The Battle of the Crater

During the siege of Petersburg in 1864, Union soldiers with mining experience tunnel beneath the Confederate lines and pack the gallery with explosives. The plan promises a breakthrough, and African American troops who have trained for the assault hope for a chance to prove themselves in combat. When the mine erupts, confused orders and poor leadership turn the opening into one of the Union army’s most notorious disasters.

The novel combines the battlefield story with the political and moral consequences of the failed attack. A fictional reporter drawn into the official inquiry encounters senior commanders, while Abraham Lincoln confronts the military failures and racial assumptions surrounding the operation. The result is a historical novel about the Battle of the Crater, the United States Colored Troops and the wider stakes of the Petersburg campaign.