The Crater became one of Burnside's two remembered disastrous defeats; inquiries later examined Ledlie's conduct and the changed plan of attack.

The Battle of the Crater was one of the two disastrous defeats for which Ambrose Burnside is mainly remembered, alongside Fredericksburg in December 1862. Ledlie was criticized by a court of inquiry that September and effectively dismissed from the Army in December, formally resigning on January 23, 1865. In early 1865 the Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War exonerated Burnside and condemned Meade for changing the plan of attack, which did little good for Burnside, whose reputation had been ruined.

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