Battle of Cold Harbor

| Battle of Cold Harbor
2nd Cold Harbor

| Began:|

May 31, 1864

|

| Ended:|

June 12, 1864

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| Location:|

Hanover County, Virginia

|

| Theater:|

Eastern Theater

|

| Campaign:|

Grant’s Overland Campaign

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| Outcome:|

Confederate victory

|

Combatants

Army of the Potomac

Army of Northern Virginia

Commanders

Ulysses S. Grant
Lieutenant General, USA
George G. Meade
Major General, USA

Robert E. Lee
General, CSA

Strength

108,000

| |

62,000

|

Casualties

12,737
Killed: 1,844
Wounded: 9,077
Missing or captured: 1,816

4,595
Killed: 83
Wounded: 3,380
Missing or captured: 1,132

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. (NPS summary)

v • d • e

Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, May-June 1864

Wilderness \-- Todd's Tavern \-- Spotsylvania Court House \-- Yellow Tavern \-- Wilson's Wharf \-- Haw's Shop \-- North Anna \-- Totopotomoy Creek \-- Old Church \-- Cold Harbor \-- Trevilian Station \-- Saint Mary's Church

v • d • e

Battles of the American Civil War: 1864

Eastern Theater|

Morton's Ford \-- Walkerton \-- Plymouth \-- Albemarle Sound \-- The Wilderness \-- Port Walthall Junction \-- Todd's Tavern \-- Cloyd’s Mountain \-- Spotsylvania Court House \-- Swift Creek \-- Chester Station \-- Cove Mountain \-- Yellow Tavern \-- Proctor's Creek \-- New Market \-- Ware Bottom Church \-- North Anna \-- Wilson’s Wharf \-- Haw's Shop \-- Totopotomoy Creek \-- Old Church \-- Cold Harbor \-- Piedmont \-- 1st Petersburg \-- Trevilian Station \-- Jerusalem Plank Road \-- 2nd Petersburg \-- Lynchburg \-- Saint Mary's Church \-- Staunton River Bridge \-- Sappony Church \-- Monocacy \-- Fort Stevens \-- Heaton's Crossroads \-- Cool Spring \-- Rutherford's Farm \-- 2nd Kernstown \-- 1st Ream's Station \-- 1st Deep Bottom \-- The Crater \-- Folck's Mill \-- Moorefield \-- 2nd Deep Bottom \-- Guard Hill \-- Globe Tavern \-- Summit Point \-- Smithfield Crossing \-- 2nd Ream's Station \-- Berryville \-- Beefsteak Raid \-- Opequon \-- Fisher's Hill \-- Chaffin's Farm \-- Peebles' Farm \-- Darbytown and New Market Roads \-- Darbytown Road \-- Tom's Brook \-- Cedar Creek \-- Boydton Plank Road \-- Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road \-- Rainbow Bluff Expedition \-- 1st Fort Fisher \-- Fort Branch

Western Theater|

Dandridge \-- Athens \-- Fair Garden \-- Meridian \-- Okolona \-- 1st Dalton \-- Paducah \-- Fort Pillow \-- Rocky Face Ridge \-- Resaca \-- Adairsville \-- New Hope Church \-- Dallas \-- Pickett's Mill \-- Marietta \-- Brice's Crossroads \-- Cynthiana \-- Kolb's Farm \-- Kennesaw Mountain \-- Pace's Ferry \-- Tupelo \-- Peachtree Creek\-- Atlanta \-- Ezra Church \-- Brown's Mill \-- Utoy Creek \-- 2nd Dalton \-- Lovejoy's Station \-- Mobile Bay \-- Fort Gaines \-- 2nd Memphis \-- Fort Morgan \-- Jonesborough \-- 1st Saltville \-- Allatoona \-- Decatur \-- Johnsonville \-- Bull's Gap \-- Griswoldville \-- Columbia \-- Buck Head Creek \-- Honey Hill \-- Spring Hill \-- 2nd Franklin \-- Waynesboro \-- 3rd Murfreesboro\-- Altamaha Bridge \-- 2nd Fort McAllister \-- Nashville \-- Marion \-- 2nd Saltville

Trans-Mississippi Theater|

Fort De Russy \-- Elkin’s Ferry \-- Mansfield \-- Pleasant Hill \-- Prairie D'Ane \-- Blair's Landing \-- Monett's Ferry \-- Poison Spring \-- Marks' Mills \-- Jenkins' Ferry \-- Calcasieu Pass \-- Mansura \-- Yellow Bayou \-- Old River Lake \-- Killdeer Mountain \-- Fort Davidson \-- Glasgow \-- 2nd Lexington \-- Little Blue River \-- 2nd Independence \-- Byram's Ford \-- Westport \-- Marais des Cygnes \-- Marmiton River \-- Mine Creek \-- 2nd Newtonia

Lower Seaboard Theater|

Olustee \-- Gainesville

Naval|

Hunley vs Housatonic \-- Cherbourg