Battle of Cold Harbor

(LoC) On June 3, 1864, the second battle of Cold Harbor began. After securing a costly victory at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Union General Ulysses S. Grant encountered Confederate troops as he made his way to Richmond. The Confederates, under command of General Robert E. Lee, were entrenched behind earthworks at Cold Harbor, a crossroads ten miles northeast of the Confederate capital. Over the course of the next nine days, the Union lost 7,000 men while the Confederates suffered 1,500 casualties. Continued

Photo: Cold Harbor, Va. African Americans collecting bones of soldiers killed in the battle, Reekie, John, photographer, April 1865 (Library of Congress).