A report on Battle of Cold Harbor, Siege of Petersburg and Philip Sheridan

The final major battle of the campaign was waged at Cold Harbor (May 31 – June 12), in which Grant gambled that Lee's army was exhausted and ordered a massive assault against strong defensive positions, resulting in disproportionately heavy Union casualties.

The resulting siege of Petersburg (June 1864 – March 1865) led to the eventual surrender of Lee's army in April 1865 and the effective end of the Civil War.

The campaign included two long-range raids by Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan.

For thirteen months, Grant fought Robert E. Lee during the high-casualty Overland Campaign and at Petersburg.

Four divisions of the Army of the Cumberland, with the center two led by Major General Philip Sheridan and Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood, chased the Confederates out of the rifle-pits at the base and, against orders, continued the charge up the 45-degree slope and captured the Confederate entrenchments along the crest, forcing a hurried retreat.

Grant believed breaking through Lee's lines at its weakest point, Cold Harbor, a vital road hub that linked to Richmond, would mean the destruction of Lee's army, the capture of Richmond, and a quick end to the rebellion.

The last significant battles raged around the ten-month Siege of Petersburg, gateway to the Confederate capital of Richmond.

Generals George Meade and Benjamin Butler were ordered to move against Lee near Richmond, General Franz Sigel (and later Philip Sheridan) were to attack the Shenandoah Valley, General Sherman was to capture Atlanta and march to the sea (the Atlantic Ocean), Generals George Crook and William W. Averell were to operate against railroad supply lines in West Virginia, and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks was to capture Mobile, Alabama.

The Union army first attempted to maneuver past Lee and fought several battles, notably at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor.

Grant engaged Lee's army in bloody but inconclusive battles at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania before the lengthy Siege of Petersburg, which was followed in April 1865 by the capture of Richmond and the destruction of most of Lee's army, which he finally surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House.

These battles in the Overland Campaign included the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor.

Lee attempted to break the stalemate by sending Jubal A. Early on a raid through the Shenandoah Valley to Washington, D.C., but Early was defeated early on by the superior forces of Philip Sheridan.

A key Confederate defender of the Shenandoah Valley, during the Valley Campaigns of 1864, Early made daring raids to the outskirts of Washington, D.C., and as far as York, Pennsylvania, but was crushed by Union forces under General Philip Sheridan, losing over half his forces and leading to the destruction of much of the South's food supply.

Thus, Early commanded that corps in the Battle of Cold Harbor.

Thus Early commanded the Confederacy's last invasion of the North, secured much-needed funds and supplies for the Confederacy and drawing off Union troops from the siege of Petersburg.

In 1864–65, Meade continued to command the Army of the Potomac through the Overland Campaign, the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign, and the Appomattox Campaign, but he was overshadowed by the direct supervision of the general-in-chief, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who accompanied him throughout these campaigns.

A primary example of this was Grant's interference with Meade's direction of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's Cavalry Corps.

During the Battle of Cold Harbor, Meade inadequately supervised his corps commanders and did not insist they perform reconnaissance before their disastrous frontal assault.

In the assault at Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864, the corps sustained another severe loss, 2,715 of its number killed or wounded.

Accompanying the army to Petersburg, it participated in the preliminary operations incidental to the investment of that stronghold.

Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan was placed in command of the Army of the Shenandoah, which was composed of the VI, VIII, and XIX Corps, and its campaign in the Valley was a memorable one by reason of the victories at Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek.

Wright's corps fought at Cold Harbor from June 3 to June 12, 1864.

Wright commanded the VI Corps again during Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign from August 6 to October 16, 1864.

In the Siege of Petersburg, the VI Corps was the first unit to break through the Confederate defenses, on April 2, 1865.

The V Corps saw hard fighting at Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg in June.

After the Battle of Five Forks, with the war's end literally days away, General Warren was relieved of command by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, displeased by his supposed lack of aggressive pursuit of the enemy (Warren spent the remainder of his life seeking rehabilitation of his reputation).