BATTLE OF THE CRATER. BY W. A. DAY, SHERRILL'S FORD, N. C.
355  Confederate Veteran, August 1903
Capt. Wright's masked battery of six guns stood on the hill above the ravine on the left, just in the rear of the main line, with an enfilading fire on the enemy's works. When our orders came we moved rapidly along the works, which made a bend just above the ravine in front of Capt. Wright's battery, and soon came in full view of the crater over on the other hill. The place where the battery stood was now a hole in the ground, one hundred feet long, sixty feet wide, and thirty feet deep, with the smoke rising in great clouds out of it. By that time it was light enough to see a considerable distance, and our men could be seen running rapidly to the rear, and the whole field in front full of Yankees and Negroes charging up to the crater. The great burly Negroes in their ill fitting uniforms, half drunk it was said, were shouting at the top of their voices, "No quarter to the Rebels! No quarter to the Rebels!" and butchering every man they found alive in the works. The soldiers who fought in that battle will never forget it. That dreadful shout, "No quarter!" from the Negro troops rang in our ears for days afterwards. We plainly saw the position we were in. To be captured by the Negro troops meant death not only to ourselves but, it appeared, to the helpless women and children in Petersburg.
"NO QUARTER" & BLACK UNION PRISONERS
"Ok, lemme guess, the Petersburg National Battlefield Park Staff probably forgot to mention the little thing about "NO QUARTER TO THE REBS!?" God forbid we give anyone any other facts and perspective on what happened other than the politically correct / approved one! " -- A New York Contributor 
1 August 1864
Senator Wm. Mahone
from the
Colored Citizens
of Virginia
Jan 30
1882