Cold Harbor Battlefield Park Walking Trail

The grim drama at Cold Harbor cost some 13,000 Federals and nearly 5,0000 Confederates killed, wounded, or captured. Southern morale soared after the battle, while Grant's men were embittered by the lopsided defeat. One Union officer wrote that it was "a murderous engagement" because "we were recklessly ordered to assault the enemy's entrenchments."

The gallantry of the Union soldiers at Cold Harbor is a powerful testament to their commitment. "This is a pretty hard way of living," admitted one Northerner, "but then if it will put down this wicked rebellion I am willing to live this way all summer."

Vacating the Cold Harbor trenches on June 12, 1864, Grant out-flanked Lee by moving to Petersburg, pinning the Confederates to the Petersburg and Richmond defense. Lee had feared such a situation, predicting that "it will be a mere question of time."

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Show me all markers in:  Mechanicsville, VA  |  Hanover County  |  23111  |  Virginia  |  United States of America

The Battle of Gaines' Mill - 1862
Preparation For Battle
Union Reserve Line
The Bloody Eighth
Scars of Conflict
From Farmland to Forest
Federal Artillery Battery
A Well Preserved Union Artillery Position
The Deadly Work of Sharpshooters
The Battle Opens

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