The sword and gun : a history of the 37th Wis. Volunteer Infantry : from its first organization to its final muster out / by R.C. Eden.

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a permanent lodgment would have been effected in the
main line of the defences of Petersburg.
From the report of the Committee on the Conduct of
the War, the blame of the failure of the whole plan, in
consequence of this blunder, seems to be attributed to
General Meade, and it would certainly seem to be an act
of negligence on his part, with the force he had at his
disposal, to leave these important points unmolested.
The original arrangement had been to explode the mine
at half past fout A. M , and for the assaulting column to
advance immediately, but, owing to a fault in the fuse, it
was nearly 6 o'clock before the explosion took place. At
that time a vast column of smoke mingled with earth,
fragments of guns and platforms, logs, sand-bags, gabions and human beings shot towering into the air to an
immense height, gradually subsiding again and followed
Immediately by a dull, smothered roar which shook the
ground for miles round, and was said to have been felt
even to City Point. Á pause, in which one might count,
perhaps a dozen beats at the wrist, and 85 pieces of heavy
artillery opened almost simultaneously on the rebel lines.
The enemy was not slow in replying, and soon the light
artillery and musketry chimed in, making the noise completely deafening, and the very ground under our feet tö
vibrate. From 6 till 12 th:s hellish uproar continued
unabated at which time it commenced to slacken, till, by
four o'clock, it died away, and, as the last of our troops
fell back from the crater, the battle of July 30th was at
an end.