Source:
- Sketch based on map by John E. Horn. “Battle of the Crater, July 30, 1864: The Virginia Brigade Charges, 8:45 A.M.″. Original Map reproduced in sketch form with the written permission of John E. Horn and may not be reproduced elsewhere. All rights reserved. ↩
My research indicates that Burnside’s 2nd Pennsylvania Provisional Heavy Artillery was the first Union regiment to emerge beyond the Crater as a cohesive unit, only to be surrounded by Mahone’s regiment and taken prisoners of the Confederates. My great-great grandfather Adj. William Beynon Phillips was one of 6 officers of the regiment captured. The next day the captured 2nd. PA troops were forced to march through the streets of Petersburg intermingled with captured colored troops. This greatly aroused the ire of the Petersburg residents who had suffered during the siege and that rage was exacerbated by the presence of the colored troops.