Key Facts
- Dates
- May 31 – June 12, 1864
- Most intense fighting
- June 3, 1864
- Confederate line length
- 7 miles of fortifications
- Distance from Richmond
- ~10 miles northeast
- Campaign context
- One of the final battles of Grant's Overland Campaign
Strategic Narrative Overview
Union cavalry seized Old Cold Harbor on May 31 and held it until infantry reinforced them. On June 1, the VI and XVIII Corps attacked Confederate works with partial success. By June 2, both armies were fully in position and Confederate troops had constructed seven miles of extensive earthworks. At dawn on June 3, three Union corps launched a massive frontal assault on the southern Confederate line. The attack was swiftly repelled with severe Union casualties. Follow-on assaults at both ends of the line also failed.
01 / The Origins
By late May 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign had repeatedly attempted to outflank Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and seize Richmond, Virginia. Both armies had sustained enormous losses through battles at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and North Anna. Grant again swung his forces around Lee's right flank, prompting both sides to race for the strategically significant crossroads at Old Cold Harbor, roughly ten miles northeast of the Confederate capital.
03 / The Outcome
After the failed assaults, both armies settled into static positions along the Cold Harbor lines for nearly ten days. Unable to break the Confederate defenses and unwilling to sustain further frontal attacks, Grant disengaged on the night of June 12, shifting the Army of the Potomac south across the James River toward Petersburg. The battle's heavy Union losses, particularly on June 3, deepened criticism of Grant and foreshadowed the siege warfare that would characterize the final phase of the war.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Ulysses S. Grant, George G. Meade.
Side B
1 belligerent
Robert E. Lee.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.