The Aftermath of Cold Harbor

The end of the fighting at Cold Harbor is just as confusing as the battle itself. Sharpshooters and artillery were still struggling here and there after the battle. The two opposing sides sat and stared at each other until June 12. Which leads me to a question: If Grant's goal was to hold the crossroads at Old Cold Harbor "at all hazards" and after the battle, Grants STILL had the crossroads....did he really lost this battle?

After the battle on June 3, thousands of Federal wounded lay between the lines. Because of sharpshooting, the Union army was not able to get out to get their wounded. These men lay out there for 9 days.....needing water, food, shade, medical attention, etc. MANY of these men died. Grant had actually asked Lee for a 2 hour truce so that they could retrieve their wounded (3 days later) but they couldn't reach a compromise so that was never attempted.

Finally on June 12, after dark, Grant led his men away. They were able to move to the east and swing around the Confederate lines and eventually cross the James River. But now the Confederates have a problem: Its a race to see who can reach Richmond first. If Richmond falls...so does the Confederacy. Remember, this is the beginning of the end of the war.

According to the National Park Service, the casualties were like this: Union - 13,000 Confederates - 2,500. The numbers greatly change depending on who you read. The Union casualty numbers would be about half that if they had been allowed to retrieve their wounded.

This loss caused an anti-war sentiment to spread throughout the north. People wanted this war OVER. But it also caused the morale of the Union troops to be lowered. And there weren't that many of the Union troops left any more.

One additional note: The Cold Harbor Tavern (Burnett's Tavern) was used as a Union hospital after the battle.

I've enjoyed learning about this battle. I've heard so much about it and yet never really bothered to study it....to understand what happened....to understand the implications of the battle....to see how it fit into the whole scheme of the war. Now that I have studied it, I understand so much more of what happened, how it happened, who was involved, how it effected the outcome of the war, etc. This has been a truly huge eye-opener for me and I look forward to studying more battles and understanding them also!