May 22 - General Lee's 55,000 troops left Spotsylvania and set up defenses at the North Anna River.
May 23 - Union troops attacked Lee there, seized the Telegraph Road Bridge, and got across the river near Jericho Mills where the Union soldiers built a pontoon bridge. Despite being ill, Lee planned a unique, inverted V-shaped line that separated the Federal crossing points.
May 24 - Union troops were stopped at Jerico Mills, Ox Ford, and Hanover Junction as they failed to unite their lines on the Richmond side of the North Anna River.
May 27 - Union troops abandoned trying to cross the North Anna River and moved to the southeast where the North Anna and South Anna formed the Pamunkey.
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May 29 - Lee guessed the Federals would drive west to Richmond from Hanover Town and he set up a defensive line along the Totopotomoy Creek. The armies skirmished for three days in that general area.
June 1 - General Sheridan's cavalry seized the crossroads at Cold Harbor - ten miles from Richmond.
| In the map on the right, the names in blue are the Union
generals and the names in red are the Confederate generals. June 2 - The Confederates spent time constructing a strong line of fortifications west of Bethesda Church and Cold Harbor crossroads while the Federals' attack was delayed because of some poor communications. June 3 - Grant had his generals attack in a series of frontal assaults that was two miles wide at Cold Harbor. The Federals sustained about 7,000 casualties compared to Confederate losses of 1,500. |
 The national park commemorating the battles at Cold Harbor is just a small section (marked in green) in the above map. My great grandfather's unit (2nd PAHA) led by Colonel Gibson did not arrive until June 5th. It joined with General Warren's forces that were led by General S. Williams. |
Above map shows Grant's attacks. Lee's troops staved off the Union attacks and forced them to keep moving south until Grant decided to set up a siege of Petersburg.