University of Virginia Library

BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR.

While Butler's co-operative move was thus being foiled, Grant,
with Meade's Army of the Potomac, was slowly urging his sanguinary
way from the northward to the vicinity of Richmond.
Lee had constantly interposed his veterans across his path, and
as constantly, after ineffectual and murderous assaults, Grant had
essayed a turning movement by his left, to be again confronted
by Lee, to again assault, and again be compelled to gain his
further step towards Richmond by a further turning movement
to his left. Nor did Lee oppose only a passive resistance. While
standing generally upon the defensive in chosen positions, which

* See Map of Part of Virginia, p. 75.

his possession of the interior line enabled him to take, he seized
every opportunity the eye of consummate genius could detect to
assume a quick and sharp offensive. The spade and the mattock
were brought more largely into requisition on both sides than in
any war since the days of ancient Rome. "The campaign," says
Swinton, "indeed resembled less an ordinary campaign than a
kind of running siege. From the Rapidan to the Chickahominy,
the face of the country was covered with the entrenched lines,
within which the armies of the Potomac and of Northern Virginia
had waged a succession of deadly conflicts."

Under cover of these entrenchments, after each unsuccessful
direct attack, Grant's edgewise movements were generally effected
by withdrawing the troops on his right and moving them in rear
of his line to prolong his left. Lee met this with a corresponding
change, and thus both armies progressed much as the wild pigeons
feed and fly.

They were now approaching Richmond, and upon the banks of
the Chickahominy, already rendered historical as the scene of
McClellan's defeat in '62, was the safety of the Confederate capital
again to be submitted to the issue of battle.

On the night of the 30th-31st May, Beauregard detached
Hoke's division from the lines at Bermuda Hundreds to re-enforce
Lee for the impending conflict. Its march was directed upon
Cold Harbor, a strategic point beyond the Chickahominy towards
which both armies were edging their way, and, upon its arrival,
found itself in position upon the right of the Confederate forces.

Hagood's brigade moved last, leaving the trenches at 6 a. m.,
on the 31st, and marching to Chester Station on the Petersburg
and Richmond Railroad, whence it was conveyed by rail to the
capital, arriving at midday. Moving directly through the city
and out on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, it followed the march
of the division. The day was excessively hot, the pike entirely
without shade, and the men suffering for water. General Hagood
therefore halted at a farm house with a fine grove, where water
was to be obtained, about two miles from the city, and rested his
men for two hours. Here the horses of the line officers and the
brigade train, which had come by highway from Chester Station,
overtook us. The march was resumed, the road was now filled
with wagons, artillery, and troops, and the dust and heat were

intolerable. The men suffered greatly and straggling was unavoidable.
Crossing the Chickahominy, we reached Mechanicsville
a little before dark and took the road to the right leading to
Cold Harbor. Getting beyond Gaines's Mill, we were halted
at 1 a. m. by an order from General Hoke. The rest of the
division was in position in front, and we were directed to rest
where we were, till 3 a. m., when we also were to move forward
into line. There were two taverns called respectively Old and New
Cold Harbor. They were upon the same road, about a mile apart,
and New Cold Harbor was nearest us. A severe cavalry combat
had been in progress during the greater part of the day of the
31st for the possession of Old Cold Harbor. It had resulted in
the partial possession by the enemy of the coveted position, when
the arrival of Hoke's leading brigades had relieved our cavalry.
In this action, the Charleston Dragoons, a company which had
been old comrades of the brigade on the coast of South Carolina,
had fought with desperate valor and been almost annihilated. In
falling back before heavy odds, James W. O'Hear, one of its
lieutenants, had stopped to aid a wounded comrade who had
appealed to him not to leave him, and, refusing to surrender, was
slain fighting over his friend. Hoke's advance brigades were
in position between New and Old Cold Harbor, his right resting
upon and covering the road between them and his left extending
to the northwest towards and menacing the road from Bethesda
Church to Old Cold Harbor, which comes from the northward
nearly at right angles to the road upon which Hoke's right rested.
At daylight on the 1st, Hagood's brigade was moved forward
across a tributary of Gaines's Mill stream and posted in reserve
behind Hoke's left, but facing to the northward. Grant's
infantry advance was moving down from the direction of
Bethesda Church upon Old Cold Harbor, and consisted of the
Sixth corps. Longstreet's Corps, moving on a parallel line, led
Lee's column and contemplated attacking the Sixth corps upon
its march between these points. Kershaw's division was to lead
the attack, and when Kershaw sent Hoke word that he had
reached a certain point (Beulah Church) on the road, Hoke was
to advance Hagood's brigade, posted as before described, to
co-operate in the attack. Such was General Hagood's understanding
of the situation as conveyed to him by his division commander.

During the morning, firing from Kershaw was heard
on Hagood's left front, and afterwards a courier to General Hoke
announced that the attack was foregone. In Kershaw's advance,
Colonel Keitt, commanding the leading brigade, was killed, and
the brigade thrown into confusion. This, with perhaps other
reasons, to the writer unknown, stopped the attack.

Colonel Keitt had been a member of the United States Congress
from his native State, and continued for some time to represent
her in the Confederate Congress. In the second year of the war,
he had been elected to the colonelcy of a newly raised South
Carolina regiment, and until within the last month, his service
had been around Charleston. He was a gentleman of honor and
fine intellect, but his previous training and the bent of his mind
qualified him for the political arena rather than a soldier's career.

Hoke now directed General Hagood to advance a company as
skirmishers and feel for the enemy. He was developed to
Hagood's right front, and moving down the general front of the
division toward Old Cold Harbor. Shortly after, the head of
Longstreet's column reached Hoke and went into position on his
left. Skirmishing and artillery fire commenced and continued
with more or less vigor.

The enemy now began to extend around Hoke's right beyond
Old Cold Harbor, and about 4 p. m., Hagood's and Martin's
brigades were hurriedly moved in that direction, the first mentioned
brigade leading. Marching in column of fours in rear of
our line by way of New Cold Harbor, after these brigades had
passed beyond the point held by our right, they were on the field
on which the battle of Gaines's Mill had been fought in McClellan's
campaign. In several places, human bones were visible
where they had been imperfectly buried and since uncovered by
the action of the weather. The cavalry, which were guarding
this flank, were driven in, as we arrived on the field. Halting
and facing to the left, the column was in line of battle, but in
echellon with the general line. Skirmishers were ordered forward,[21]
and advancing handsomely drove back the enemy's pursuing
skirmishers. The line of battle followed under a sharp fire
of shells, and, prolonging the general line, proceeded rapidly to
entrench. The point now held by these two brigades was the

tactical key of Lee's position. The field was a high plateau, with
Watt's Hill behind it, and commanded most of the line now being
taken up by the Confederates for the impending battle. In front,
the ground fell off abruptly into a lower plateau, and on its right
and right-rear were the low grounds of the Chickahominy and
one of its tributaries. Had the position been seized by the enemy
at this time, it is probable that Lee would have been forced across
the Chickahominy and into the lines of Richmond without a
general engagement. It was a race for it, won by a few minutes.
The enemy's skirmishers, pursuing the small cavalry force, were
already upon the field and in full view a dense mass in column
was seen following in support from Old Cold Harbor. Deceived
possibly by the vigor of our skirmish advance, and conceiving
perhaps that this was a movement to turn the left of Grant's
general line, the enemy halted and commenced to entrench along
his front, and at right angles to us, keeping up meanwhile a rapid
fire of artillery. Prisoners stated that this was a part of the
Sixth corps, General Wright commanding, and that they were
about to attack.

With the enemy in view, and under shell fire, it needed no
urging to induce the men to cover themselves when the order to
entrench the line we had taken was given. A windrow of rails
from the adjacent fences was laid; such spades and mattocks as
they had were wielded by willing hands; and bayonets, tin cups,
plates, and even the unaided hands lent assistance in digging a
trench inside the rails and raising a parapet upon them. The
rapidity with which this was done was laughable, and would have
been incredible to any one who had not seen soldiers who knew
the value of earthworks, however slight, work under similar circumstances.
At McGee's house, our line bent back towards the
Chickahominy, and was prolonged by brigades subsequently
arriving.

The enemy did not attack here this afternoon, but shortly after
Hoke's two brigades had been sent to the right, the right of the
Sixth corps, and Smith's corps from Butler's army, which had
arrived by way of the White House, violently assailed the right
of Longstreet's corps and the left of Hoke's division at the point
from which Hagood had been withdrawn. Here Wofford's brigade,
of Longstreet's corps, and Clingman's brigade, of Hoke's

division, gave way, but the enemy were finally repulsed with a
loss, by his own account, of two thousand men. He had gained,
however, some advantage of position and claimed by the action
to have secured the possession of Old Cold Harbor.[22]

In consequence of this affair, at 1 a. m., on the 2nd of June,
Hagood received orders to return to his position of the day before.
Martin remained where he was, and became Hoke's right; Colquitt
was the center, and Hagood again became the left of the
division, Clingman going into reserve to reorganize his command.

On the 2nd, Hagood, in conjunction with Hunton's brigade of
Longstreet's corps, succeeded in partially re-establishing our line
where the break had occurred. We were now, however, on the
hither side of the tributary of Gaines's Mill Creek, beyond which
our line had extended on the 1st before bending back in its continuation
by Longstreet, and consequently our line was retired
some 200 yards from its position of the day before. It was still,
however, at this point, a salient of which the face held by Hagood
was enfiladed both by artillery and infantry fire from the Sixth
corps, and the fighting to secure the position was necessarily done
with skirmishers, so close to the main line that the casualties were
more frequent in the last than the first.

From Cold Harbor, northwestardly, the enemy's right extended
to and beyond Beulah Church, and the Confederate lines confronted
them somewhat confused on the extreme left. It will be
perceived that this narrative confines itself chiefly to the vicinity
of Cold Harbor, with the localities and movements near which
the writer was most familiar. Old Cold Harbor was Grant's
headquarters during these operations, and Lee's were in rear of
New Cold Harbor.

On the evening of the 2nd, Lee assailed a corps of the enemy in
motion on his extreme left, and inflicted considerable loss upon it.
The night of the 2nd was wet and disagreeable, and the fire of
the skirmishers was kept up without intermission on Hagood's
front.

The next morning at half-past four (a. m.), Grant executed
along the whole Confederate front of six miles a general and

simultaneous assault. The historian of his army says: "It took
hardly ten minutes of the figment men call time to decide this
battle. There was along the whole line a rush—the spectacle of
impregnable works—a bloody loss, then a sullen falling back,
and the action was decided. . . . But rapidly as the result was
reached, it was decisive. . . . Some hours after the failure of
the assault, General Meade sent orders to each corps commander
to renew the assault without reference to the troops on his right
or left. The order was issued through these officers to their subordinate
commanders, and from them descended through the
wonted channels; but no man stirred, and the immobile lines
pronounced a verdict silent but emphatic against further
slaughter. The loss on the Union side in this sanguinary action
was over 13,000, while on the part of the Confederates it is
doubtful whether it reached as many hundreds."[23]

This was the battle of Cold Harbor, and it may sound incredible,
but it is nevertheless strictly true, that the writer of these
Memoirs, situated near the center of the line along which this
murderous repulse was given, and awake and vigilant of the
progress of events, was not aware at the time of any serious
assault having been given. As before mentioned, the firing of
skirmishers in front of Hunton and Hagood had not intermitted
during the night; there was no line of battle assault upon their
immediate front, simply an increased pressure of skirmishers,
and the roar of musketry on his right and left was so quickly
over, and apparently so little commensurate with such slaughter,
that it is difficult even now for him to realize that it was all done
in so short a time. The explanation lies in the characteristics of
a direct assault upon earthworks, defended by men who have
confidence in themselves, the silent rush of the assailing party,
and the rapid but deliberate and deadly fire from the assailed.

There was heavy and general firing from artillery, sharpshooters
and skirmishers along both army lines during the day of the 3rd
of June. In Hagood's immediate front, the enemy's skirmishers
had got into the swamp of the little stream along which his line
was drawn, and were not fifty yards from his line of battle. They
held their position pertinaciously, and the attempt to drive them
out with volleys from the line or a direct advance of skirmishers

failed. Colonel Gantt, occupying the left of the brigade, was,
therefore, ordered to push a body of men across the swamp at the
ford which he covered, and facing them to the right drive up the
swamp, in front of the brigade, and clear it of the enemy. He
sent fifty men from companies B and K of his regiment under
Captain Westcoat, assisted by Lieutenants Bowman, Mims and
Cassidy. After a stubborn fight, they advanced the length of the
brigade, aided by sharpshooters from the lines, and cleared the
swamp of skirmishers, losing thirteen of their own number, killed
and wounded, among whom was Captain Westcoat, severely
wounded in the leg. This enabled General Hagood to get his
skirmishers beyond the swamp, and relieved him to that extent;
but his position was so thoroughly enfiladed by the position of
Wright's corps (the Sixth) that at 4 a. m., on the 4th, he was
directed by General Hoke to pivot on his left and swing back his
right until it connected with Colquitt near the road between New
and Old Cold Harbor. Hunton, who had intervened between
Hagood and Colquitt, was returned to his own corps, and
Hagood connecting with Gregg's (Texas) brigade, of Longstreet's
corps, at the stream so often mentioned, extended in a
straight line some fifty yards beyond the road referred to. The
salient in our line was now transferred to the point of junction of
Hagood and Colquitt, but it was more obtuse and not enfiladed
by any position of the enemy. The brigade was soon entrenched
in its new position, indeed a trench had been partially prepared
by fatigue parties before the line was moved.

The assault of the morning of the 3rd, having failed, at 4:30
that afternoon, Grant is said to have ordered each corps commander
to entrench his position. On the 4th, he directed siege
operations begun. Two subsequent assaults, however, were made
on the point of junction of Colquitt and Hagood, and repelled
principally by the fire of Colquitt's brigade with deadly effect.
It is more likely that these assaults were made with a view to
obtaining nearer position from which to start the approaches
than with the lingering hope of breaking through our lines at
this point. Here was one of the points at which siege operations
were inaugurated.

Sore at his repulse, and loath to acknowledge it, Grant
refrained until the 6th from asking for a flag of truce to bury

his dead, and the incessant fire of his sharpshooters prevented us,
as often as it was attempted, from bringing off his wounded from
in front of our lines. Scattered more or less thick along their
whole extent, where the assault was made vigorously, they almost
paved the ground. There for three long days the dead, unburied,
festered in the rays of the hot summer sun, until the stench was
offensive for six hundred yards in the rear, and among them lay
the wounded, suffering the tortures of wounds and heat and thirst,
their moans growing fainter as the days went by.

It was over such a scene as this that the troops marched to
the secondary assaults, already referred to, of the point on the
road between the two Cold Harbors held by Hoke's division, and
contributed their bloody quota to the mass of butchered humanity
upon which they trod in their charge. When at length the flag
was asked and granted, the burial parties were in most instances
unable to handle the dead, corruption had extended so far, and
contented themselves with covering as it lay each body with a
slight mound of earth.

From the Rapidan to the close of the battle of Cold Harbor,
Grant had lost sixty thousand men, seven thousand more than
Lee had had during the campaign, and one thousand to every
mile of his progress to Richmond. Whatever gloss success has
since thrown over his style of making war, it was not, therefore,
without some color of provocation that his soldiers about this time
bestowed upon him the epithet of "the butcher." His severe losses
and small success had a powerful effect on the Northern mind,
and it is asserted by Federal historians that at this time the
war was near a collapse, from which successes elsewhere alone
saved it. Of Grant's tactical management of the battle of Cold
Harbor, it has been said that "to criticise it as a military operation
is like discussing a loaf of bread as a work of art."[24] It certainly
can lay no claim to be classed among the efforts of genius.
On this field closed the overland campaign. Each successive flank
movement after his various battles had brought him nearer to
Richmond; to continue them now would take him away from his
goal. He had nothing left but operations against the body of
the plan, either by assault, or the slower operations of siege.

The casualties of Hagood's brigade during all the time at Cold
Harbor were sixteen killed, one hundred and three wounded, and
nine missing, making an aggregate of one hundred and twenty
(120). Among these were many valuable officers and men.

Buist's company of the Twenty-seventh regiment, and Mickler's
company of the Eleventh regiment, together with many individuals
from other regiments, all of whom had been left behind in
South Carolina, rejoined the brigade on the 4th. Among them
was Colonel Simonton, of the Twenty-fifth. While he was talking
with Major Glover in the trench, in the act of taking command,
Glover was shot in the hand by a sharpshooter. The
wound was painful and disabling but apparently not more
serious. Glover was sent to the hospital, and lingering unaccountably,
some days afterward the surgeon asked him if there
was nothing else the matter with him, that he could see nothing
in the wound in his hand to account for his prostration. Glover
complained of his leg, and on examination, a wound was there
discovered which had gangrened. It seemed that in receiving an
order at Bermuda Hundreds, carried him by Lieutenant Martin
(A. D. C.), Martin's horse, a vicious brute captured at Drury's
Bluff, had kicked the major upon the leg. Receiving little attention,
this wound had been fretted by his boot leg until in the
general exhaustion of his system by the hard service since, it had
become what it was, and the life of one of the most gallant and
efficient officers of the brigade paid the penalty.

John Glover was a medium-sized, spare man, of neat figure
and of reserved manner. In civil life he had made but little mark
and was regarded as habitually indolent. He had a fondness,
however, for military studies, and had carried a company to the
bombardment of Fort Sumter in 1861. In his subsequent career,
with all of which the writer was familiar, he demonstrated that
he was a born soldier. Alert, vigilant and efficient in the field,
he secured alike the confidence and affection of his men, and the
approbation of his superiors.