Global InformationBattle of Cold Harbor information
| Battle of Cold Harbor | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
 Union troops of the II Corps repelling a Confederate attack | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States (Union) |
 Confederate States | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Ulysses S. Grant George G. Meade |
 Robert E. Lee | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
|
Army of Northern Virginia | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 108,000–117,000[11] | 59,000–62,000[11] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
12,738 total 1,845 killed 9,077 wounded 1,816 captured/missing[12][13] |
5,287 total 788 killed 3,376 wounded 1,123 captured/missing[13] | ||||||
The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3. It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, and is remembered as one of American history's most unnecessary and lopsided battles. Thousands of Union soldiers were killed or wounded in a hopeless frontal assault against the fortified positions of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army.
On May 31, as Grant's army once again swung around the right flank of Lee's army, Union cavalry seized the crossroads of Old Cold Harbor, about 10 miles northeast of the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, holding it against Confederate attacks until the Union infantry arrived. Both Grant and Lee, whose armies had suffered enormous casualties in the Overland Campaign, received reinforcements. On the evening of June 1, the Union VI Corps and XVIII Corps arrived and assaulted the Confederate works to the west of the crossroads with some success.
On June 2, the remainder of both armies arrived and the Confederates built an elaborate series of fortifications 7 miles long. At dawn on June 3, three Union corps attacked the Confederate works on the southern end of the line and were easily repulsed with heavy casualties. Attempts to assault the northern end of the line and to resume the assaults on the southern were unsuccessful.
Although he was far more optimistic at the time, Grant said of the battle in his Personal Memoirs, "I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made. ... No advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained." In fact, he was thinking about another attack two days later. The armies confronted each other on these lines until the night of June 12, when Grant again advanced by his left flank, marching to the James River. In the final stage, Lee entrenched his army within besieged Petersburg before finally retreating westward across Virginia.
- ^ Battle of Cold Harbor Facts & Summary American Battlefield Trust
- ^ Furgurson 2000, p. 525.
- ^ Rhea 2002, p. 357.
- ^ Cold Harbor National Park Service
- ^ Bruce Catton, Never Call Retreat (Doubleday, New York, 1965) pp. 363–364
- ^ Shelby Foote The Civil War: Yellow Tavern to Cold Harbor (Time Life Edition, 2000) pp. 87–110
- ^ "Robert e. Lee's Last Great Victory: Clash at Cold Harbor". December 14, 2016.
- ^ "Battle of Cold Harbor | Summary".
- ^ Further information:
Organization of Army of the Potomac, May 31, 1864: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXXVI, Part 1, pp. 198–209. - ^ Temporarily attached to the Army of the Potomac from the Army of the James. See: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXXVI, Part 1, page 178 (note at the bottom of the page).
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
strengthwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Return of Casualties in the Union forces, Battle of Cold Harbor, June 2–15, 1864 (Recapitulation): Official Records, Series I, Volume XXXVI, Part 1, p. 180.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
casualtieswas invoked but never defined (see the help page).