sentinels slowly paced their rounds,
without a suspicion of the crust which lay between them and the awful
chasm below. Our own troops, lying upon their arms in unbroken silence,
or with an occasional murmur, stilled at once by the whispered word of
command, looked for the eventful moment of attack to arrive. A quarter
of an hour passed,--a half hour, yet there was no report. Four o'clock,
and the sky began to brighten in the east; the confederate garrison was
bestirring itself. The enemy's lines once more assumed the appearance of
life; the sharpshooters, prepared for their victims, began to pick off
those of our men, who came within range of their deadly aim. Another day
of siege was drawing on, and still there was no explosion. What could it
mean? The fuses had failed;--the dampness having penetrated to the place
where the parts had been spliced together, prevented the powder from
burning. Two men (Lieut. Jacob Douty and Sergeant--afterwards
Lieutenant--Henry Rees,) of the 48th Pennsylvania volunteered to go and
ascertain where the trouble was. At quarter past four o'clock they
bravely entered the mine, re-arranged the fuses and relighted them. In
the meantime, General Meade had arrived at the permanent headquarters of
the 9th Corps. Not being able to see anything that was going forward,
and not hearing any report, he became somewhat impatient. At fifteen
minutes past four o'clock he telegraphed to General Burnside to know
what was the cause of the delay. Gen. Burnside was too busy in remedying
the failure already incurred to reply immediately, and expected, indeed,
that before a dispatch could be sent that the explosion would take
place. General Meade ill-naturedly telegraphed the operator to know
where General Burnside was. At half-past four, the commanding general
became still more impatient, and was on the point of ordering an
immediate assault upon the enemy's works, without reference to the mine.
Five minutes later he _did_ order an assault. General Grant was there
when, at sixteen minutes before five o'clock, the mine exploded. Then
ensued a scene which beggars description.

General Badeau, in describing the spectacle, says:

"The mine exploded with a shock like that of an earthquake,
tearing up the rebels' work above them, and vomiting men,
guns and caissons two hundred feet into the air. The
tremendous mass appeared for a moment to hang suspended in
the heavens like a huge, inverted