JUNE 2, 1864:
The Battle of Cold
Harbor (Day Three):
After a forced night march, the Union
Second, Sixth and Eighteenth Corps arrive at Old Cold Harbor after dawn. The
men are so physically exhausted that Grant can make no use of them. He gives
his men most of the day off, scheduling the opening of his planned assault
until 5:00 P.M. As the day passes, more
footsore Union troops straggle into Old Cold Harbor. He delays the attack
again, until 4:30 AM on the 3rd.
While Union troops
arrive and bivouac, Lee puts his arriving
men to work digging entrenchments and building earthworks.
If he had launched an
initial attack, Grant may have just been able to overcome the works as they
stood on June 1st. By June 3rd, the Confederacy has built
itself a fortress.
Union General Don
Carlos Buell, who has been without a Command since the Battle of Perryville in
1862, resigns in disgrace from the Union Army.
