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There were a lot. When the mine exploded, Union Soldiers went forward and ran straight into the crater, thinking it would be good defensive ground. The soldiers who were going to go forward had been African Americans and they had trained to go around, but right when the battle was about to start, the African Americans were pulled out of line because Union commanders did not want too many Blacks to die and the home-front to think they were being wasted. So they put white troops forward, who had been training, they ran into the crater and it was too steep to run out of. The Confederates line the rim of the crater and had a great round of target practice.

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17y ago

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