The Battle of the Crater by Newt Gingrich

August 1864: A court of inquiry convenes at the Union Army headquarters to investigate the Battle of the Crater, one of the worst disasters endured by a disaster-prone army. The eyes of the world are on it, and much is at stake: the military news of that spring had been full of unrelenting frustration and outright catastrophe. Lincoln is losing the election, and with it, the war. Fearing the worst, the President calls on his old friend, reporter James O'Reilly, to cover the resulting court of inquiry and file a confidential report on what really happened. The battle could have turned the tide in favour of the North and changed everything. Fort Pegram, the closest point between the Union and Confederate lines surrounding Petersburg, was the most vulnerable point on the Confederate line. General Ambrose Burnside's plan of attack was brilliant: dig a tunnel forward from the Union position underneath the fort, pack it with powder, and explode it. Burnside intended to give the brand-new African American division of his army the honour of leading the assault that would end the war.
Instead of a glorious victory, the Battle of the Crater became a miserable failure - a debacle which led to the deaths of thousands of Union troops.