I had established in a previous post that the dictator was first moved to position in front of Petersburg on July 8th, 1864, and was used against the Chesterfield battery. On August 25th, 1864, the construction corps was tasked with building a platform for it. So what happened between July 8th and August 25th.

On July 12th, the platform car that the Dictator was mounted on broke after only 5 shots. Note that a time bomb blew up an ammunition barge at City Point on the 9th which caused a tremendous amount of damage. The lack of ammo or transportation may account for some of the delay between moving the Dictator up to the front on the 8th and only five shots having been fired by July 12th.

The report of the fate of Lieut. Hall shows just how hazardous duty at the front was. I’m thinking that is an image of the Dictator on that flat car.

The platform car must have been repaired as the Battle of the Crater was fought on July 30th, 1864 and the Dictator was used to attempt to suppress the Chesterfield battery during that battle. This is part of the report of that battle by Col. Abbot of the 1st Connecticut Artillery.

I wonder how accurate that report from the deserter was. On July 31st, the day after the Battle of the Crater, the 13″ mortar was ordered back to City Point. Why it was ordered back is not known.

Finally, as was shown in the previous blog post, a dedicated platform was ordered to be built on August 25th. This must be an image of the Dictator relocated to the new platform.

Here is another view of the Dictator on the platform, along with some officers.

Most of the officers on the platform are identified in the caption of the same image that is included in the book, “The photographic History of the Civil War.”

With the binoculars, is Brigader General H.L. Hunt, chief of artillery for the Army of Potomac. To his right is Colonel H.L. Abbott, commander of the 1st Connecticut, which operated all the Union siege artillery during the siege of Petersburg, including the Dictator.

In the rear row, from left to right is, Captain F.A. Pratt, Captain E.C. Dow (just behind Colonel Abbott), an unidentified captain, Major T.S. Trumbull (just behind and to General Hunt’s left) and unidentified person who appears to be a civilian.

Major Trumbull commanded all of the siege artillery in front of Petersburg until September 1st, when poor health forced him to relinquish command. Soon after that, he passed away. I think he has a gaunt look about him in this image, so perhaps he was already failing when this image was taken. Captain Pratt commanded company M of the 1st Connecticut and Captain Dow commanded company F. These companies manned several positions along the siege lines at this time.

I am investigating the identity of the unidentified captain, who perhaps could be Captain W.F. Osborne, commander of company G and the Dictator. Captains Dow, Osborne and Pratt were discharged in October or November, 1864, all having served since May, 1861.

Sometime in late summer or early fall, the Dictator was moved back to City Point and I don’t believe that it was used again.