The Battle of the Crater - How Mining Engineers Nearly Ended the Civil War
- Kayla Kabina
- Apr 16
- 1 min read
On September 11, 2024, PMP enjoyed a wonderful late morning presentation Dave Williams. Dave is a lifelong mining engineer, have worked in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania both on the industry side and regulatory side. Dave was the Mining Engineer Supervisor for DEP Deep Mine Safety for 16 years, and is also a board member of the Anthracite Chapter of the Society of Mining Engineers.
Dave gave a presentation on the daring operation undertaken 48th PA Regiment which was comprised of anthracite coal miners from Eastern Pennsylvania. The 48th's plan to develop a tunnel to blow up Confederate fortifications at Petersburg, Virginia that would have ended the Civil War. The discussion concentrates on the mining engineering skills and survey work that were used to develop a tunnel over 510 feet long. The project began without the support of higher command. The anthracite coal miners very cleverly learned how to use their resources to develop this tunnel when they were told that it would never work.
See the flyer attached for more information, as well as PMP's recommendation for a posthumous medal of honor for Sgt. Harry Reese of Shamokin, PA.
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