Description: On May 31, Sheridan’s cavalry
seized the vital crossroads of Old Cold Harbor.
Early on June 1, relying heavily on their new
repeating carbines and shallow entrenchments,
Sheridan’s troopers threw back an attack by
Confederate infantry. Confederate reinforcements
arrived from Richmond and from the Totopotomoy Creek
lines. Late on June 1, the Union VI and XVIII Corps
reached Cold Harbor and assaulted the Confederate
works with some success. By June 2, both armies were
on the field, forming on a seven-mile front that
extended from Bethesda Church to the Chickahominy
River. At dawn June 3, the II and XVIII Corps,
followed later by the IX Corps, assaulted along the
Bethesda Church-Cold Harbor line and were
slaughtered at all points. Grant commented in his
memoirs that this was the only attack he wished he
had never ordered. The armies confronted each other
on these lines until the night of June 12, when
Grant again advanced by his left flank, marching to
James River. On June 14, the II Corps was ferried
across the river at Wilcox’s Landing by transports.
On June 15, the rest of the army began crossing on a
2,200-foot long pontoon bridge at Weyanoke.
Abandoning the well-defended approaches to Richmond,
Grant sought to shift his army quickly south of the
river to threaten Petersburg.
Description: After weeks of preparation, on
July 30 the Federals exploded a mine in Burnside’s
IX Corps sector beneath Pegram’s Salient, blowing a
gap in the Confederate defenses of Petersburg. From
this propitious beginning, everything deteriorated
rapidly for the Union attackers. Unit after unit
charged into and around the crater, where soldiers
milled in confusion. The Confederates quickly
recovered and launched several counterattacks led by
Maj. Gen. William Mahone. The break was sealed off,
and the Federals were repulsed with severe
casualties. Ferrarro’s division of black soldiers
was badly mauled. This may have been Grant’s best
chance to end the Siege of Petersburg. Instead, the
soldiers settled in for another eight months of
trench warfare. Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside was
relieved of command for his role in the debacle.
