The Battle of Cold Harbor

1. The Battle of Cold Harbor By: Zach Lewis 5th Period Mr. Oswald http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Cold_Harbor.png

2. The Facts http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va062.htm The Battle of Cold Harbor took place in Hanover County, Virginia. Just south of the Potomac River and north of Richmond. It was a part of Grant’s Overlord Campaign. The battle was a victory for the South and a huge loss to the Union army. Out of the 15,000 est. troops that died or were injured, 13,000 were Union soldiers and only 2,500 were Confederates. Leading Generals for the North were Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant and Maj. Gen. George Meade. The South was led by Gen. Robert Lee. The fighting lasted for twelve days, starting on the 31st of May and ending the 12th of June, 1864.

3. What Basically “Went Down” After seizing Old Cold Harbor and fending off the south’s counter-attack , the Union forces desperately and relentlessly attacked the South’s fortified position hoping to over run them with the sheer force of numbers. Grant repeated attacked Lee’s right flank with no success as much as the first attempt. In the end he eventually shifted his army, away from Richmond’s fortifications, south of the river to threaten Petersburg. http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va062.htm

4. It’s Significance Grant was criticized severely in the North for his rash fighting style and loss of men with no results. It also added to the anti-war sentiment for civilians in the North. Lee’s victory gave Confederate troops a large morale boost for beating the Union’s most skilled general. http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwarintheeast/p/coldharbor.htm On the left is General Ulysses S. Grant, and on the right is General Robert E. Lee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ulysses_Grant_1870-1880.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Edward_Lee.jpg