Cold Harbor | June 3, 1864

At 4:30 a.m., the Second, Sixth, and Eighteenth Corps launch the main attack through the darkness and fog. The soldiers soon become caught in the swamps, ravines, and heavy vegetation, losing contact with each other. Angles in the Confederate works allow Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee’s men to easily enfilade the Federal ranks as they advance. An estimated 7,000 men are killed or wounded within the first 30 minutes of the assault and the massacre continues through the morning. In Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock’s sector, elements of the Second Corps manage to seize a portion of the Rebel works only to be bombarded by Confederate artillery that turns the trenches into a deathtrap. Maj. Gen. William "Baldy" Smith’s corps are funneled into two ravines and subsequently mowed down when they reach the Confederates’ position. Pinned down by the tremendous volume of Confederate fire, the remaining Federals dig trenches of their own, sometimes including bodies of dead comrades as part of their improvised earthworks. At 12:30 p.m., after riding the beleaguered Union lines himself, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant suspends his attack at the advice of the corps commanders.