UPDATE: Today is July 30, and on this date in history, in 1864, near Petersburg, Virginia, during the American Civil War, we witness the Battle of the Crater. What a horrible battle when you read the details. Please read the review that I left previously.
ORIGINAL COMMENT--FEBRUARY, 22, 2006: I was at the Crater Battlefield about three years ago and I was suprised how much earth is still thrown up around the explosion site. The Crater is located at the Petersburg Seige Lines south of Richmond, Virginia. The Union had Lee under seige.
You all know the tale, I suppose. Pennsylvania miners dug a shaft under the CSA lines, filled it with powder and blew up a large section of the defense. Union troops poured in but rather than going around, they went into the crater. They didn't have ladders and were trapped. The Confederates shot them like trapped rabbits.
A dark side to the battle was that many of the Union troops were from the US Colored Regiments, black troops. The Confederates shot most of them out of hand. The watchword was "Take the white and shoot the ni**er." The movie, Cold Mountain has a good Battle of the Crater scene, and I think is the first time Hollywood tackled the subject. Race was avoided in the movie, but the horror of this fight came across well.
