Editing Battle of the Crater (section)

==Aftermath==
[[File:The photographic history of the Civil War - thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities (1911) (14760556754).jpg|thumb|Result of the {{cvt|8,000|lb|kg}} of powder explosion under the Salient, 1865]]
{{Blockquote|text=Following the Crater affair a Reb wrote his homefolk that all the colored prisoners "would have been killed had it not been for gen Mahone who beg our men to Spare them." One of his comrades killed several, he continued; Mahone "told him for God's sake stop." The man replied, "Well gen let me kill one more," whereupon, according to the correspondent, "he deliberately took out his pocket knife and cut one's throat." |author=[[Bell I. Wiley]] |source=The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy<ref name=Wiley314>{{cite book |last=Wiley |first=Bell Irvin |author-link=Bell I. Wiley |date=2008 |orig-date=First published 1943 |title=The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YrGp6mW5mOAC&pg=PA314 |location=Baton Rouge |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |pages=314–15 |isbn=978-0-8071-3325-5 |lccn=71-162618}}</ref>}}

Union casualties were 3,798 (504 killed, 1,881 wounded, 1,413 missing or captured), Confederate 1,491 (361 killed, 727 wounded, 403 missing or captured). Disproportionate Union losses were suffered by Ferrero's division of the [[United States Colored Troops]],<ref name=casualties/> many of whom were [[Summarily executed#Military jurisdiction|summarily executed]] on the [[battlefield]] or in the [[Rear (military)|rear]]. Compared to the average ratio for Civil War battles of 4.8 wounded to one dead, for black troops at the Crater it was 1.8 to one.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Both black and white wounded prisoners were taken to the Confederate hospital at Poplar Lawn, in Petersburg. Burnside had not given up hope and he petitioned Meade to let him try another attack but General [[E.O.C. Ord]] dismissed the idea as absurd. Meade brought charges against Burnside, and a subsequent court of inquiry censured him along with Brig. Gens. Ledlie, Ferrero, [[Orlando B. Willcox]], and Col. [[Zenas Bliss|Zenas R. Bliss]]. Burnside was removed from command of the IX Corps on August 26 and replaced with General [[John G. Parke]]. Although he was as responsible for the defeat as Burnside, Meade escaped immediate censure. However, in early 1865, the [[United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War|Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War]] exonerated Burnside and condemned Meade for changing the plan of attack, which did little good for Burnside, whose reputation had been ruined.<ref>Horn, pp. 118–19.</ref> As for Mahone, the victory, won largely because of his efforts in supporting Johnson's stunned men, earned him a lasting reputation as one of the best young generals of Lee's army in the last years of the war.

Grant wrote to Chief of Staff [[Henry W. Halleck]], "It was the saddest affair I have witnessed in this war."<ref>Eicher, p. 723.</ref> He also stated to Halleck, "Such an opportunity for carrying fortifications I have never seen and do not expect again to have."<ref>Catton, ''Grant Takes Command'', p. 325.</ref>

Pleasants, who had no role in the battle itself, received praise for his idea and its execution. When he was appointed a [[brevet (military)|brevet]] brigadier general on March 13, 1865, the citation made explicit mention of his role.

Grant subsequently gave in his evidence before the [[United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War|Committee on the Conduct of the War]]:
{{Blockquote|General Burnside wanted to put his colored division in front, and I believe if he had done so it would have been a success. Still I agreed with General Meade as to his objections to that plan. General Meade said that if we put the colored troops in front (we had only one division) and it should prove a failure, it would then be said and very properly, that we were shoving these people ahead to get killed because we did not care anything about them. But that could not be said if we put white troops in front."<ref>Johnson/Buel, vol. 4, p. 548.</ref>}}

Despite the battle being a tactical Confederate victory, the strategic situation in the Eastern Theater remained unchanged. Both sides remained in their trenches, and the siege continued.

[[File:Battleofthecrater.jpg|thumb|The Crater in 2004]]