1860s. so would it have changed anything? i don't know. no idea. >> i have a question about mahone. i'm quite fascinated with him, as i am benjamin butler, too. and my question to you is about mahone's ability to influence, communicate what you found out about that. he must have been quite

charismatic, because i don't know how you can pull off being on one side of the war and then turning around and running on a republican ticket and also getting the african-american people to back him after screaming on the battlefield. i want to know more about his personality and his -- i'm assuming he must be quite charismatic like clinton, for example. >> that's actually a really good question. i don't know if i can really get at what you're looking for, because i find mahone, as well, fascinating for some of the reasons you're getting at. although for me, reading his letters or what i could read of his letters and especially what others wrote about him, he's kind of difficult to really decipher. i found him kind of this -- there's this wall in front of mahone. i will say this much about him. he is very adept at use litiliz

his war record to get what he wants. it's not surprising, because after the war, mahone becomes -- he's the president of the miami and pacific railroad. it's a huge conglomerate of railroads. it's very controversial here in virginia. he has to plea to the virginia government to do certain things and he has the concerns of local communities. and he does this primarily by sort of pushing his war record. he gives free passes to veterans to travel on his trains. he goes to reunions. the most popular organization of his own veterans was the mahone's -- i think it's called the old brigade association. they met on the crater battlefield. mahone organized all of this. and it's interesting because he doesn't fit the mold of the lost cause confederate general. he's not refighting civil war battles. he's not concerned about whether or not the war was about slavery or not.

mahone was concerned about the future of virginia. that comes through loud and clear. not concerned about refighting the war. he does love his veterans, that's for sure. but i don't really have a sense of sort of his emotional life at all. and i think maybe it's in part because so little of his own writing is accessible. i'm sort of brushing off your question, but i hate to do so because i think that's just the kind of thing that probably explains his success. he does make certain political alliances with certain individuals in the black community. robert a. paul is one of them. and they take full advantage of this. i know there was passed around this morning a little leaflet about the black community giving him a cane, i think, with a gold tip. the context of that is really important because african-american politicians, black readjusters understand that their position in state government and what they've

gained because of mahone is tenuous. they want to keep that going. and so, of course, you can see that as kind of playing to mahone's, you know, his ego a little bit, right? we really love you. right? not everyone loved mahone in the black community or, obviously, among white virginians. so it goes without saying -- maybe i can give you some references for further reading that might actually be helpful, but that's the best i can do. >> sir, in your research of general mahone, did you find any writings where he reflected back upon surviving the nat turner slavery revolt in south carolina in 1831? >> that's a great question. mahone was from southampton county. nothing specific, nothing explicit. but i do think it's important to remember that he probably would have grown up -- he was born in monroe. his family were innkeepers, kept a tavern. so he's not from the slave-holding class, the large slave-holding class.

so nothing specific, but there is no doubt that mahone and others in that part of virginia, especially the tidewater area, they would have grown up hearing stories about nat turner's rebellion. they would have grown up hearing stories not just about nat turner's rebellion, but many would have grown up hearing stories about violent slave rebellions in the caribbean throughout the early part of the 19th century. so part of what i tried to do without understanding confederate reaction to black soldiers in the crater was to fit that response into the broader context of slave rebellions, those that actually happened and those that there were rumors. because sometimes, oftentimes, it didn't matter whether it actually took place. if there was even a rumor of a rebellion or organization, you clamped down hard. so the men who were fighting in petersburg that day, they don't need to hear cries of no quarter. they don't need to hear cries of remember fort pillow, right?

they know what needs to be done on the morning of july 30th, and they do it. in fact, if you look at the numbers of black soldiers who were massacred, it probably falls into line with the numbers who are usually killed in the aftermath of slave rebellions in the states and beyond the caribbean. so it's a measured response on the part of confederates on july 30th, but i do think that's an important point that -- it's at least worth thinking about. i think there was a question over here if we have time. great questions. thank you very much. >> oh, not to keep on the mahone bandwagon again, well, reviewing some of the ninth core records at the national archives that looked like they hadn't been looked at for years, it was clear that a lot of stuff did not make it into the official records, and there was a great camp, henry thomas who was colonel of the usct regiments

who, when they finally allowed a truce to bury the dead, he got turned around and walked into the confederate lines by mistake and was captured and he immediately put on a blindfold so he couldn't be accused of spying, get taken into petersburg, and he reports nothing to report on the lines. i got captured by the confederates, brought back the next morning. then colonel loring, who was burnside's chief of staff, writes an addendum on this thing. he writes that thomas was taken in and the confederate officers were spitting on him. they recognized him as being a white commander of a usct regimen and treated him horribly until -- and bearegard treated

him horribly, and finally mahone comes through and he hears that the confederate officers are putting mahone down as rescuing black troops. >> i -- well, go ahead. >> it just shocked me. then the other thing, going through some of these records that you don't read about too much, is in the ninth core area, which is most of the park, they talk about how the confederates kept up sniper fire day and night, because they were so ticked off -- >> both sides. >> -- the colored troops are in the area. the union officers feel that's why it's worse there. of course, they are the closest, but in the history that i learned growing up, i didn't hear that level of nastiness. mahone must have had something in him that was just a little bit more decent than the others.

>> and i don't claim to know what that is. it is true that after the fourth division was consolidated later that year, the snipering does slack off a bit on that particular front. the other thing i'll just mention, and i found this absolutely fascinating. after the battle, about 1100 black and white prisoners were taken. they're paraded through petersburg up and down the streets. just imagine that. they're just paraded. it's the way they organized the prisoners. they interspersed black and white union prisoners. they're mixed up. there's no doubt that one of the reasons they're doing this is to sort of stick it to the white soldiers, forcing them to march alongside their black comrades. but there is another thing going on here, and i think that is they were actually sending a message to rhethe remaining civilian population that remained in petersburg. here is a controlled example of race mixing. here is really what's at stake in this war. slavery, of course, is the

institution that largely kept the races separate throughout the antebellum period in virginia and elsewhere. if we lose this war, here's a visual example of what's in store for us. i don't think it's any accident that, in fact, they did this, not just for the reasons of insulting the white union prisoners, but thanks for the comment. >> where were most of the black buried? where were the black dead, the soldiers, where were they buried? >> many of them were just buried on the battlefield afterwards. >> say that again? >> many were buried on the battlefield. >> mass grave? >> yeah. i don't know what happened to all of them. i'm sure some of them ended up in cemetaries, absolutely. i don't know the exact sort of number that end up in cemetaries. i know a large number -- and they were finding bodies on the

petersburg battlefield into the 1930s, well late into the post-war period. >> just to add to what happened to the bodies of everybody, union dead were removed off the petersburg battlefields between 1866 and 1869. confederate dead are removed by the memorialist institution here in the city in 1866 through the early 20th century. so poplar grove national cemetary is where battlefield buried are. there are 331 black soldiers buried there. almost all of them are unknown burials from the crater battlefield. >> if i had my way, every talk i give on the crater, i would bring a manual with me. thanks.

>> i hope that i'm the last person to speak because i'm not speaking as i should. i think that my presence here tonight has been fulfilled, and that is to listen to you. that's fine. but my mind goes to many other things that have no relationship to our being here tonight. i was born in south side virginia. once a year, from my being a boy going to a one-room school, once a year i felt good about being a black person. it was on april the 9th. we celebrated emancipation day. we talked about lincoln. we talked about freedom.

that's when i really felt good. the other times was an existence as if we were pushing a barrel up a hill. >> thank you, everyone. i really enjoyed that. thank you for your questions and your time. [applause] >> once again, kevin, thank you very much for you spending time with us, and i want to, again, thank st. paul's episcopal church for this venue. i think this was a perfect setting for our gathering this evening, and most of all we want to thank you for taking time out of the your day, your evening to be with us. and we hope that you were fulfilled tonight, that you were stimulated somewhat tonight by kevin's words. and we encourage you to continue

learning about petersburg, the american civil war and where we've come over the last 150 years as a nation. but again, thank you all very much for your time with us this evening. [applause] > with live coverage of the u.s. house on cspan and the senate on c-span2, here on c-span3, we cover it with the local ooernts. and programs that tell our nation's story, including six series. the civil war's 150th anniversary, american artifacts, touring museums and historic facts to discover what artifacts reveal about america's past. the presidency, looking at the

policies and legacies of our nation's commanders in chief. regul legacies in history with top college professors delving into our past. educational films through the 1930s to the '70s. c-span3. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. american history tv normally airs on the weekends, but with congress on recess, throughout this month we're featuring highlights during the week. and we continue with our look at the battle of the crater during which union forces detonated explosives underneath the confederate lines to create a gap in the defenses. but that attack failed with heavy losses for union troops. coming up, the national park service commemorates the 150th anniversary of that battle. we'll also look at how the attack failed and why the u.s. colored troops were unjustly blamed. and author kevin levin on the

contributions of the u.s. colored troops and how they were remembered in the years immediately following the civil war. with congress on recess during this month, american history tv airs throughout the week here on c-span 3. coming up live this afternoon, author and historian anthony pitch will detail his book "the burning of washington," in which he describes how british military forces 200 years ago this week set the white house and u.s. capitol on fire after making their way into the nation's capital. posted by the smithsonian associates, you can see it live today starting at 6:45 eastern again here on c-span 3. coming up tonight, a look at the civil war's atlanta campaign. in may of 1864, union general william sherman marched into georgia with the goal of capturing atlanta. after a series of battles throughout the summer and a siege of the city, atlanta fell

to the union on september 2, 1864. we'll hear about general sherman's march to the sea through georgia as well as general joseph e. johnston who led the confederates in atlanta during the spring and summer of 1864. also weapons manufacturing during central georgia during and after the fall of atlanta. that's tonight starting at 8:15 eastern here on c-span 3. . next, an event commemorating the 150th anniversary of the battle of the crater and honoring the role of the u.s. colored troops. the battle of the crater took place july 30, 1864 as part of the siege of petersburg. this ceremony includes the unveiling of a stamp by the u.s. postal service and remarks by historian james blankenship who details the major advance of the battle. held at petersburg national battlefield, this is an hour and fifteen minutes.

good morning, ladies and gentlemen. we thank you this morning for being with us here at petersburg national battlefield on the 150th anniversary of the battle of the crater. my name is chris rice, i'm chief of interpretation for petersburg battlefield. for those of you that were with us this morning at 5:30, we thank you again and welcome you again here to the park. i was remark ago few minutesing too one of my colleagues, much like it was for the soldiers 150 years ago who were in the overland campaign that started in early may of 1864, it's been a long road to petersburg. we started our 150th events in three parks, spot l vain ya courthouse, and we've moved south ever since and it's been quite a feat for the national

park service. it's the first time three parks within the process of these commemorations has shared programming where we've tried to make a continual program of the overland campaign rather than looking at it as the wilderness, spot sylvania, north anna, cold harbor, petersburg. that shfs one continued process march for these soldiers 150 years ago and i know for some of you in the audience this morning, we've seen your faces before. we know you've been on the road with us and we certainly appreciate that. [ applause ] this morning i'd like to introduce to you the superintendent of the national battlefield, lewis rogers. lewis began his park service career in 1984 as a seasonal

interpretive officer in johnstown flood in pennsylvania. he took his first position at those same sites, the following year in 1985 serving as ranger and later resource management visitor protection specialist at the sites there. 1990 he moved to the parkway here in virginia. while there he served as a law enforcement rangerer with the added duties of supervising law enforcement and the interpretive seasonal rangers and he was responsible for a living history appalachian farm and seasonal visitor contact stations. he became the chief ranger of booker t. washington in 1992, as the chief of interpretation he was responsible for the interpretation, visitor protection, resource management, fire management and fee collection operations within the site. in 1994 he became the supervisory park ranger of law enforcement independence national historical park then moved to valley forge in 1997, first as a soup visesory park

ranger and later as the chief ranger where he managed law enforcement and interpretation. and in 2009 took on the role of interim superintendent at st. go din's national historic site in new hampshire. he became superintendent of petersburg national battlefield in 2010 and most recently he served as acting deputy regional director, the chief of staff to our regional director here for the northeast rio de janeiro rey john. he holds a bachelor's degree in marks and recreation with concentration in resource management from slippery rock university in pennsylvania. he's also a graduate of the federal law enforcement training center with both a basic law enforcement and criminal investigative background. it's my privilege to introduce to you suspect lewis rogers. [ applause ] thanks, chris, i appreciate that introduction. i am very, very honored to be here today and i want to take some time while i'm here to let

you know just what this means to me. when i was a child i can remember sitting in front of the tv. and this goes back a ways, back when black-and-white movies still dominated tv. this goes back a ways, you know, when 12:00 came the tv actually went off. [ laughter ] i can remember sitting in front of the tvs late at night and i remember watching those old war movies. i remember watching the leather necks and john wayne as they flew through the air. i remember watching those guys as they fought in battle and as the soldiers fought and they cried and they died and they fought for their freedom. i can remember all those things and i fell in love with those movies. it inspired me. it motivated me. but then one day a peculiar thing happened. i can remember during that time that we began to integrate our

schools i can remember the forced bussing. i can remember how it affected me and how i watched the social and racial unrest that plagued our country. i can remember the american flag being carried in the hands of hooded ku klux klan members. i remembered it as it waved at the beginning. these images began to enter my mind and they poisoned my imagination. when i began to watch my fighters on tv again, a small, quiet voice echoed in the back of my mind and it told me "if you were there, you would not have done these things." these images were not for you. perhaps you'd have been a porter. perhaps you'd have been a dishwasher or a bellman but if you were there you never would have flown those planes. because of those images, i believed that. i believed that i never would have fought in combat. i believed that i never would have served on a naval ship or served in any position of distinction and honor.

and that voice had a peculiar affect on me. i found myself drawing away from america. in school, i stood for the pledge of allegiance but i stopped saying it. although i faced the flag i would not repeat the words. i felt that this country had rejected me. i felt that i was lost, a stranger in a strange land. i could not understand why i was here. this land may have been your land, but i do not feel that this land was my land. and when i saw the stars and stripes waving in the breeze, when i saw the stars and stripes on porches and people's houses as i passed by or in the fourth of july parade i actually believed that that flag did not wave for me. it stood for a different society and a different people, but it did not represent me. and then one day i picked up a book and that was small magazine put out by a man by the name of tony brown and it was called "tony brown's journal."

in that book, he dedicated the entire book to the story of the tuskegee airmen. then i read that book and learned about the 332nd fighter group which included the 100th, the 301st and 302nd fighter squadrons along with the 477th bomber group. i learned that the 332nd flew the 39 cobras and the republic p-47 thunderbolts and the p-51 mustang and a peculiar thing happened to me -- i began to dream again. and i began to learn about all the accomplishments of the african-americans had made over the years. i could now see myself in history and perhaps i could have served in the first rhode island regiment at valley forge under general george washington, because now i knew they were there. perhaps i would have served aboard the uss "constitution" in the war of 1812 or fought off the british in louisiana in 1850

because i could see myself there. or perhaps if petersburg in 1864 in the u.s. ct, united states colored troop in the 29th, 30th 34st or 43ened infantry or perhaps i could have settled the west in a buffalo soldier fighting in the 9th or 10th cavalry. or perhaps i would have been henry flipper who graduated from west point in 1877's commission in as lieutenant in the u.s. army. perhaps i would have found myself in the spanish american war as a buffalo soldier coming to aid teddy roosevelt and the rough riders. or perhaps i would have found myself in world war i in the 369, 371 or 3772nd infantry serving in the american expedigigs their force fighting under a french commander in europe and dubbed the harlem held fighters. or perhaps i could have been eugene bullard, the first african-american to fly in combat during world war ii in the french army whose mott toe was a heart painted on the side of his plane with an arrow

through it that read "we all bleed red." or perhaps i could have been dory miller, the first black sailor to receive the navy cross for his heroism during pearl harbor. or perhaps i would have been at monofort point, one of the first black marines in a segregated army. or perhaps i would have been some of the young black women or known some of the young black women in the army's woman army core, the 6888 battalion who deployed to europe during world war ii. or perhaps i would have been part of the 320th vla all black barrage, according to the u.s. army, the 320th was the only bloom barrage battalion to land on the beaches of utah and omaha on d-day. or perhaps i would have been part of the 93rd fingerprint building airstrips in the solomon island while fighting the ennoi keep them from destroying what i just built. or prals i would have been part of the red ball express which drove supplies from normandy to paris with over 70% black participation. or perhaps i would have served

in world war ii under general patton and the 761st tank battalion at the battle of the bulge. perhaps i could have served with them when they forced a hole in the line, perhaps i could have been with them as they fought through belgium, france and germany. perhaps i could have been with them when they linked up a with the soviets in austria. or perhaps i could have been part of 28th marine ammunition company that landed in iwo jima. buffalo soldiers fought with douglas macarthur in korea and daniel chappy james flew p 51s and later, if 80 jets and later chappy became the first african-american four-star general. or perhaps i could have been charles young, born in 1964, the third african-american to graduate from west point, the first african-american to attain rank of colonel and while, in 1903 attached at presidio in san francisco he was appointed the first acting suspect at sequoia and general grant national

parks. no, i couldn't have been a superintendent then, that was too long ago, but big one now. and as i continued to educate myself about all the contributions that african-americans in times of war had done, something peculiar began to happen to me. something peculiar began to change. when e looked at those old black-and-white movies again, i couldn't hear that voice anymore. my love affair with those old black and whites were rekindled. i began to love those old fighter movies once again. and this is the most peculiar part -- not just the ones about black fighters. i began tome brace them all. i began to embrace the leather necks, i began to embrace pappy boynton and the black sheep. i began to embrace the dirty dozen. i think what changed me was that i had found my place in history. although i didn't see myself in every picture, i knew i was

there. just out of the scene i was flying those planes. just over the hill i was driving those tanks. i found my place in history as something i could be proud of. what i've learned is that we all want to tell those parts of history that mean the most to us, from our different points of view. we want to hear those parts with pride, those parts that we want to shape the thoughts and the hearts of the children. those parts that compel us to get out of bed every morning and push on through another day. people want to see themselves in history. one day in october in the late 1980s i found nyse a station at pittsburgh taking the oath with a number of other sailors. i found myself on the plane on may way off to the u.s. navy rtc in san diego. later i found myself to be a severe in the united states

navy. and a few years ago i found nyse the stands at great lakes as i watched my son pass in review. just a few days ago, a young man asked me "why should i serve for a country which does not like me?" now, i know this is not true. but sometimes the voices of hate can be so loud that you can't hear the voices of reason. but i explained to him, young man, we've been serving this country since her conception. i explained to him about crispus attucks and the rhode island r.j. meants. the buffalo soldiers and the 761st battalion. and he says "you know, i think i can serve." after reading about the tuskegee airmen a peculiar thing happened to me when i was a boy -- i saw john wayne and i loved him. i saw black sheep and i loved them. i think what changed was best described by something that

chappy said and was written later in a book by benjamin davis, jr., the commanding officer to tuskegee airmen. he titled his book simply "an american." and he said when a reporter asked him about his title and why he titled it so simply, he said "i fought too hard for this country and i've lived here and i've given." and he said "i've done too much and i'm not a hyphenated american." he said "i'm not a black american, i'm not an african-american, i'm not an afro-american." he said "simply, i'm an american." and something happened to me when i went back to school. i stood a little stronger, i crossed my heart and i said those words with pride and now when i look and i see the american flag blowing in the wind and waving in the breeze i've come to realize that that flag waves for me. thank you.

[ applause ] >> thank you, lewis. this morning, our colors will be presented by the fort lee color guard. would you please rise? this will be followed by the national anthem.

♪ [ national anthem being played ] ♪

our invocation will be given by dr. george wc lyon, the pastor of gillfield baptist church in petersburg.

>> i invite you to pray with me in your own tradition as i pray aloud in mine. gracious god, after 150 years of reflection and remembrance, we invoke your name so that you would prod our hearts to remember the lives lost in battle so that we might seek peace in our time. we acknowledge your reconciling presence always at work, even through battles which has brought women and men together from all walks of life, from every station and culture. 150 years later in harmony as community. out of this place of sorrow make this day a celebration -- a celebration of community of

humanity. our plea remains that all feelings of sectional strife be entirely forgotten and blotted out in the name of the one who is our ever lasting fortress and peace, amen. >> we are very fortunate this morning. we've worked very hard not only as the national park service unit but we've also worked with the u.s. postal service this morning to make this event what it is today and we're honored to have with us this morning the chief postal inspector of the u.s. postal inspection service. he was appointed the 38th chief postal inspector of the u.s. postal inspection service in july, 2010. he oversees all operations of

the postal inspection service which includes national headquarters offices -- sorry, you can have a seat. [ laughter ] sorry about that. that's my -- hopefully that's my glitch of the day. national headquarters office includes 18 field divisions, two service centers and the national forensics laboratory. the office is staffed by more than 1,400 postal inspectors, 700 postal police officers and approximately 600 support personnel. the chief also serves as chairman of the universal postal union, union's postal security group. prior to his appointment served as deputy chief inspector at the national headquarters where he oversaw all national security programs for the postal service. he's a native of west virginia, grew up in new orleans, cottrel joined the postal service in 1987 when he became a letter carrier there. in 1991 he became a postal

inspector to the new orleans division where he investigated internal and external mail theft throughout louisiana and southern mississippi. since that time, chief cottrel has held a number of management positions in major metropolitan areas, including his appointment as inspector in charge of the postal inspection services washington field office during the amerithrax investigation. in 2008, chief cottrel served as inspector in charge of is t security and crime prevention and communication groups where he guide it had postal inspections service toward a risk and management analysis platform, streamlined security related programs and implemented numerous cost effective and innovative solutions. his group produced security and crime prevention publications and videos and overhauled the postal inspection service's external web site. he holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the university of new orleans and it's my pleasure to introduce chief guy cottrel. [ applause ]

>> thanks, everybody. i was going to tell you to sit down but i like a crowd that knows what they're doing. [ laughter ] so if i go to long walk walk out on me if you have to. it's kind of neat for this event to be from west virginia but grow up in new orleans. so i kind of go both ways, right? so thanks very much for the great introduction and great remarks as well. you know, we stand here in the shadow of the crater, the visible result of the most famous battle in the fight for petersburg and it's the perfect location to dedicate the civil war 1864 battle of petersburg stamp today. this is the latest in a series of stamps that celebrates the 150th anniversary of the civil war. so today we commemorate two battles in that four-year conflict. right now in mobile, alabama, the postal service is dedicating a second stamp in this year's set and this stamp depicts admiral david g. farragut's fleet at the battle of mobile

bay, alabama. now, it's fitting that i'm here today representing the united states postal service as chief postal inspector to dedicate this historic civil war stamp. why? well, the inspection service played a vital role in keeping our country connected during the war and afterward. the postal inspection service has been protecting united states mail, its employees, and customers for more than two centuries, including the civil war years. now, special agents, as postal inspectors were called back then, helped introduce many services that are still used this very day and one of those is the postal money order. and money orders had their origin in the war between the states and they were developed to make it easier for soldiers to send money home to their families. now, special agents also helped to deliver mail to troops in the field. and they reestablish mail service in southern communities as they returned to federal control. so the stamp we dedicate here today is a rendering of the

painting "the charge of the 22nd negro regiment, 16th june, 1864" by andre kostenya. it depicts an early part of the petersburg campaign. this campaign was, according to historian earl j. hess, the longest, the most complex and perhaps the most important of the civil war. here today we also have the stamp designer, phil jordan, with us. now, the soldiers shown on this stamp were part of the 175 regiments and part of the more than 187,000 african-american men who made up the united states colored troops. these troops were fighting not just for continuation of the nation, they were fighting for their own freedom and the freedom of their families. the united states colored troops were made up of free blacks from the north as well as escaped and freed slaves from the south. these troops formed after the emancipation proclamation.

brave men put their lives on the line in order to prove that they were fit to be citizens. writers, statesmen and african-american abolitionist frederick douglass said "once let the black man get upon his fern brass letter us, let him get an eagle on his button and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship." by the end of the war, the united states colored troops made up almost 10% of the strength of the union army and the troops were instrumental in the success of many of the major late war campaigns. referring to them, an officer of the 22nd u.s. colored infantry wrote "i never saw troops fight better, more bravely, and with more determination." with the issuance of this year's civil war 150th stamps, the postal service proud to honor the memory of these troops. it's proud to honor all the

soldiers and sailors who served. both the petersburg and mobile bay stamps will be issued as forever stamps. they will be good to mail a card or let nor matter what the postage rate might be continuing to honor the troops who served to reunite this nation. if i could have those on stage join me along with reenactors representing the st. petersburg ct, we will unveil the stamp.

i also have the privilege this morning of introducing to you dr. malcolm beech, sr. dr. beech is originally from north carolina and attended undergraduate school at moorehouse college in atlanta. upon graduation, he accepted a marketing management position with verizon in washington, d.c. while in washington, d.c., received an mba from howard

university. he completed his doctoral studies with a d/b/a in marketing from the university of phoenix. a third generation serial entrepreneur, at 28 years of age he founded a multimillion dollar food, beverage and entertainment company with five locations in washington, d.c. later he established a regional publishing enterprise that included public affairs television programming, international video documentaries, community newspapers, regional life-style magazines, and statewide travel and tourism guides for north carolina, maryland, washington, d.c. as an avid civil war historian, he is the founding director of the cultural heritage museum in north carolina which is dedicated to the 200,000 african-american soldiers who fought with the union army in the american civil war. presently, dr. beech is president of the united states color troops living history association, the national organizations of reenactors, historians, storytellers, scholars, and students dedicated

to preserving the history of african-american participation in the civil war. he is the senior vice president of the national business league, a national business trade association founded by dr. booker t. washington in 1900. also, he is the past chairman district of columbia chamber of commerce, the largest business membership organization in the washington metropolitan area. it's my privilege to introduce to you dr. malcolm beech, sr. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. i didn't realize i was that old, i've been around that long. [ laughter ] you start to do these reenactments and you start thinking about the 1800s, you think maybe i have been been around for a while. well good morning to all of you and i really wanted to thank you all for coming out.

this stamp and the ceremony surrounding it means a lot to us. we are reenactors. we are commemorators of the thousands of african-americans who fought for their freedom during the american civil war. we go all over the country not only doing reenactments but we do living history demonstrations. and what we find is that the impact on our audience, especially young audience, as our superintendent said earlier, they can see themselves in history. when they see us, they see people that look like them and they understand how important this particular war was to the african-american community. just to put in the some quantitative perspective, before the civil war began, there were

four million african-american citizens enslaved in the united states. after the civil war was over in 1865 there was zero. that is the most significant event in the history of african-americans in this country. equally as important, as you heard earlier, the north might have been fighting to keep the union together, the south was fighting for something called state's rights. but the african-american u.s. colored troops were fighting for their freedom as well as their manhood. slavery had a way of emasculating the men and families when they couldn't protect their families against the cruel actions of the slaveholder.

so part of this war was about reclaiming and recapturing our manhood. it made a difference when you had a uniform and you had a weapon and you went on to free your family. you got a different response than just saying a few kind words to some slaveholder when you saw that gun coming at him. it made a different. we also tell people -- and all of our kids and our family members -- to recall the fact the slaves actually freed themselves. let's be clear, prior to 1863 and the emancipation proclamation the south was winning the war. lincoln decided it was a military, strategic plan to issue the emancipation proclamation at a time when he

had no control over the slave areas, right? but he freed all the slaves. but in that emancipation proclamation there was a clause that allowed african-americans to join the union forces, get a uniform, get weaponry and actually night the battles. so in actuality, the slaves freed themselves. and this the kind of independence that we are all proud of. that's why this stamp today is so very important and we're very, very happy and pleased with the u.s. postal service and the national park service for having the ceremony here today because it's going to tell everybody all across america that these men fought for their own freedom. and that's what's important. and like i said, i want to thank my fellow reenactors here with us today and all of the members of the united states colored troops living history association for what you do and what we do in telling the story of african-american participation in the civil war. and i thank you so much for

coming today. [ applause ] huzzah! huzza! [ applause ] thank you, dr. beech. this morning to give us somewhat of a perspective on the battle of the crater, the significance that this event holds and as was said earlier, petersburg, it is a very complex military operation. nine and a half months, 292 days. we're just in the beginning.

but of those military actions, one stands out above all the others dhash is the crater. on the daily basis when we have our visitors here, they want to know "where's the crater?" they don't to define it at the petersburg crater, but they know it's here. when we were at antietam two years ago, how many millions of corn fields did we have in the united states? [ laughter ] but if you say "the cornfield" people know what you're talking about. you say "the crater," people know what you're talking about. this morning i'm privileged to introduce a long-time friend, career service member of the national park service james blankenship, jr., jimmy is native here to the petersburg area. he began his park service career in 1975 as a seasonal park ranger at petersburg national battlefield. in 1981 he accepted his first permanent position as a park

ranger at independence national historical park. in 1982 he returned to his native state of virginia after accepting a position at colonial national historical park. and in 1984 his park service career returned to petersburg national battlefield. since then, he has they would positions of park ranger, historian, and now historian curator of the battlefield. during his time at petersburg, he has participated in curatorial assistant projects at yellowstone national park, fort stanwyck national historic park, sagamore hill, george washington's brt place, longfellow national historic site, acadia national park, sandy hook national seashore and jamestown and yorktown collections at colonial national historical park. he is currently a member of the northeast region's curatorial emergency response team. he has spent more than 30 years firing civil war era artillery, primarily field artillery.

for 16 years he served as a national level 19th century artillery instructor with the national park service historic weapons program. he is currently in the process of completing a manuscript on the united states military railroads during the siege of petersburg. mr. blankenship holds a degree in history from virginia commonwealth university and again it with s with pleasure that i introduce the park's historian and good friend, jimmy blank blankenship. [ applause ] >> well, folks, when we first started this process, they wanted a little talk on the battle of the crater and i said "sure, i'd be glad to do it." but i was told i got ten minutes. [ laughter ] so i'm going to condense nine hours into ten minutes. it might be a little longer. needless to say i cannot really justice to the hero. they both sides showed out here in these fields in just ten minutes so if you want to get more details about what

happened, go on one of the tours that are being offered. now, on june 19, both sides dug in. earth works had to be built for protection since most of the landscape was barren of trees and any natural concealment. in places, the lines were far apart but in other areas the lines were very close. the lines in front of elliot right here where we are were only 25 yards distant. one reg innocent the area was the 48th pennsylvania infantry. some troops in this regiment were cold miners. they thought they could mine underneath the confederate battery, fill the end of the mine with gun powder and literally blow a hole in the confederate lines. the digging began on june 25 and the mine was completed about a month later. the total length of the mine would be about 586 feet. they we they removed 18,000 cubic feet of earth in the construction of the mine. the sounds of digging once they got underneath the confederate battery were heard by

infantrymen and virginia artillery menlo kated in the position here. the confederates were looking for the mine, rumors were flying and anywhere were the lines were close they were dig. the confederates were digging what they called listening galleries to see if they could hear the sounds of digging and there's one spot out here where the confederate countermine goes over top of the union mine, they just didn't go deep enough. the union mine was about 16 feet down at this point, the confederate listening galleries would go down about tigeight ton feet. so they were right on top and, yes, at night when it was quiet they were hearing the sounds of digging below them. now, the end of the mine would be filled with 8,000 pounds of gun powder. the initial battle plan was to blow up the gun powder, create a large hole in the confederate lines. the initial attack would be led by african-american troops and they would roll up the confederate lines to the north, back behind know the south behind you, then the rest of the troops would go around the hole

and capture blanford cemetery about a thousand yards behind us here. if grant could get guns up on top of that ridge, he might have petersburg. well, the plan was changed a few days later. general meade changed the plan. meade ordered burn side, the commander of the union ninth corps, to send in one of his white divisions to lead the assault and the attacking force was to go straight for blanford hill. other divisions following would move to the right and left of the crater rolling up the confederate flanks. major general bushrod johnson's confederate division defended this section of the line right where we are would be elliot's south carolinians and the virginiian would be to the south of the crater behind you. right artillery battery was positioned to the north in what's now a cemetery about 600 yards behind me.

you had captain richard peagram's here in the salient and davidson's battery to the south behind you and to your -- to my right i'd be on what was then called jerusalem plank road would be lam kins and flanners batteries. so basically the confederates had artillery on the left, the right, and in the rear. so when the union troops attacked through here they are going get hit on three fronts. now, at 4:45 a.m., a tremendous explosion ruptured the earth, throwing men, cannons and a huge chunk of clay the size of a four-room schoolhouse toward the e h heavens. the confederate casualties were 44 killed outright, 234 wounded far total of 278 known casualties. there were probably more. now, when this stuff blew up and went up into the air, well, it's got to come down. so much went up that it took ten minutes for the debris to stop

falling out of the sky. union soldiers 125 yards to my left were actually in the fallout area. they didn't stay there, they went back to the east a little ways to get out from under the debris fallout. they had to wait ten minutes for that stuff to come down. once they did go on the move, they got up near the confederate line and they saw a hole which measured about 170 to 200 feet in length, 60 feet wide, and about 30 feet deep. plus remains, body parts of these confederate soldiers all over the place, some half buried, some completely buried. the division moved forward but they did not advance beyond the gaping hole. once the confederate artillery opened, the division was pretty much pinned down. potter's division would move up to the right behind me. will cox's division would move to the left behind you. they would capture roughly about

400 or 500 yards of confederate lines. meanwhile, general mahone who was about three miles away to the south, he received orders from lee whose headquarters was located at violet bank plantation to reinforce and plug in union breakthrough. mahone brought his hold virginia brigade now commanded by wiziger and wright's georgians commanded by hall. later he realized he was going to need more men so he did also orders sanders' alabama brigade to come up. now, it would take them a little while to get here. the african-american fourth division commanded by ferraro would now advance and they were just north of the crater, just behind me here, forming for an attack. mahone is here by this point in time. there were only 800 virginians in wiziger's brigade. ma hone can see there are union troops forming for an attack. he doesn't know they're african-americans, he can't tell if they're white or black.

he's counting union regimental flags. 13, 14, 15. it's a lot of union soldiers up there on that crest. mahone initially wanted the virginians and georgians to attack simultaneously, the virginians on the left, the georgians on the right. mahone has to make a snap decision here -- is it better to hit first or get hit first? he decides it's better to hit first so he sends the virginians in without the georgians. the georgians are not ready to go yet. well, these 800 virginians attacked. they hit hard and they hit with tremendous ferocity. they were actually aiming at the crater itself, but there's a common misconception that union troops in that hole are non-combatants. they are not. they are hundreds of them up on the rim of that crater and they are pouring out a tremendous amount of lead with the muskets. the virginians aim at the crater but because of those sheets of lead coming at them, they veer to the left, to the north. they run into the u.s. cts in this area. there was hand-to-hand combat.

out of those 800 virginians, over half become casualties. some of the african-americans began to panic because they were hit so hard by these guys. some of the panic spread to the white union troops. the georgians then attacked. they reinforce it had virginians and they would eventually take the lines to the north of the crater and also to the south of the crater. now, keep in mind, i'm doing a nine-hour battle in ten minutes here so i've got to skip a lot of stuff. finally at the end, by 1:00 p.m., the alabama troops come across the fields to my left, up just delight where those earth works are. they are up on top of those earth works and the crater was filled with union soldiers by this time and the blood was running down the sides and pooling in the bottom of the hole. the confederates would now take mortar shells, they're about 16 pound hollow iron balls, they are lighting them by hand and tossing them down into that hole. they're taking muskets with the

bayonets attached, throwing them like harpoons down into that hole. you've got to remember that when you're in combat you are no longer a human being, you become an animal. both sides do this. you do not survive combat if you don't make that change. by 2:00 p.m., it was all over. now, i'm going to read a few quotes, some of these are going to be gruesome but i want you to understand what it was like to be out here at that time. these fields we are in right now are killing fields. the same for the hole and the same for north and south of the crater and the same for the east side of the crater. some of these will be quoted and i'll just say quote. so this first someone a quote. this one guy wrote there was one pile of 20 dead men. another one wrote "bullets were hitting the men then passing through them and killing other men behind them. a full line of men around the crest of the crater" these are union soldiers "were loading and firing as fast as they could and the men were dropping thick and fast, most of them shot through the head. every man that was shot rolled

down the steep side to the bottom and in places they were piled up four and five deep. now at the north end of the crater" right over here "union troops piled up the bodies of their dead comrades to try to block the confederate bullets coming in through the trenches." here's another quote. this man was in the crater. "there was a light haired boy apparently under 18 who fired steadily for more than an hour at the rim. a bullet smashed into the young man's forehead and he fell with his head against my feet, his blood gushing over them. i covered the boy's head and continued firing." it's kind of hard for us to conceive of this kind of thing. here's another quote. "i counted 21 blacks who were shot at this spot, their bodies rolling and tumbling down the steep slope. blood was everywhere, trickling down the sides of the crater in stream lets and in many places ponds of it as large as an ordinary wash basin." now, this was the largest number of african-american soldiers ever in any single battle of the

entire war and it would turn out to be the largest number of casualties suffer bid african-americans in a single battle during the civil war. here's another quote "my tongue is swollen and lips cracked from the powder and biting cartridges. my gun at times gets so hot i have that to stop firing. once it went off prematurely just as i loaded it. the discharge burn mid-eyelashes and brows. a shell burst close to my head and i was tumbled over unconscious for a few seconds. another time my ramrod was shot from my hand and twice i was hit in the hand." now conditions get worse in the crater, if you can believe that. here's another quote. "t one man was decapitate and his body fell slumping downwards and the blood rushed out fraz an overturned bucket." here's another quote. "one shell permeate it had crater floor and dug up two bodies that had been buried by the mine explosion." another quote, "everyone could see body parts flying into the air as as a result of hits by the mortar shells.

blood and brains flew so freely through the air that many men were completely covered with them." now, general bartlett, the union general, was down in this hole. fortunately for him, his cork leg was shattered and one remaining good leg. he lost his cork leg at get ditysburg. there were native americans here, too. here's a quote from someone who saw the first michigan sharp shooters. "a few indians of the first michigan sharpshooters did splendid work. some were mortally wounded and drawing their blouses over their faces they chant add death song and died, four of them in a group." now this is a story most people probably have never really realized, but you know there are native americans on both sides. it was highly likely that native americans fought native americans right out here. there were a tabas in the 17th south carolina and they were north of the crater. in the crater there were men nominees in the 37th wisconsin

infantry and also company k of the first michigan sharpshooters were in the crater. so it's probable and highly likely that you had natives fighting against natives. this one company in the first michigan had a ottawa, ojibwe, chippewa and pot wtomy tribes in this regiment. now, this last quote is the one that probably gets to me the most. "no air was stirring within the crater. there was a sickening sight, men were dead and dying all around us. blood was streaming down the sides of the crater to the bottom where it gathered in pools for a time before being absorbed by the hard red clay. the slaughter became monotonous until it's soed to horrify. now the aftermath of this battle, the battlefield pressed a horrific site. the dead and wounded were piled up, white, african-american, and native american all mixed together in their death throes stretching for at least 100 yards north of the crater, the confederate works were filled with the dead and dying.

in places, they lay so thick that it was impossible not to tread on them when making one's way through the works. inside the crater, the confederates found 133 bodies. the confederates dug down to retrieve the bodies of their own men and they found that the blood had penetrated the sandy clay as much as five inches down. in some places, the union bodies were piled up eight deep. the highest concentration of remains of both sides cover an area of 250 yards by 100 yards. there were hundreds of bodies in this area. three days later, a truce was called and both sides claimed their dead. during the truce, over 600 remains were buried between the lines. these remains would be reintered in the 1930s into either blandford cemetery in petersburg for the confederates or poplar grove national cemetery for the union. now, the casualties.

confederate losses are really not known in their entirety. at least 400 were killed, 700 wounded and 40 missing for a total of 1,340. some sources go as high as 1,600 out of 9,400 engaged. that's well over 10% losses. some of the confederate regiments suffered tremendous losses. the 6th virginia went into the battle with 80 men and 70 were killed. company c of the 129-virginia went in to battle with 15 men. that's very small. five were killed, eight were wounded 1357bd out of the 15 were casualties. the federal losses were extremely high. all together, 504 were killed, 1,881 wounded, 1,413 missing for a total of close to 3, 800 manhattan. the african-americans suffered tremendous casualties. out of the 504 union troops killed, 433 were

african-americans. 744 were wounded and many were captured for a total of a little over 1,200 known casualties. now, in most civil war battles, people who surrendered, some of them get killed after they surrender, it happens all the time. it happened here. some of the african-americans were killed after they surrendered. killing the enemy soldiers after they sur render is more common than you think. both sides did it, all races did it. it happened at least in four other battles during the siege of petersburg. it happened on june 15, the first day of fighting, it happened here at the crater, it happened on september 29 at fort archer and it happened again at fort greg on april 2. so it happens in all wars. we hear about the germans killing americans after they surrendered. well, one of my distant cousins was over there in world war ii and he said they weren't the only ones doing it, the americans did it, too. now in conclusion, the battle of the crater was a great tactical

victory for lee. he had blocked grant's attempt to take petersburg but the siege would continue for another eight months until petersburg and richmond finally fell to union forces on april 3, 1865. the war in virginia would end six days later at a small country village known as appomattox courthouse when lee surrendered to grant. now, the long-term effects of this war, eventually we really became the united states of america and it's a good thing when you look at early 20th century history. would we have been able to have gone over to europe in 1917 and 1918 and defeat the keiser? don't know. might not have worked out too well for the fus we were divided. same thing for world war ii. could we have defeated the germans and the japanese if we were a divided nation? it's hard to say. this is in the realm of the unknown. but i really think that things were much better for everyone because we were the united

states instead of being two separate countries. so i thank you all for being here today. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> i would like to give jimmy another round of applause because really when we talked about the program today, ten minutes was -- it was agonizing to him. [ laughter ] [ applause ] but in fairness to jimmy's remarks, you know, he's given us a lot to think about this morning. one of the things i would charge you with as visitors the park today, and this is 150 years to the day of this battle that what those men talked about in their quotes read by jimmy is take some time to walk these fields by yourself. don't take a tour, just give yourself a few moments to contemplate the words that were spoken by those men 150 years

ago. we will not be able to conceptualize the horror, the sacrifice that was seen on this field july 30, 1864. our keynote remarks this morning are coming from colonel paul brooks. he is the garrison commander for fort lee. colonel brooks assumed command of the u.s. army garrison at fort lee in august, 2013, so just a short time ago. his army career began in 1984 when he enlisted as a military policeman. he graduated from the united states military academy with a bachelor's of science in 1991 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the armored corps. he also holds a master's degree in military studies from the marine corps university and most recently a master's degree in national security studies from the dwight d. eisenhower school for national security and

resource strategy at the national defense university, which he earned in june of 2013. colonel brooks' other military schooling includes air assault airborne school, armored officer basic school, ranger school, in the words of my father, the most important, only one that matters. scout commander certification course, combined with logistics officer advanced course, combined armed services staff school, survival, evasion, resistance and escape school. during his career, colonel brooks' early aeft signs between 1919 -- 1992 and 1995, platoon leader, missile maintenance and heavy maintenance and battalion s-1 with 27th maine support ba ta

battalion. assuming roles of increasing response at ft. bragg, north carolina, commander of the 39th ordnance company, first corps support command, operations officer, 528th special operations support battalion, in various command operational resources and staff positions in u.s. army special operations command. as a deputy commanding officer, 82nd sustainment brigade, colonel brooks served multiple tours in iraq, afghanistan, as a member of the joint special operations task force, various command operational and staff in support of operation iraqi freedom and operation enduring freedom. awards and decorations, legion of merit, bronze star medal one oak leaf cluster, defense meritorious service medal, meritorious service medal army come monthization med. combat action badge, ranger tab,

master parachutist badge, and air assault badge. my honor to introduce garrison commander, colonel paul brooks. >> thanks for that great introduction. sounds better than it actually is. >> i would like to say, it's awesome to be here great be to here. major moore. not anymore, army days are done. great seeing you. a friend of the community in ft. lee, every time we see you running around doing something with us, it's awesome. appreciate it. i'd like to recognize all of the work that the park service chris bryce has done to put this event together. not just this event, but all of the events over the ten months, cover the entire siege and battle of petersburg, post office. give them one round of applause

for doing it. also, i would like to thank you for asking me to speak here today. i have great sense of grat you'd for being allowed to participate in today's events. the significant of the day and anniversary are not lost on me. i consider it a great honor to stan before you today and talk about this. although one thing i do have to admit, when chris initially asked me to do this, i found the task daunting. i mean, come on, i'm surround by subject matter experts on the civil war, people trying to cram nine hours into ten minutes and included more information than i would ever be able to get in there. more specifically, subject matter experts on this battle. though i am accustomed not being the smartest guy in the room that adds a new perspective to the situation. i am a career soldier, i'm supposed to know that kind of stuff. but in college i was an economics major we didn't talk

about the battle of the crater in micro or macro economics. i remember, i remember this battle being discussed when i was in one of my history classes at west point. it wasn't so much of the subject matter as it was my instructor, captain dan bulger, who became lieutenant general bulger and commanded the 1st cavalry mission in iraq before retiring. an animated and energetic speaker. always made it interesting. the first person ever to make history, something i wanted to sit down and talk to, because he didn't teach history nearly as much as he told stories. and isn't that what history really is? it's a story. it's our story. it's the story of what got us here today. so we commemorate battle of the crater, one of many chapters in the ongoing history and ongoing story of our nation. as i said earlier, i'm personally no historian, nor a great storyteller.

i'll leave details of the battle up to more qualified personnel than myself. and louis, that opening introduction and comments, thanks for setting the bar so high. very powerful words. it was awesome. so, i'm not going attempt to tell the story or amplify it or offer any shockingly new insightful details on how it unfolded. what i would like to talk about is the people. the soldiers, the soldiers that played the parts of that story as it unfolded here, who have played parts in every story and every chapter and battle our nation participated in. the soldiers serving now and one signing up to serve every day. i'd like to talk about them, ability to secure our nation's future, sense of duty and sacrifice. it's a sacrifice that transcends far beyond just the soldiers who actually fight the battle. to their families, their friends, and their homes.

it's something that they commemoration will also recognize observe the course of his year here and different times and locations across the country. in all, thousands paid the ultimate cost of the sacrifice on this spot throughout the battle feel writing the chapter. throughout the history, hundreds of thousands paid that same price. countless more have been wounded or captured. their blood is the ink that much of our history is written in. i'm sure there are reasons for being here just as varied as those as soldiers that join our ranks today. there are different reasons. then and now, reasons joined are many to make that sacrifice, stand up for what you believe in at all costs. they may have fought to defend their country, family, beliefs or rights or due to sense of duty. soldiers from the north that they could have fought to maintain the union for preservation of nation or way of life or abolition of slavery.

those from the south, newly formed nation, state's rights, something as basic as defending homes and families. for many that fought here, this, the land that we're on right now, was literally their backyard. u.s. colored troops that fought here, for their freedom. great ample, decatur, dorsi, one of the u.s. colored troops of the united states, born a slave but also won the congressional med of honor for his actions here on this ground. also, those drafted, surprisingly only one to 6% of the force here, depending who you talk to -- i'll leave that up to the experts -- they represented themselves, units and army admirably on the battle feel. i could never accurately relate why they all came but those here, they all made the sacrifice required to write the chapter. this sacrifice, sense of duty, need to participate in or support or be a part of something much greater than

themselves has played out time and time again throughout our history. so what about our future? the soldiers who will lead us there? as a leader in today's army, we're required to look at the future, where are we going, help determine how to best ensure chapters of that future are of a secure america. 30 years since i've enlisted i've seen phenomenal changes in our army and its soldiers. today, we are once again all-volunteer army and the quality, confidence, capability and sense of duty to their nation of those volunteers is what will secure our future. every arm in the world attempts to emulate capability of our enlisted personnel and ncos, bottom lines they can't do it and that's a fact of the matter. some have been trying to do it for decades. we actively, continually pursue efforts to teach other nations to adopt our model but no one else has been able to replicate because of our soldiers.

the soldiers are the reasons we're so strong. as others chase us we will continue to improve, move forward and move farther away. one of the best conversations i saw that highlighted this, occurred when i was working with wus special operations command at ft. bragg. a major talking to old, retired soft veterans who previously served in our unit. they were talk about how concerned they were with respect to the quality of the soldier and what had happened to the unit over the years. i've got to tell you, that sergeant major was adamantly opposed to what they were saying and upset how they were saying it. he might have threw a couple of expletives when he said the unit could easily whip the old-timers -- throw in the favorite expletive right there. he told them he did not mean as an insult to them but a testament to the fact we're getting better, it our duty to

improve the cap ability of the units and people that defend our nation. he had to intent to belittle their efforts or accomplishments and closed the conversation by telling them that, if we didn't prepare the next generation to be able to whip us, as we should have been able to whip them, they would have failed them and our country, no matter what we accomplish on today's battlefield. the ethos to continually get better, a part of our american culture and the reason we have and always will have the best military in the world. before i leave you thinking that this is just some chest-thumping sales pitch, i'd like to provide you with a few telling details about today's army. in my lifetime we've don't from a draft to an army whose ranks contain people whose only options either to go to the army or go to jail. to one where only 28 or 29% of our age-eligible population can even qualify to get into the army. think about that for just one mo.