Cease Fire at Cold Harbor.

I think we are all intrigued by the unusual and out of place when it comes to history, especially regarding military battles.   Amid the most horrific of circumstances, certain things stand out, not for their brutality, but for their humanity.  The History Junkie loves irony.

General Ulysses S. Grant’s advance on Richmond came to be known as the Overland Campaign.  In the early summer of 1864, his Army of the Potomac squared off yet again with General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, this time near Cold Harbor.  The battle would rage a full two weeks, and prove one of the bloodiest of the Civil War.

In the early morning hours of June 3, 1864, union forces, some 50,000 men strong, attempted a frontal assault on Lee’s well-entrenched defenses.  The result was nothing less than murder.  Grant’s losses proved staggering, some 12,000 casualties.

As thousands of dead and wounded littered the battlefield, opposing commanders agreed to pause from pushing flesh to help those  caught between the lines. Union soldier, Charles Fall, who had fought through the slaughter with the 26th Michigan in Hancock’s II Corps, served as an eyewitness to this mutual, albeit ironic show of respect for human life amid the most brutal of battles–the cease fire at Cold Harbor.  He captured the event in a June 1864 letter home.

Charles Fall - 26th Michigan Infantry

“Still the battle rages, but since five o’clock last night there has been quite a lull in ‘the music.’  The cause, viz: Just before five o’clock the order was passed along the line to ‘cease firing.’ And in a few minutes more, there could be seen coming from the enemy’s lines two officers bearing a flag of truce. And at the same time, three started from our side, also bearing a white flag.

“They met near the centre of the lines, and could be seen to shake hands with one & the other. And after a few moments conversation, it seems they agreed to cease hostilities for two hours, to carry off the dead & wounded between the lines that had fallen there.

“And then could be seen one of the greatest sights of this war, each side on the field between the lines of works, busy burying the dead and carrying off the wounded ones of stretchers; Our men and theirs mingling together in the work. The loss on both sides must been about equal, as both sides have charged on one another and both repulsed, leaving the dead and wounded on the field.

“After the work was done, the pickets had agreed not to fire at one another, and the consequence was that we had a good night’s rest. And this morning there has been but little firing done, and the Rebs as well as our men can be seen standing around the works in bold relief. We have the enemy ‘holed,’ as the saying [goes], that Gen Grant has begun to dig them out. The process is slow but shure.”

Leave a Reply

Search this Site

Purchase the Books

Blog

Privacy Policy