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Cold Harbor: The Early Actions
On May, 31, 1864, while the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia fought along Totopotomoy Creek, four miles to the north, Federal and Confederate cavalry gravitated toward the Old Cold Harbor crossroads. Following their victory along Matadequin Creek the previous day, the Federal troopers of Gen. Alfred T. A. Torbert's division pushed toward the important intersection from the east. Finding Old Cold Harbor defended by Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division, plus elements of Gen. Thomas Clingman's infantry brigade, Torbert's men attacked and captured the intersection. With the crossroads in Federal hands, and reinforcements for both sides on the way, the fighting at Cold Harbor had just begun.
This section of the battlefield saw significant fighting on May 31, 1864, and for several days afterward. Confederate and Federal attacks took place over this ground on June 1, as both sides fought to gain advantage at Cold Harbor. On June 3, Federal soldiers of the 18th Corps pushed off from here in Gen. Grant's effort to break the Confederate line. Behind you is modern Beulah Church, rebuilt to replace the wartime structure that burned during the battle.
Hand-to-hand fighting at Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864, was just one of many very compelling moments in the famous battle. |