- Henry Pleasants, Union Brigadier General, 48 th Pennsylvania - A THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY, CONTAINING DEFINITIONS OF ALL RELIGIOUS TERMS. Two Volumes In One. Stereotype Edition by Buck, Charles (1771-1815)., Book Description: pp. (3), (1) Blank, (5)-615. Three full page woodcuts, worn with margin loss. Double column. Foxed. Early manuscript ownership of Henry Pleasants on title page. 8vo. 215 mm. Original full leather binding, rubbed. Front board detached. The owner was Henry Clay Pleasants (1833-1880) was a Pottsville, PA coal mining engineer and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War. A very rare example of this officer’s signature. With the outbreak of hostilities, Pleasants became a second lieutenant in the 6th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which enlisted for only three months. He re-enlisted as a captain in the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment in July 1861. The regiment initially saw service in the Western Theater but came to the Eastern Theater and fought in such battles as Antietam, Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg and in the Wilderness. By 1864, Pleasants had risen to lieutenant colonel and commanded the 48th Pennsylvania, which was one of the units outside Petersburg. Many of the 48th were coal miners, and Pleasants supposedly heard his men suggest running a shaft under the Confederate lines. Pleasants went to his superiors, who approved the plan. He battled a lack of supplies as well as a lack of interest on the part of Union generals until other attacks on Petersburg had failed. He was successful in his construction to such an extent that the explosion killed nearly 300 Confederate soldiers. However, the Union troops, under Ambrose Burnside, failed to take advantage of the explosion and suffered considerable casualties in what is known as the Battle of the Crater. The Confederates recovered their original position. Pleasants was appointed to temporary command the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, IX Corps, June 18, 1864, to June 25, 1865. He was mustered out of the volunteers on December 18, 1864. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Pleasants for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866. His brevet appointment citation specifically mentions his service at Petersburg.