COLD HARBOR, Battle of. One of the most desperate battles of the Civil War, fought 1 and 3 June 1864, at Cold Harbor, Va. By a series of bloody assaults and flank movements, beginning at the Wilderness 5 May 1864, Gen eral Grant had, at the end of the month, forced General Lee back to within a few miles of Richmond, and confronted him on the line of the Totopotomoy. On 31 May his army was along the road from near Hanover Court House to Cold Harbor ; the Sixth corps about six miles southeast of the courthouse; to its left, in the order named, the Second, Ninth and Fifth corps, these near Bethesda Church. The Eigh teenth corps was at White House, on the Pamunkey, where it had just arrived from the Army of the James. Gen. J. H. Wilson's cavalry division was on the right of Grant's line, and Sheridan, with the two cavalry di visions of Torbert and Gregg, on the left. On the 31st Sheridan, after a severe fight, occu pied Cold Harbor, but was so hard pressed by the Confederate cavalry division of Fitzhugh Lee and Clingman's brigade of infantry, and his position so exposed, that he fell back at night; but receiving an order from General Meade that the place must be held at all hazards, he returned, and entrenched during the night. Lee's position was so difficult of access that Grant determined again to extend by his left on Lee's right, and in view of this extension, Cold Harbor was an important point, as there the roads concentrated from Bethesda Church, Old Church, White House, New Bridge and all the bridges across the Chickahominy above and be low New Bridge. Grant extended in that direc tion by transferring from his right. At 11.45 on the night of 31 May, Gen. H. G. Wright's Sixth corps was ordered from its position on the right to march along the rear of the army to Cold Harbor, 15 miles distant, and to be there by daylight on 1 June to support Sheridan, who, it was believed, would be heavily attacked at daybreak; but it was nine o'clock before he arrived, and Sheridan meanwhile had repulsed two determined attacks of Kershaw's division. At 3 P.M. 31 May the Eighteenth corps, Gen. W. F. Smith, was ordered by General Grant to march from White House and form on the right of the Sixth. By a mistake in the order given it, it was late in. the afternoon of 1 June when it reached its position. Opposing the two corps were the Confederate divisions of Gen erals Hoke, Kershaw, Pickett and Field, their main entrenched line about 1,400 yards distant; the interval between mostly open ground. About 300 to 400 yards in advance of the main line was a line of rifle-pits. It was necessary to take this position before General Lee could concentrate on that flank and thus cover this road to Richmond. Between 5 and 6 P.M. Wright and Smith assaulted, and under heavy artillery and musketry fire Smith carried the advanced Confederate works and held them, taking many prisoners. Wright carried the advanced line and, breaking the left of Hoke and right of Kershaw, took parts of the main line, some of which he held, the Confederates falling back to a new line. The loss in the two assaulting corps was about 2,200. On the night of the 1st Sheridan had been ordered to attack on Wright's left, but received the order too late to execute it. On the morning of the 2d he advanced Gregg's division to Sumner's Bridge, on the Chickahominy, attacked a force of infantry, cavalry and artillery, posted near the bridge, carried their advanced position, and held it until Hancock's corps arrived. Han
cock's Second corps moved after dark of the 1st from the extreme right, under Meade's order to march with all speed, join Wright by day break of the 2d, and take position on his left, extending the line if possible to the Chicka hominy. By an error of Hancock's engineer a wrong road was taken, and it was after seven o'clock when his head of column arrived. Then under heavy skirmishing he formed line across the road from Cold Harbor to Dispatch Station. It had been the intention to attack the Con federate line early in the morning. Smith de clared that the idea awas simply'preposterous.° Hancock's men were in an exhausted condition, and the attack was suspended until 5 P.M., and then deferred until 4:30 A.M. 3 June. At this time Grant's line was held on the right by Gen. J. H. Wilson's cavalry from the Pamunkey to Bethesda Church. Warren's Fifth corps, which had not moved, stretched from Bethesda Church about three miles to Beulah Church. Burnside's Ninth corps had been ordered to withdraw from the extreme right and form in Warren's rear to support his right. The Eighteenth corps was on the left of the Fifth, a wide interval between them; the Sixth and Second corps were on the left of the Eighteenth. Lee had observed that Grant was transferring the right of his army, by successive movements, to the left, and not proposing that Grant should take the initiative in attack, took it himself. On the morning of 2 June he ordered Early with three divisions to attack Grant's right flank and drive it down in front of the Confederate line. Early found Burnside in the act of withdrawing from near Sydnor's Mill, to take position in Warren's rear, attacked and captured the skirmish line, which had been left in the works, and fell upon his rear division, by which, with the assistance of the other divisions, Early was checked, but not before he had got in the rear of a part of Warren's skirmish line, from which he took many prisoners. Warren repulsed Rode's di vision, which had attacked his front, and at night both sides entrenched. The Union losses 1 and 2 June were over 5,000 killed and wounded. Meanwhile Lee closed in to the right and formed his lines in front of Grant's left, his right on the Chickahominy, near Alexander's Bridge, his left extending a little west of north in the direction of the Totopotomoy. A. P. Hill's corps was on the right; Longstreet's, com manded by R. H. Anderson, in the centre; and Early's on the left, cavalry covering both flanks of the infantry. The line included the ground on which was fought the battle of Gaines' Mill, June 1862, and covered all the main roads to Richmond, being about six miles from the main exterior fortifications of the city and but half that distance from its most advanced works. Grant's whole line, except the cavalry on the left, was ordered to assault Lee's lines at 4.30 A.M. 3 June. Wilson, reinforced by 2,000 cav alry and 3,000 infantry, was ordered from Han over Court House to Hawes' Shop to attack Early's left and rear. The main work was to be done by the Second, Sixth and Eighteenth corps, supported by the Fifth and Ninth. No recon naissance had been made in front, where the Confederate works were so constructed as to give a cross-fire upon assaulting columns. At the signal the assault was made at 4.30 A.M.