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The white troops who had hastily been assigned to replace the black soldiers had no training or preparation for what was essentially a siege operation. Even to get out of their own positions ladders had to be improvised by jamming bayoneted rifles into the walls of the trenches. With no specific instructions, and their leaders drunk in a bunker far to the rear, the union troops made their way to the crater blasted into the Confederate position in front of them. They proceeded to mill around the crater in the hot sun waiting for orders, and sightseeing. What transpired was a tragedy and sickened even the Confederate troops who had merely to point their weapons into the mass and fire.