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‘The Crater’ wayside marker is on the walking trail on the north side of The Crater at Stop Eight on the Perersburg National Battlefield Eastern Front Auto Tour. The marker is next to the ‘A Stupendous Failure‘ wayside marker.
From the marker:
The Crater
“There was utmost consternation. Some men scampered out of the lines; some, paralyzed with fear, vaguely scratched at the counterscarp as if trying to escape. Smoke and dust filled the air.”
– Col. William McMaster,
17th South Carolina Infantry
At 4:40 a.m. on July 30, 1864, the men of Captain Richard Pegram’s battery and two South Carolina regiments lay sleeping here at Elliot’s Salient. A moment later, this place turned into a smoking hole 170 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. Two hundred and seventy-eight Confederates died in the blast. Two 1,700-pound cannons were hurled completely out of the works.
The depressions of four of the magazines (rooms that held the powder) exploded by Colonel Pleasants’s men are still visible inside the Crater.
From the caption to the background drawing:
After the battle on July 30, the Confederates incorporated the Crater into their earthworks. Years of erosion and the removal of 669 bodies from the Crater and surrounding fields in 1866 have altered the site’s appearance.
From the caption to the inset photo on the left:
Since the 1860s the Crater has been a popular spot for tourists. This photo was taken in 1867. Note the skull at the bottom of the picture.
Learn more about the Battle of the Crater
The marker is next to the ‘A Stupendous Failure’ wayside marker.