The battlefield of Cold Harbor. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
About a year ago, in the midst of the Sesquicentennial of the Overland Campaign, I posted a piece on Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the memory of Cold Harbor. Grant has come under severe criticism for ordering the assault at Cold Harbor which took place on June 3, and I wanted to give some perspective to the event. The post may be found by clicking here.
What a great idea to call this the ECW Archives! I look forward to more reprints, as so many times things seem to get lost in the Civil War shuffle. I am thinking “War Chicken . . .”
A variety of circumstances, and decisions made by political leaders, created the situation at Cold Harbor. Placing all the blame on one man shows a complete misunderstanding of why wars happen. Both Lee and Grant were doing their best to follow the orders of their civilian leaders.
We will honor the men who fought, but let’s not forget that the ones truly responsible for the war were the political leaders.