Also relevant is the Battle of the Crater during the civil war, in which Union forces dug a giant hole underneath the Confederates defenses and packed it with gunpowder. The resulting explosion was so impressive that none of the soldiers were able to capitalize on the sudden opportunity.<p>General Burnside had trained <i>special black troops</i> to head this assault because of just how complicated this mission was compared to anything else in contemporary existence. They were pulled at the last minute by General Meade for a combination of PR reasons (can&#x27;t have black people winning the war), personal glory reasons, and skepticism.<p>The entire thing is a very sad story.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Battle_of_the_Crater" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Battle_of_the_Crater</a>