Exactly 150 years ago Wednesday, Daniel Donne, Palo Alto, was part of the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and fought at the Battle of the Crater in Petersburg, Virginia.
“He got wounded there. He was shot in the arm but survived. He was in from 1861 to 1865, through the whole war,” his great-great-granddaughter, Debbie Reed, Schuylkill Haven, said Wednesday as she clutched a wallet-sized photo of Donne, who is buried at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Pottsville.
She and her sister, Lisa Grabowski, Blandon, were among the more than 100 people who gathered Wednesday at Charles Baber Cemetery in Pottsville to watch representatives of the Schuylkill County Historical Society hold a special event to reflect on the American Civil War battle and honor the local soldiers who were part it.
The Union army attempted to outwit Confederates on July 30, 1864, in Petersburg with a mine tunnel and some strategically placed explosives in what would be a painful memory in the minds of the soldiers. The Union had nearly 4,000 casualties, a mix of soldiers missing, wounded or killed in the blast, and Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant called it “the saddest affair I have witnessed in the war.”
The historical society held its program near the graves of two soldiers who were part of the battle, Lt. Col. Henry Pleasants of the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, who resided in Pottsville, and Lt. Col. Joshua K. Sigfried, Orwigsburg, who was brigade commander in Edward Ferrero’s 4th Division, 9th Corps, USCT.
Reed is a member of the society’s board of directors. She and her sister brought out photos of their great-great-grandfather and a collection of his medals to show to people, and they both praised the presentation.
“I love it. It’s just so interesting,” Grabowski said, as Civil War historian and reenactor J. Stuart “Stu” Richards, Orwigsburg, portrayed Sgt. Harry “Snapper” Reese, Minersville, one of the leaders of that historic dig.
Dressed down in denims, a vest, a straw hat and a red handkerchief, Richards used a pick axe and shovel to get into character.
“I’ve been a miner my whole life. But the one thing I’ve been recognized for for forever is the digging of this creation we made at Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864. Petersburg. Have you ever been in a sewer? That’s what Petersburg was in 1864. It stank. It was horrible. Across the line from us were stinky rebels that you could smell coming from over there all the time. And we were stuck on the line, day in, day out — go out to the front line, go out to the trench, stick your musket through a pulp hole and take a shot at one of the rebels,” Richards said in character as “Reese,” starting off his speech.
Speakers also included John David Hoptak, an Orwigsburg native who is a National Park Service ranger at Gettysburg Battlefield, and Tom Shay, Cressona, administrator of the Schuylkill County Civil War Roundtable.
“We know the 48th Pennsylvania was composed almost exclusively of Schuylkill County soldiers, and the thought is that a large number of them were professional coal miners,” Hoptak said at the event.
“We have more than 100 here,” Thomas B. Drogalis, the society’s executive director, said, adding he was pleased with the turnout.
People in the crowd who got into character for the event included Jane Steranko, Minersville, who wore a Civil War-era gray dress with black trim.
At 4:44 a.m. July 30, 1864, the estimated 8,000 pounds of powder planted in the mine was exploded, according to Richards.
“The explosion killed at least 278 Confederate soldiers and created a crater 170 feet long, 60 to 80 feet wide and 30 feet deep,” according to the program given out at the event.
Untrained Union soldiers advanced through the debris and, mistakenly, charged down the crater rather than around it.
“They found themselves trapped and unable to advance. Rebel forces moved along the rim and opened fire on the Union troops below,” according to the program.
After eight and a half hours of fighting, the Union, which engaged about 16,500 men, suffered about 3,800 killed, wounded and captured. The battle cost the Confederate’s 9,500 men about 1,500 casualties, according to www.encyclopediavirginia.org.