Show AR BLOW UP CONFEDERATE FOR Exciting Incident In Battle of Petersburg Peter Peters burg Forty Eight Years Ago Is Ie Told by Veteran The effect of ot a difficult engineering operation in the Civil war Yar Involving the blowing up of Confederate rato was witnessed forty eight years ago by Frank ank D D. D Thompson an architect of Oak Park who was a cavalryman in the Ohio volunteer regiment The explosion which occurred occurred oc oo early on the morning of or July 30 1864 provided an opening through the defenses of ot Petersburg Va which however the Union forces were unablE to hold The Union army lay in front ol ci Petersburg said Mr Thompson Thompson For weeks Col Henry Henr Pleasants Pleasants of the en en- corps had been preparing tc make a breach in the tho fortifications From the river on one side and around the town almost to the river on th the theother other side the earthworks of the de defenders defenders defenders fenders extended broken here nn and ano there by a fort Our earthworks were wen raised in some pla places es not much more than yards distant The chosen for making the breach wat Ii Jj l. 1 1 Jl There Was Force In the Explosion near the Petersburg cemetery Here Her our line was yards from the walls walli of ot the fort and was approached from frore down the hill bill by a a covered ditch Beyond Beyond Be Be- Beyond yond the line a tunnel had been driven driver into the hillside extending u under der the fort and at the end of the tunnel had bee placed four hoppers each contain containIng containing ing lag a ton of ot powder The mine was tc tCo be exploded with a fuse laid along the tunnel We of the Ohio knew of what was g going on We ha had been out on picket duty all day Jul July 29 and got back tc to the line In the afternoon We were dismounted and sent with our carbines through gh the covered way vay to the He line It was about 9 o'clock inthe inthe in la lathe the evening when we took this post post- tion Our only knowledge of what was wat going to happen was Vas our order to charge at the sound of the signal gun We Ve expected this at 3 3 o'clock in the morning Three o'clock came and passed and it was not until 5 that we heard the tho signal gunAs gunAs gunAs gun As we afterward found out th thE fuse had been lighted but had burned only half the distance not much more than a stones stone's threw There had been beena a call for volunteers to go into the tunnel and light the fuse ruse where It had burned out and one man was chosen from among the many He fired It and got safe safely out of the tunnel before belore the explosion There was v force In the explosion The earth heaved under us we were so near but it did more than heave at atthe atthe the fort orL Up Into the air went Vent everything everything every every- thing earth and heavy timbers an anthe nod and the bodies of ot men men and before the debris had a all l fallen to earth we had covered the Intervening distance and were In the breach The fighting w was s shard hard inside the walls The enemy drove us liS back but we ref returned to the fight only to be bo finally repulsed at 2 I o'clock in the afternoon At about this time I 1 was s shot ot and badly wounded and ia la on the field under the July sun and the stars that followed d until in the morning I was taken up n and ca carried to the hospital at City Point |