June 1, 1864---The Battle of Cold Harbor (Day Two)

JUNE 1, 1864:             

The Battle of Cold Harbor   (Day Two):            

The Confederacy appears to be in deep trouble. For the last month, The Army of Northern Virginia has been forced to give ground steadily as Ulysses S. Grant and The Army of The Potomac have pressed southward in the face of determined resistance. Battle after battle has been fought. Soldiers in blue seem to appear from a well-nigh inexhaustible source. The Confederacy has no such source. In just a single month of intensely concentrated combat, Grant has managed to advance from the Rapidan River to the outskirts of Richmond, a distance of 60 critical miles.

Although most historians hold that most of the many individual battles of Grant’s Overland Campaign were tactically inconclusive, Grant has displayed strategic genius. By simply pressing forward regardless of the intransigence of the enemy, he has forced Robert E. Lee to, time and again, take up blocking positions in an attempt to keep Grant from the gates of Richmond.

As of the morning of June 1, 1864, Lee’s blocking maneuvers have been a failure. Although he has been able to inflict fearsome casualties on the Union Army, this has not deterred Grant from moving forward. As the sun rises, Union troops are in control of the town of Old Cold Harbor, just ten miles from Jefferson Davis’ desk.

Lee’s only advantage is speed, and today he uses it. The Union Army is scattered hither, thither, and yon over a forty mile front twenty five miles deep stretching from the North Anna River to the Chickahominy River. Lee knows it will take time --- a precious day at least --- for the Federals to organize and move in force.

Lee’s smaller army can maneuver faster, and today he puts out the call. His men abandon their positions and race toward greater Richmond.  In the meantime, Lee sends what infantry and cavalry units he already has toward Old Cold Harbor. Lee knows that Union troops are there, and he is determined to retake the crossroads.

Lee orders an attack shortly after dawn, hoping to overwhelm the small Union force at Old Cold Harbor before more Northern troops can arrive. This plan goes awry when the Commander of the assault force, Colonel Lawrence Keitt of South Carolina is killed early in the battle. Keitt’s green 20th South Carolina regiment panics. The inexperienced men in the vanguard beat a frantic retreat. The panic spreads, and the Confederates run off, allowing Sheridan's troops to hold the crossroads. The Union sustains 2,200 casualties, the Confederacy 1,800.

Lee eventually masters his men, and they dig in, just as they have been doing throughout the Campaign. Grant decides that he does not have enough men on hand to overcome an entrenched enemy, and so he decides to wait for the bulk of The Army of The Potomac to arrive before renewing the attack. The delay proves costly. Lee’s forces arrive first.