In July 1864, the federal troops originally selected to spearhead the Union attack during the siege of Petersburg were the black regts of Burnside's 4th Div (IIRC), who'd been specially trained to storm the Confederate positions after the big underground mine had been detonated by the 48th Pennsylvania miners. However, at the last minute, it was decided that using such a black formation in such a critical engagement would have negative political effects by creating the perception of blacks being used as cannon fodder by the North, so a white div, totally untrained in the way the USCT troops had been, were used instead to lead the attack. Thus, as seen in COLD MOUNTAIN, the attacking Union troops, including the hapless black soldiers- many of whom were massacred out of hand or shot by white Northern troops to curry favour with the Rebs- found themselves trapped inside the Crater like fish in a barrel, since they'd attacked directly into the depression instead of around it as initially planned.
WI there hadn't been such a last-minute change made to the Union attack plans, and the USCT formations were used to lead the attack as the 54th Massachusetts had at Fort Wagner ? What would've been the outcome of the battle, and a successful Union storming of Petersburg ? The effect on shortening the war ?
WI there hadn't been such a last-minute change made to the Union attack plans, and the USCT formations were used to lead the attack as the 54th Massachusetts had at Fort Wagner ? What would've been the outcome of the battle, and a successful Union storming of Petersburg ? The effect on shortening the war ?