June 3 - 12, 1864

A costly mistake by Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties in a 20 minute offensive against fortified Rebels in Cold Harbor, Virginia. On May 8th, Grant sent Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and his 5th Corps to take Spotsylvania. Anticipating Grant's move, Lee sent forces to intercept him. At dawn, on June 3rd, the 2nd and 8th Corps, followed later by the 9th Corps, assaulted along the Bethesda Church-Cold Harbor lines and were slaughtered at all points. Grant would later comment in his memoirs that this was the only attack he wished he'd never ordered. The armies confronted each other on the lines until the night of June 12th, when Grant again advanced by his left flank, marching to the James River. On June 14th, the 2nd Corps was ferried across the river at Wilcox's Landing by transports. The rest of the army began crossing on a 2,200 foot pontoon bridge June 15th. Abandoning the approaches to Richmond, Grant sought to shift his army quickly south to threaten Petersburg.