Cold Harbor, VA

[Battle of Cold Harbor by Kurz and Allison, 1888 courtesy of Wikipedia]

Date(s): May 31-June 12, 1864  

Location: Please click on link below for map.

Campaign(s):  Grant’s Overland Campaign [May-June 1864] 

Battles in Campaign:

• Wilderness, VA - May 5-7, 1864 A

• Spotsylvania Court House, VA - May 8-21, 1864 A

• Yellow Tavern, VA - May 11, 1864 C¹

• Wilson's Wharf, VA - May 24, 1864 D¹

• Haw's Shop, VA - May 28, 1864 C¹

• North Anna, VA - May 23-26, 1864 B

• Totopotomoy Creek/ Bethesda Church, VA - May 28-30, 1864 B

• Old Church, VA - May 30, 1864 C¹

• Cold Harbor, VA - June 3-12, 1864

A

• Trevilian Station, VA - June 11-12, 1864 B

• Saint Mary's Church, VA - June 24, 1864 D¹

Situation:

• Grant's Overland campaign had been underway since May 4, 1864.

• Several battles had already occurred (Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House,  North Anna) and after each engagement, Grant maneuvered the Army of the Potomac around Lee's right flank and headed to the southeast.

• As the Union Army crossed the Pamunkey River and Lee attempted to determine Grant's position and intentions, three smaller engagements occurred at Haw's Shop, Totopotomoy Creek, and Old Church.

• From the Old Church engagement, Lee determined that Union cavalry had designs on the Old Cold Harbor crossroads, which led to a road network that would allow easy access to Richmond and Lee's rear areas.

• Lee learned that 16,000 men of Maj. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith's XVIII Corps were heading Grant's way to Old Cold Harbor, 3 miles southeast of Bethesda Church.

• Reinforcements had increased Lee's troops to 59,000 -62,000  to contend with  Grant's 108,000. 

• Grant's reinforcements were often raw recruits and heavy artillery troops, pulled from the defenses of Washington, D.C. that were relatively inexperienced with infantry tactics.

• Most of Lee's had been veterans moved from inactive fronts, and they would soon be entrenched in impressive fortifications.

Commanders:

• Union: Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade

• Confederate: Gen. Robert E. Lee

Principal Forces:

• Union: 108,000

• Confederate: 59,000-62,000

Description:

• On May 31, Sheridan’s cavalry seized the vital crossroads of Old Cold Harbor.

• Early on June 1, relying heavily on their new repeating carbines and shallow entrenchments, Sheridan’s troopers threw back an attack by Confederate infantry.

• Confederate reinforcements arrived from Richmond and from the Totopotomoy Creek lines.

• Late on June 1, the Union VI and XVIII Corps reached Cold Harbor and assaulted the Confederate works with some success.

• By June 2, both armies were on the field, forming on a seven-mile front that extended from Bethesda Church to the Chickahominy River.

• At dawn June 3, the II and XVIII Corps, followed later by the IX Corps, assaulted along the Bethesda Church-Cold Harbor line and were slaughtered at all points.

• Grant commented in his memoirs that this was the only attack he wished he had never ordered.

• The armies confronted each other on these lines until the night of June 12, when Grant again advanced by his left flank, marching to James River.

• On June 14, the II Corps was ferried across the river at Wilcox’s Landing by transports.

• On June 15, the rest of the army began crossing on a 2,200-foot long pontoon bridge at Weyanoke.

• Abandoning the well-defended approaches to Richmond, Grant sought to shift his army quickly south of the river to threaten Petersburg.

Photo Gallery:²

Cold Harbor National Battlefield	Description of Cold Harbor battle and battlefield map	Map of Cold Harbor battlefield walking trail	Marker describing positions of Maj. Read's Confederate artillery
Marker indicating the Confederate main defensive line	Marker indicating the center of the Confederate line of defense		Remains of Union "zig-zag" trench
Remains of Union "zig-zag" trench	Remains of Union "zig-zag" trench	Desription of use of trenches in Civil War	Map of Cold Harbor battlefield showing extensive Union and Confederate trenchworks
We Can Go No Further Point of advance of Maj. Gen Horatio Wright's Union Sixth Corps	Point of advance of Maj. Gen Horatio Wright's Union Sixth Corps	We Have Broken Through Point where Union Sixth Corps troops broke through Confederate line	Stand Guard and Stay Awake Union rifle pit marking line of furthest adavance
Union rifle pit	A Deadly Delay Lack of truce delayed medical care for three days	A Lethal Occupation Advanced Confederate line used by sharpshooters	The Waters Ran Red Creek that was the site of hand-to-hand fighting earning the name Bloody Run
Bloody Run Creek	Bayonets are for Digging Confederate defensive trench	Confederate Defensive Trench	Confederate Defensive Trench
Confederate Defensive Trench	Those People Stand No Chance Marker showing a cross-section of Confederate earthworks	Nowhere to Hide A description of life in the trenches by a Confederate soldier
	The Ultimate Sacrifice Union dead are removed for reburial at Cold Harbor National Cemetery

Classification³: A

Casualties⁴:

• Union: 13,000

• Confederate: 2,500

Results: Confederate Victory

Battlefield Websites:

• Richmond National Battlefield - National Park Service  

• Battle of Cold Harbor  - Wikipedia

• Overland Campaign - Wikipedia

• The 1864 Overland Campaign Tour - CivilWarTraveler.com

• Battle of Cold Harbor - Civil War Times article

Recommended Resources:

¹ National Park Service summary.

² Please click on the image to enlarge it. You may copy the images if you include the following note and link with each image: "Courtesy of civil-war-journeys.org."

³ Classification:

• A - having a decisive influence on a campaign and a direct impact on the course of the war

• B - having a direct and decisive influence on their campaign

• C - having observable influence on the outcome of a campaign

• D - having a limited influence on the outcome of their campaign or operation but achieving or affecting important local objectives

⁴ Casualties are someone killed, injured, wounded, captured or missing.