At home, the war was over, and Texas was now a forgotten front.
Finally, during the winter of 1865–66, the crisis defused; Napoleon III cut his losses, leaving Maximilian to dangle, and finally to be pulled down by Mexican freedom fighters led by Benito Juarez. Gradually the American troops on the Texas frontier were demobilized and sent home. It is interesting to note that more than a few black soldiers, upon being allowed to resign from the ranks while still in Texas, crossed the border to be offered commissions as officers with Juarez and gain distinction in that fight for freedom as well.
The survivors of the 28th, with Major Garland White helping to lead them, returned to Indianapolis early in 1866 and were demobilized.
The laws that they had endured prior to the war nevertheless greeted them upon their return, and it was not until the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments that some semblance of full rights were at last granted.
Pension records for some of the 28th can be found in the National Archives, dating well into the late 1920s. One man ventured as far as England to serve as a steward on a channel steamer; another became an “Exoduster,” part of a movement of blacks to settle in Kansas claiming their “forty acres and a mule.” Most settled back into life around the Indianapolis area, raising families, some well respected by friends and neighbors who realized all that they had given for their country.
As for Garland White? He crops up in a newspaper report out of Toledo, Ohio, leading a fight to integrate the schools there. His efforts, sadly, failed.
The last record the authors can find of him dates from the mid-1890s. Impoverished, ill, and crippled from his years of service in the field and the lifelong effects of scurvy contracted in Texas, White, in the final entry in his pension records requested a meager increase of several dollars a month to help him in his final years with his medical bills. There is no further entry after that, though usually the pension records bear a stamped mark when the recipient is deceased. His date of death and final resting place remain a mystery.
If any who read this should know of Garland White’s final resting place, the authors of this work would be deeply indebted, for surely his final resting place should be properly honored. We should all be indebted to men like him, the forgotten men of the Fourth Division of the Ninth Corps of the Army of the Potomac, who, on a terrible day in July 1864, did indeed offer up the “last full measure of devotion.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
When my coauthor, Bill Forstchen, and I first met early in 1994, I was Minority Whip, laying out the first stages of the “Contract with America” that would help propel my party to its first majority in the House of Representatives in nearly fifty years, and Bill was spending the summer in Washington D.C., working on his doctoral dissertation at the National Archives and the Library of Congress. He was breaking new ground in historical research with a first-of-its-kind study of a Civil War regiment of African American troops, the 28th United States Colored Troops (USCT) recruited out of Indiana. On more than one evening, he’d walk up from the National Archives to Capitol Hill, where over sandwiches we would talk about our projects. I found his topic fascinating even then, and a seed was planted that nearly two decades later became this novel.
We have written nine books together since then, but this one is unique and close to the heart for both of us. The role of the USCTs in winning the Civil War and preserving the Union is little known today. Few are aware that at the end of the war one out of every five men wearing Union blue was of African descent. Nearly two hundred African American regiments were mobilized for the field, with tens of thousands more blacks serving in the navy, which had been an integrated force ever since the American Revolution. The USCTs were the direct ancestors of the famed Buffalo Soldiers and the Tuskegee Airmen until full integration in all branches of service was finally achieved during the Truman administration. Bill’s deep involvement in the study of this topic led him to write a young adult’s novel on the 28th USCT, We Look Like Men of War, a decade ago. When, last year, we were approached by our publisher to write another book on the Civil War, the topic of the USCTs, and in particular their misdeployment in their largest single combat engagement, the Battle of the Crater, was our obvious first choice.
There are so many to thank for making this work possible. Two acknowledgments date back twenty years to Bill’s dissertation committee, headed by his beloved mentor Professor Gunther Rothenberg, a famed military historian and the head of Bill’s graduate program, Professor Gordon Mork. Long before heading to D.C. to wrap up his research among the pension records of “his” regiment, Bill found invaluable help with the teams at the Indiana State Archives, the Indiana Historical Society, and those working in the Indiana War Memorial, truly one of the finest of state military memorials, located in Indianapolis and its attached library and archive. The only surviving flag of the 28th USCT is located there and Bill speaks with deep emotion about the experience of actually being able to see it.
Personnel associated with the Petersburg National Battlefield Park have been most gracious and eager to see this work move forward, and, as will be explained in the postscript of this book, they are delighted to work with us to fulfill a long-held dream of ours to see a monument placed on the site of the Crater in memory of the thousands of men of the USCTs who fought on that field. As far as we have been able to find out, not a single battlefield monument to any USCT regiment exists on ground they fought for. We hope to rectify this long-overdue honor and acknowledgment.
Any book is a team effort involving the work of many more than just those names listed on the cover. As always we wish to extend our thanks to Pete Wolverton and Tom Dunne for their suggestion to write this book and their support of it. Anne Bensson, Pete’s assistant, is a real gem, as are the copyeditor, Sui Mon Wu, the proofreader, Ted O’Keefe, and the production editor, David Stanford Burr. Additionally, we want to thank Ruth Chambers for identifying our talented illustrator, Evalee Gertz, and her gracious agent, Shelley Pina.
Within our own “teams” of course a thank-you to our agent Kathy Lubbers and our advisers Randy Evans and Stefan Passantino; the talented members of Gingrich Communications and Gingrich Productions, including: Catherine Butterworth, Joe DeSantis, Sylvia Garcia, Anna Haberlein, Vince Haley, Jorge Hurtado, Bess Kelly, Christina Maruna, Crissy Mas, Alicia Melvin, Kate Pietkiewicz, Michelle Selesky, Liz Wood, Ross Worthington, and interns Kathryn Erb, Justin Lafferty, and Lindsay Meyers.
We would be remiss if we did not thank the American Enterprise Institute and the very capable Caitlin Laverdiere, Brady Cassis, and AEI interns: Ellery Kauvar, Adam Minchew, Alex Hilliker, and Danielle Fezouati.
A special thank-you goes to Albert S. Hanser for his ongoing participation, partnership, and friendship in this and previous novels.
And, as always, thank you to our spouses and families for their patience when the next chapter “calls” and other things have to be put on hold “for just a few minutes longer—!” Thank you, Callista Gingrich, Krys Hanser, and Bill’s daughter, Meghan, for your continued love and support throughout.
In closing we must offer a special acknowledgment to Major Garland White. Born a slave, he was the personal servant of Senator Robert Toombs (D-GA) at his Washington residence before the war. Escaping to freedom in Canada, White taught himself to read and write (a study of his letters between 1861–1865 revels a brilliant intellect always striving forward). He helped with the organization and mobilization of the famed 54th Massachusetts, the regiment immortalized in that wonderful film Glory, and was offered the rank of sergeant major, the highest position a “man of color” could hold at that time, but felt his duty was to press forward with helping to mobilize yet more regiments in the Midwest. The key figure in bringing the 28th USCT to life, he became its sergeant major and served gallantly with the regiment in every campaign. He was one of the first eleven men of African descent to be commissioned as chaplains/majors. For thirty years after the war he was a passionate activist f
or equal rights, fair treatment of “colored” veterans, and the fulfillment of the promises of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. He died in obscurity and poverty sometime in the 1890s in Washington, his burial site unknown to us.
We close this acknowledgment with a salute to this gallant man. Shortly after the war he wrote: “The historian’s pen cannot fail to locate us somewhere among the good and great, who have fought and bled upon the altar of their country.”
We pray that this work is a fulfillment of Major Garland White (28th USCT) and his dream and that the 28th’s sacrifice shall be forever honored.
Thank you, Major White, and thanks to all those who served with you on that terrible day of July 30, 1864.
ALSO BY NEWT GINGRICH AND WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN
Gettysburg
Grant Comes East
Never Call Retreat
Pearl Harbor
Days of Infamy
To Try Men’s Souls
Valley Forge
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, is the bestselling author of Gettysburg and Pearl Harbor and the longest-serving teacher of the Joint War Fighting Course for Major Generals at Air University and is an honorary Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Professor at the National Defense University. He resides in Virginia with his wife, Callista, with whom he hosts and produces documentaries, including their latest, A City Upon A Hill.
William R. Forstchen, Ph.D., is a Faculty Fellow at Montreat College in Montreat, North Carolina. He received his doctorate from Purdue University and is the author of more than forty books. Forstchen’s doctoral dissertation on the 28th USCT was one of the first in-depth studies of a USCT regiment. He is the New York Times bestselling author of One Second After, published by Tor/Forge. He resides near Asheville, North Carolina, with his daughter, Meghan.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
THE BATTLE OF THE CRATER. Copyright © 2011 by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.stmartins.com
Illustration numbers 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 13, 19, 20, and 21 by Evalee Gertz.
Illustration numbers 5, 6, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 courtesy of Applewood Books.
Illustration number 4 of President Lincoln courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-pga-03412.
Illustration number 18 of Robert E. Lee courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZC2-2408.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gingrich, Newt.
The battle of the crater : a novel / Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen.—1st ed.
p. cm.
e-ISBN 9781429990622
1. Petersburg Crater, Battle of, Va., 1864—Fiction. I. Forstchen, William R. II. Title.
PS3557.I4945B38 2011
813'.54—dc23
2011026677
First Edition: November 2011
During the American Civil War 179,000 African Americans answered the call and served with the Union Army.
Over 4,000 United States Colored Troops participated in the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864. This number represents one of the largest concentrations of black soldiers on any field of battle during the American Civil War. Of that number 1,327 were killed, wounded, missing, or captured in the fighting.
Today as we approach the 150th anniversary of the battle, there is still no formal recognition of the role played by these soldiers in that fight.
Petersburg National Battlefield and American Enterprise Institute/Newt.org are working together to memorialize and tell the story of the black soldiers during that chapter of the Siege of Petersburg.
To learn more about the United States Colored Troops during the Siege of Petersburg visit www.nps.gov/pete.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
Illustration #1: map of Petersburg
Prologue
Illustration #2: view of the battlefield from a trench
Chapter 1
Illustration #3: Arlington near the end of the Civil War
Chapter 2
Illustration #4: Harper’s Weekly illustration of Lincoln
Chapter 3
IIllustration #5: Harper’s Weekly, August 6, 1864: life on the front lines
Illustration #6: Harper’s Weekly illustration of Burnside
Chapter 4
Illustration #7: flag-bearers and drummers in front of the bridge
Illustration #8: Harper’s Weekly illustration of Meade
Illustration #9: map of Burnside’s plan
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Illustration #10: battle illustration, charge under fire
Illustration #11: an officer and drummer boy
Illustration #12: Harper’s Weekly illustration of Grant
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Illustration #13: Garland by campfire deep in thought
Chapter 9
Illustration #14: Harper’s Weekly, August 20, 1864: carrying powder to the mine
Illustration #15: Harper’s Weekly, August 20, 1864: Colonel Pleasants supervising the arrival of powder
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Illustration #16: Harper’s Weekly, August 20, 1864: detonation of mine at Petersburg
Chapter 12
Illustration #17: Harper’s Weekly, August 27, 1864: the charge on Cemetery Ridge
Chapter 13
Illustration #18: Harper’s Weekly, illustration of Robert E. Lee
Chapter 14
Illustration #19: bodies hauled up from the pit
Illustration #20: priest cradling dying comrade
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Illustration #21: Garland by campfire deep in though
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Also by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen
About the Authors
Copyright
The Battle of the Crater: A Novel (George Washington Series) Page 37