A Military History Book Club Selection

The Battle of the Crater by Jeff Kinard

"an excellent series [that] should be in every Texas school!"—Empire Books

". . . what is so inviting about the entire series is the depth and length to which Civil War Campaign and Commanders writers go to tell more than just battlefield statistics."—Eclectic Homeschool Online

July 1864. Grant's siege of Petersburg is at a standstill. A Federal regiment made up mostly of Pennsylvania coal miners, under the command of Lt. Colonel Henry Pleasants, secures the reluctant approval of Generals Meade and, ultimately, Grant to pursue an outrageous strategy: tunnel under the Confederate trenches, and blow up the Confederate troops. The 586-foot tunnel is completed in a month. Four tons of powder explode in a devastating surprise attack, killing hundreds of Confederate soldiers. Fearing bad publicity, white soldiers are substituted for the division of black troops specially trained for the assault. Ill prepared, and without leadership, they charge through Confederate lines and swarm around and incredibly, into the 170-foot crater, only to be trapped and slaughtered in a furious counter charge.

An absorbing story of extraordinary bravery and incompetent leadership based on first-person accounts.

JEFF KINARD holds a Ph.D. in history from Texas Christian University and is a professor of history at Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, North Carolina. He has published numerous articles and several books on military history.

Also in the Civil War Campaigns & Commanders Series

BATTLE IN THE WILDERNESS 1-893114-00-6 PAPER $11.95	A DEEP STEADY THUNDER 1-893114-10-3 PAPER $11.95
EMERGENCE OF TOTAL WAR 1-893114-13-8 PAPER $12.95	GEORGE GORDON MEADE 1-893114-36-8 CLOTH $29.95
JAMES JOHNSTON PETTIGREW 1-893114-18-9 PAPER $12.95	THE SALTVILLE MASSACRE 1-893114-05-7 PAPER $11.95
WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK 1-893114-39-2 CLOTH $29.95

For a complete list of the books in the Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series

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The Battle of the Crater
ISBN 1-886661-06-5 paper $11.95

LC 95-33310. 6x9. 104 pp. 29 b&w photos. 13 biographical sketches. 10 maps.
2 apps. Bib. Index.

Publication Date: 1995.

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