General William Mahone, C. S. A. It was through the promptness and valor
of General Mahone that the Southerners, on July 30, 1864, were enabled to
turn back upon the Federals the disaster threatened by the hidden mine. On
the morning of the explosion there were but eighteen thousand Confederates
left to hold the ten miles of lines about Petersburg. Everything seemed to
favor Grant's plans for the crushing of this force. Immediately after the
mine was sprung, a terrific cannonade was opened from one hundred and
fifty guns and mortars to drive back the Confederates from the breach,
while fifty thousand Federals stood ready to charge upon the
panic-stricken foe. But the foe was not panic-stricken long. Colonel
McMaster, of the Seventeenth South Carolina, gathered the remnants of
General Elliott's brigade and held back the Federals massing at the Crater
until General Mahone arrived at the head of three brigades. At once he
prepared to attack the Federals, who at that moment were advancing to the
left of the Crater. Mahone ordered a counter-charge. In his inspiring
presence it swept with such vigor that the Federals were driven back and
dared not risk another assault. At the Crater, Lee had what Grant
lacked--a man able to direct the entire engagement.
[Illustration: WHAT EIGHT THOUSAND POUNDS OF POWDER DID