The Overland Campaign

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The Overland Campaign was a series of military engagements in the Eastern Theater of the War from May 4-June 12, 1864. It is also referred to by several other names including Grant's Overland Campaign, the Wilderness Campaign, the Rapidan Campaign, the Expedition up the James River, and the Campaign from the Rapidan (River) to the James (River).

Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, the general-in-chief of all Union armies, sought to put the Union Army of the Potomac between General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. Acting through Major General George Gordon Meade, Grant hopes his superior numbers in open battle will be enough to overcome Lee, but a surprise attack by Lee sets the tone for the rest of the campaign. Movement after movement is made to work around Lee's left flank and every time Lee beats Grant to the next battlefield. Despite heavy casualties, Grant edges closer to achieving the ultimate Union objective.

On May 4, 1864, General Grant crossed the Rapidan River hoping to invite Lee to open battle where his numbers could be easily reduced. Lee surprised Grant by attacking the larger Union army aggressively in the first days of the campaign at the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-7), resulting in confused fighting and heavy casualties on both sides. Undeterred, Grant broke tradition with his command predecessors and devised a plan to continue towards Richmond despite the losses. Lee again predicted Grant's movements and fortified positions at Spotsylvania Courthouse (May 8–21). Grant repeatedly hammered the Confederate line for two weeks and failed to break through Confederate lines, suffering heavy losses on the field.

Grant again wheeled his forces (and again Lee met them) at the North Anna River (May 23–26). Although Lee's army held strong defensive positions with potential to defeat large portions of Grant's army, illness prevented him from fully executing these plans in time for Grant's final shift south towards Richmond. Grant mistakenly believed that Confederate forces had been sufficiently worn down and that several all-out assaults at Cold Harbor (May 31-June 12) would decisively break Confederate lines. Instead, Confederate positions proved strong enough to repel a Union assault a 7-mile front and inflict disproportionately heavy casualties on the attacking Union forces. In one final maneuver of stealth, Grant crossed the James River and set the stage for one of the ultimate campaigns of the war - a 10 month siege against the Confederate rail depot and supply hub at Petersburg. The fall of this city in the final stages of the Richmond Campaign dooms the Confederate capital, and eventually, the Confederate nation.

The campaign also included two long-range raids by the Union Cavalry Corps under Major General Philip Sheridan. In the first raid towards Richmond, Union forces were able to mortally wound Confederate Major General J.E.B. Stuart at Yellow Tavern. In the second raid, Confederate Major General Wade Hampton thwarted Sheridan's designs to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad at Trevillian Station, the largest all-cavalry battle of the war. Sheridan's raids were somewhat successful in distracting Confederate troops and disrupting supply lines, but often deprived the Union of key cavalry resources in larger operations of the campaign.

Prologue

In March 1864, President Lincoln summoned General Grant to the Eastern Theater and promoted him to Lieutenant General, in charge of all Union armies. He made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac and coordinated the overall war effort where this army went. Meade retained formal command of the Army of the Potomac, and Sherman succeeded Grant in command of most of the Western troops.

Grant and President Lincoln devised a strategy to move against Confederate armies at once, the first concentrated effort of the war to do so. By keeping all major Confederate forces on the defensive, the Union command hoped that reinforcements could not be shipped by rail from one field to another on the Confederacy's internal railroad lines:

  • Grant and Meade would take the Army of the Potomac and operate against Lee near Richmond
  • Benjamin Butler would take the Army of the James and push to Richmond from the nearby Bermuda Hundred
  • Franz Sigel would move against Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley
  • Sherman would invade Georgia and engage Joseph E. Johnston's army
  • George Crook and William W. Averell would operate against railroad supply lines in West Virginia
  • Nathaniel Banks would move to capture Mobile, Alabama

This campaign also differed from previous campaigns in Virginia in that the capture of Richmond was not the primary objective. Whereas the aim of previous campaigns had been simply to seize the capital and force a Confederate surrender, Lincoln had long believed that the primary army defending the city needed to be destroyed, and only then could the city fall to Union control. Grant ordered Meade, "Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also," giving similar instructions to Sherman in Georgia.[1]

Grant hoped to lure Lee's army into combat on a open field, where superior northern numbers could crush the Army of Virginia. However, his experiences in the war thus far had shown that this would not be so simple. Grant prepared for a much longer campaign against southern forces, intending to "hammer continuously against the armed force of the enemy and his resources until by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be nothing left to him but an equal submission with the loyal section of our common country to the constitution and laws of the land."[2] Grant could replace his casualties; Lee could not.

Opposing Forces

Union Order of Battle

Even though Grant had superior numbers available to him, his campaign to Richmond faced several logistical and personnel challenges. The 1st Corps and 3rd Corps units had been disbanded or redistributed to other corps following their valiant but devastating actions at Gettysburg the previous year, damaging army cohesion and morale. Further, the enlistment terms of many regiments would expire during the campaign, eventually forcing a reorganization of those higher commands and a reluctance of those units to participate in major assaults. Other units were brought in to replace those leaving, many during the battles of Cold Harbor, as well as an additional corps of the Army of the James previously occupied at the Bermuda Hundred. These unit changes are reflecting in the Order of Battle tables below.

Grant also pulled several heavy artillery batteries from the garrisons in the forts around Washington, D.C. and outfitted them with rifles. Although they bolstered brigade troop numbers, their inexperience in the field as infantry lead to proportionally higher casualties than other units in what would become one of the most costly campaigns of the war.

Overall Command

Note that this table of organization has been copied from Wikipedia and modified on each battle page throughout the campaign - check individually battles to see the Orders of Battle for these engagements. Commander information has not been updated for the overall campaign and can again be found on the appropriate battle page.

Army of the Potomac

General Staff

General Headquarters

Engineer Troops

Guards and Orderlies

Unattached

(AoP) 2nd Corps

Escort:

Division Brigade Regiments and
Smaller Units
1st Division 1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
The ("Irish Brigade")
3rd Brigade
4th Brigade

2nd Division

1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
(The "Philadelphia Brigade")
3rd Brigade
4th Brigade
Provost Guard

3rd Division

1st Brigade
2nd Brigade


Thomas R. Tannatt, Colonel

3rd Brigade


Gershom Mott, Brigadier General

4th Brigade


William R. Brewster, Colonel

Artillery Brigade


John C. Tidball, Colonel

(AoP) 5th Corps
  • Re-organized on June 5, 1864
Division Brigade Regiments and
Smaller Units
1st Division 1st Brigade[16]
2nd Brigade
3rd Brigade
2nd Division 1st Brigade[21]
2nd Brigade[22]
3rd Brigade
3rd Division 1st Brigade[23]
2nd Brigade[25]
3rd Brigade
Heavy Artillery Brigade
4th Division 1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
3rd Brigade
Provost Guard
Artillery Brigade
(AoP) 6th Corps

Escort:

Division Brigade Regiments and
Smaller Units
1st Division 1st Brigade
(The "1st New Jersey Brigade")
2nd Brigade
3rd Brigade
4th Brigade
2nd Division 1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
3rd Brigade
4th Brigade
3rd Division 1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
Artillery Brigade
(AoP) 9th Corps

General Staff:

Provost Guard:

Division Brigade Regiments and
Smaller Units

1st Division

1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
Provisional Brigade
Acting Engineers
Artillery

2nd Division

1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
Acting Engineers
Artillery

3rd Division

1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
Acting Engineers
Artillery

4th Division[40]

1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
Artillery
(AoP) Cavalry Corps

Escort:

Division Brigade Regiments and
Smaller Units
1st Division 1st Brigade
(The "Michigan Brigade")
2nd Brigade
Reserve Brigade
2nd Division 1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
3rd Division 1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
Escort
1st Brigade Horse Artillery
(United States Horse Artillery)[43]
(AoP) Artillery
Division Brigade Regiments and
Smaller Units

Artillery

2nd Brigade Horse Artillery[44]
Artillery Park
(AoJ) 18th Corps
Division Brigade Regiments and
Smaller Units

1st Division

1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
3rd Brigade

2nd Division

1st Brigade
2nd Brigade

3rd Division[49]

1st Brigade
2nd Brigade
3rd Brigade
Artillery Brigade

Confederate Order of Battle

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Campaign Sub-Operations (May 4-June 12)

This chart shows the overview of the entire Overland Campaign. To the right are the major operations and engagements of the campaign.

  • To view lists of smaller sub-operations and skirmishes, click the "Expand" button next to any of the major operations - some do not have sub-operations
  • To view information about the operation or engagement itself, click the link in this table
  • To view a summary of the operation or engagement as it fits into the larger campaign, scroll to that sub-section of this page
Overland Campaign - Operations At-a-Glance
Map by Hal Jespersen (http://www.cwmaps.com/freemaps.html) - click to enlarge
 (I) ARMY OF THE POTOMAC (MAIN BODY) OPERATIONS

May 31-June 12, 1864 - Battles of Cold Harbor, Virginia


(II) ARMY OF THE POTOMAC (CAVALRY CORPS) SUB-OPERATIONS


(III) ARMY OF THE JAMES SUB-OPERATIONS

May 4 - Opening of the Campaign

The Overland Campaign - May 4, 1864

Map by Hal Jespersen (http://www.cwmaps.com/freemaps.html) - click to enlarge

Grant crossed the Rapidan River on May 4, 1864 with General Meade and the Army of the Potomac, hoping to force Lee into battle on open ground. He sought to either draw the Army of Northern Virginia from its Mine Run fortifications or flank it entirely. General Lee indeed took the southern forces from their entrenchments, but much earlier than Grant anticipated. Lee called in Ewell's Corps to march on the Orange Turnpike, A.P. Hill's Corps in parallel on the Orange Plank Road, and Longstreet's Corps from nearby Gordonsville[51].

Lee decided to take yet another chance against a much larger Union force by ambushing the Army of the Potomac as it attempted to navigate through the thick brush and undergrowth known as the Wilderness. The terrain would not only mitigate the Union's superior numbers, but would also neutralize any major Union attempts at artillery bombardments. Troops on both sides were wary at the prospect of fighting near this field again, as the part of the battlefield overlapped the field from the slaughter at Chancellorsville the year before.

May 5-7 - The Wilderness

For further information, see the page for the Battle of the Wilderness

May 5

Battle of the Wilderness - May 5, 1864, ~7:00am

Map by Hal Jespersen (http://www.cwmaps.com/freemaps.html) - click to enlarge
Battle of the Wilderness - Actions on May 5, 1864

Map by Hal Jespersen (http://www.cwmaps.com/freemaps.html) - click to enlarge

Early in the morning on May 5, Warren began moving his 5th Corps troops towards the Orange Plank Road when Ewell's Confederate forces appeared on the Orange Court House Turnpike, approaching from the west. Meade halted the army's movement and directed Warren to attack if the Confederate force was small enough. Warren requested from Meade a delay in the action so that General Sedgewick's 6th Corps could be brought in to support an assault on the enemy position of unknown strength. Although the request was initially granted, Meade grew impatient with the delay and ordered Warren's 5th Corps to attack before Sedgewick's 6th Corps could arrive and extend the line to right. While Union troops delayed, the Confederates of Ewell's Corps erected earthworks on the western end of the clearing known as Saunders Field.

The Union attack met heavy resistance all along the line of what would become the Wilderness battlefield: Brigadier General Joseph J Bartlett overran the Confederate position held by Brigadier General John M. Jones, killing him in the assault. To his right, Brigadier General Romeyn B. Ayres was forced to shelter his brigade in a gully to avoid enfilading fire from the larger-than-anticipated Confederate line. With Ayres unable to advance, Bartlett's right flank was now exposed to the enfilading fire and his brigade was forced back across the clearing.[52]

On Bartlett's left, Lysander Cutler's Iron Brigade slammed into a brigade of Alabamians under Brigadier General Cullen A. Battle. Battle's brigade was initially driven back, but counterattacked together with Brigadier General John B. Gordon's Brigade, shattering the Union line and forcing a rare retreat from the Iron Brigade. Two Union brigades under Colonel Roy Stone and Brigadier General James C. Rice assault positions of George P. Doles's Georgians and Junius Daniel's North Carolinians near the Higgerson Farm, both repelled with heavy casualties. Warren ordered an artillery battery into Saunders field to support the attacking Corps, which was captured by rebel troops as they drove attacking Union brigades back. During hand-to-hand combat at the guns, the field caught fire, burning alive pinned rebels and counterattacking federals alike.[53]

The lead element of Sedgwick's 6th Corps reached Warren's position by approximately 3:00pm, at which point the men of Warren's Corps were no longer fighting. Sedgwick attacked Ewell's Corps in the woods north of the Turnpike where the main fighting had occurred for the previous two hours. Both sides traded insignificant attacks for the next hour before breaking off the engagement and constructing earthworks for the next day's fight.

A separate engagement broke out south of the main fighting when Meade sent two Corps to intercept A.P. Hill's approach on Orange Plank Road. Meade sent Brigadier General George W. Getty's division from the 6th Corps to take and hold the intersection at Brock Road. Getty's Division arrived just before Hill's Corps and the two skirmished briefly before Hill pulled back from the intersection. Meade then sent Hancock's 2nd Corps to reinforce Getty's position and support an assault on Confederate Major General Henry Heth. Heth's troops pinned the first arrivals in place from a ridge, but as more divisions arrived, Hancock continuously fed them into the action. Eventually Lee was forced to commit a division of reserve troops under Major General Cadmus M. Wilcox, who held the line until the action ceased at nightfall.[54]

May 6

On May 6, Hancock's II Corps attacked Hill at 5 a.m., overwhelming the Third Corps with the divisions of Wadsworth, Birney, and Mott; Getty and Gibbon were in support. Lee had assured Hill that Longstreet's Corps would arrive to reinforce Hill before dawn, but moving cross-country in the dark, they made slow progress and lost their way at times. Ewell's men on the Turnpike had attacked first, at 4:45 a.m., but continued to be pinned down by attacks from Sedgwick's and Warren's corps and could not be relied upon for assistance. Before a total collapse, however, reinforcements arrived at 6 a.m., Brig. Gen. John Gregg's 800-man Texas Brigade, the vanguard of Longstreet's column. General Lee, caught up in the excitement, began to move forward with the advancing brigade. As the Texans realized this, they halted, refusing to move forward unless Lee remained in the rear.[20]

Longstreet counterattacked with the divisions of Maj. Gen. Charles W. Field and Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw. The Union troops fell a few hundred yards back from the Widow Tapp farm. At 10 a.m., Longstreet's chief engineer reported that he had explored an unfinished railroad bed south of the Plank Road and that it offered easy access to the Union left flank. Longstreet's aide, Lt. Col. Moxley Sorrel, and the senior brigade commander, Brig. Gen. William Mahone, struck at 11 a.m. with four brigades. At the same time, Longstreet resumed his main attack, driving Hancock's men back to the Brock Road, but the momentum was lost when Longstreet was wounded by his own men, putting him out of action until October.[21]

At the Turnpike, inconclusive fighting continued for most of the day. Early in the morning, Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon scouted the Union line and recommended to his division commander, Jubal Early, that he conduct a flanking attack, but Early dismissed the venture as too risky and did not approve it until that evening. Gordon's attack made good progress against inexperienced New York troops, but eventually the darkness and the dense foliage took their toll as the Union flank received reinforcements and recovered.[22]

On the morning of May 7, Grant chose maneuver instead of further attacks. By moving south on the Brock Road, he hoped to reach the crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House, which would interpose his army between Lee and Richmond, forcing Lee to fight on ground more advantageous to the Union army. He ordered preparations for a night march on May 7 that would reach Spotsylvania, 10 mi (16 km) to the southeast, by the morning of May 8. Unfortunately for Grant, inadequate cavalry screening allowed Lee's army to reach the crossroads before sufficient Union troops arrived to contest it.[23]

May 8-21 - Spotsylvania Court House

May 9- Sheridan's First Raid

May 11 - Yellow Tavern

May 12 - Meadow Bridge

May 27-29 - The Pamunkey River

May 28-30 - Totopotomoy Creek and Bethesda Church

May 31-June 12 - Cold Harbor

FIX

  • (932) May 4-28 Operations on south side of James River and against Petersburg and Richmond (Butler's) CONNECTICUT--1st Heavy Arty., 1st Battery Light Arty.; 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 21st Infantry. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA--1st Cavalry. ILLINOIS---39th Infantry. INDIANA--13th Infantry. MAINE--8th, 9th and 11th Infantry. MASSACHUSETTS---4th and 5th (Colored) Cavalry; 13th Company Heavy Arty.; 23d, 24th, 25th, 27th and 40th Infantry. NEW HAMPSHIRE---2d, 3d, 4th, 7th, 10th, 12th and 13th Infantry. NEW JERSEY--4th and 5th Batteries Light Arty.; 9th Infantry. NEW YORK--3d and 7th (1st M. R.) Cavalry; Batteries "E," "K" and "M" 3d Light Arty., 7th, 8th and 33d Indpt. Batteries Light Arty.; 1st Engineers; 13th Heavy Arty. (Cos. "A," "H"); 3d, 47th, 48th, 81st, 89th, 92d, 96th. 98th, 100th, 112th, 115th, 117th, 118th, 139th. 142d, 148th and 169th Infantry. OHIO--62d and 67th Infantry. PENNSYLVANIA--5th and 11th Cavalry; 3d Heavy Arty. (Co. "M"); 55th, 58th, 76th, 85th, 97th and 188th Infantry. RHODE ISLAND---Battery "F" 1st Light Arty.; Battery "C" 3d Heavy Arty. WISCONSIN--4th Battery Light Arty.; 19th Infantry. UNITED STATES--Batteries "B." "D" and "M" 1st Arty., "E" 3d Arty., "D" and "L" 4th Arty., "A" 5th Arty.; 1st and 2d Colored Cavalry; Battery "B" 2d Colored Light Arty.; 1st, 4th, 5th. 6th, 10th, 22d and 37th Colored Infantry.
  • (657) Wilson's Wharf, Va. -- Action May 24, 1864
  • (893) May 24 Action, Wilson's Wharf Landing
  • (938) May 24 Action, Wilson's Wharf Landing DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA--1st Cavalry (Detachment). UNITED STATES--Battery "B" 2d Colored Light Arty.; 1st and 10th Colored Infantry; U. S. Gunboat "Dawn." Union loss, 2 killed, 24 wounded. Total, 26.

May 28: Haw's Shop

  • (621) Haw's Shop, Va. -- Engmt May 28, 1864
  • (939) May 28 Engagement, Haw's Shop MICHIGAN--1st, 5th, 6th and 7th Cavalry. MAINE-1st Cavalry. NEW JERSEY--1st Cavalry. NEW YORK--4th, 6th, 9th and 10th Cavalry; 6th Indpt. Battery Light Arty. OHIO--6th Cavalry. PENNSYLVANIA--1st, 2d, 4th, 8th, 13th, 16th and 17th Cavalry. UNITED STATES----Batteries "B & L," "D" and "M" 2d Arty. Union loss, 25 killed, 119 wounded, 200 missing. Total, 344.

May 30: Old Church

  • (638) Old Church, Va. -- Engm't May 30, 1864
  • (890) May 30 Engagement, Old Church
  • (940) May 30 Engagement, Old Church MICHIGAN--1st, 5th, 6th and 7th Cavalry. NEW YORK--4th. 6th, 9th and 19th (1st Dragoons) Cavalry. PENNSYLVANIA--6th and 17th Cavalry. UNITED STATES--1st, 5th and 6th Cavalry. Union loss, 16 killed. 74 wounded. Total, 90.

DY 599 Bermuda Hundred, Va. -- Op'ns May 17-June 2, 1864 DY 882 May 28-June 1 Movement, Army James, to Cold Harbor DY 939 May 28-June 1 Movement of Army of the James from Bermuda Hundred to Cold Harbor to reinforce Army of the Potomoc CONNECTICUT--8th, 11th and 21st Infantry. INDIANA --13th Infantry. MAINE--8th and 9th Infantry. MASSACHUSETTS---23d, 25th, 27th and 40th Infantry. NEW HAMPSHIRE---2d. 4th, 10th, 12th and 13th Infantry. NEW JERSEY--9th Infantry. NEW YORK-3d, 47th, 48th, 81st, 89th, 92d, 96th, 98th, 112th, 115th, 117th, 118th, 139th, 142d, 148th and 169th Infantry. PENNSYLVANIA--55th, 58th, 76th, 97th and 188th Infantry. UNITED STATES---Batteries "B" 1st Arty., "L" 4th Arty., and "A" 5th Arty. DY 940 8th, 16th. 17th, 20th, 24th, 26th and 27th Infantry. NEW HAMPSHIRE--1st Battery Light Arty.; 6th, 9th and 11th Infantry. NEW JERSEY--1st and 3d Cavalry; Batteries "A" and "B" Light Arty.; 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th. 5th. 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th Infantry. NEW YORK--2d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 19th (1st Dragoons) and 24th Cavalry; 2d Mounted Rifles: Oneida Cavalry Company; 2d, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 14th and 15th Heavy Arty., Batteries "B," "C," "D." "E," "G," "H" and "L" 1st Light Arty., 1st, 3d, 6th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 19th and 34th Indpt. Batteries Light Arty.; 15th and 50th Engineers; 1st Battalion Sharpshooters: 7th. 10th, 39th, 40th, 42d, 43d, 44th, 46th, 49th, 51st, 52d. 57th, 59th, 61st, 62d, 63d, 64th. 65th, 66th, 67th, 69th. 70th, 71st, 72d, 73d, 74th, 76th, 77th, 79th, 80th, 82d, 83d, 84th, 86th, 88th, 93d. 94th, 95th, 97th, 104th. 106th, 108th, 109th, 111th, 120th, 121st, 122d, 124th, 125th, 126th, 140th, 146th, 147th. 151st. 152d, 155th, 164th, 170th and 182d Infantry. OHIO--2d and 6th Cavalry; Battery "H" 1st Light Arty.; 4th. 8th. 60th, 110th, 122d and 126th Infantry. PENNSYLVANIA--1st. 2d. 3d, 4th, 6th, 8th. 13th, 16th, 17th and 18th Cavalry; 2d Provisional Heavy Arty., Battery "F" 1st Light Arty.; 1st, 2d, 5th. 6th. 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Reserve Infantry; 11th, 23d, 26th, 45th, 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st. 53d, 56th, 57th, 61st. 62d. 63d. 67th. 68th, 69th, 71st, 72d, 81st, 82d, 83d, 84th, 87th. 88th, 90th, 91st, 93d, 95th, 96th, 98th, 99th, 100th. 102d, 105th. 106th, 107th, 110th, 114th, 115th, 116th, 118th, 119th. 121st, 138th, 139th, 140th. 141st, 142d, 143d, 145th, 148th. 149th. 150th, 155th and 183d Infantry. RHODE ISLAND--Batteries "A." "B," "C," "E" and "G" 1st Light Arty.; 2d and 7th Infantry. VERMONT--1st Cavalry: 1st Heavy Arty.; 2d. 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th. 10th and 17th Infantry. WEST VIRGINIA-7th Infantry. WISCONSIN--2d, 5th, 6th, 7th and 36th Infantry. UNITED STATES--1st, 2d. 5th and 6th Cavalry; Batteries "B & L," "D," "E" and "M" 2d Arty., "A," "B," "C & E" and "K" 4th Arty., "C & I," "D," "E" and "M" 5th Arty.; 1st Engineer Battalion: 1st and 2d Sharpshooters: 4th, 10th. 11th. 12th, 14th and 17th Infantry. Union loss, 101 killed, 578 wounded, 52 missing. Total, 671.

(599) Bermuda Hundred, Va. -- Op'ns May 17-June 2, 1864 (883) May 17-30 Operations, Bermuda Hundred (937) May 17-30 Operations on Bermuda Hundred front... CONNECTICUT--1st Heavy Arty.; 6th and 7th Infantry. ILLINOIS--39th Infantry. INDIANA--13th Infantry. MAINE--8th and 9th Infantry. MASSACHUSETTS-24th and 40th Infantry. NEW HAMPSHIRE--3d, 4th and 7th Infantry. NEW JERSEY--4th Battery Light Arty. NEW YORK--Batteries "E" and "M" 3d Light Arty.; 7th Indpt. Battery Light Arty.; 3d, 89th, 142d and 169th Infantry. OHIO--62d and 67th Infantry. PENNSYLVANIA--55th and 85th Infantry. UNITED STATES--1st Colored Cavalry. Union loss, 18 killed, 89 wounded, 21 missing. Total, 128.

Casualties

This chart represents only the major operations of the campaign as presented by Dyer. Some sub-operations of these operations and engagements contain further breakdowns of casualty numbers.

Dates Major Engagements and Operations,
Army of the Potomac (Main Body)		 Killed Wounded Captured and/
or Missing		 Total Casualties
May 5-7 The Wilderness 2,246 12,037 3,383 17,666
May 8-21 Spotsylvania 2,725 13,416 2,258 18,399
May 22-26 The North Anna River 186 942 165 1,293
May 26-28 The Pamunkey River ? ? ? ?
May 28-31 The Totopotomoy River 101 578 52 671
May 31-June 12 Cold Harbor 1,905 10,570 2,466 14,931
Sub-Operations,
Army of the Potomac (Cavalry Corps)
May 9-24 Sheridan's Raid to the James River 50 174 200 424
June 7-24 Sheridan's Raid to Trevillian Station 150 738 624 1,512
Sub-Operations,
Army of the James
May 4-28 Butler's Operations against the Bermuda Hundred ? ? ? ?
May 28-June 1 Movement of the James Army ? ? ? ?
May 3-June 24, 1864 Total loss from the Rapidan to the James 7,621 38,339 8,966 54,926

Notes

  1. ↑ Hattaway & Jones, p. 525; Trudeau, pp. 29–30.
  2. ↑ Rhea, Wilderness, pp. 46–47; Eicher, pp. 661–62. McPherson, p. 734
  3. ↑ At Fort Monroe, Virginia; Brigadier General Henry W. Benham was not present (see: Benham's report)
  4. ↑ At Port Royal, Virginia; joined Second Brigade, Third Division, Cavalry Corps on June 5, 1864 (see: Chapman's report)
  5. ↑ From June 1, 1864
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 From May 18, 1864
  7. ↑ Detached at Port Royal, Virginia; rejoined brigade June 5, 1864 (see: Wilder's report)
  8. ↑ Campaign entry lists May 30, but unit appears to have been present from May 18. This is possibly a clerical error.
  9. ↑ Until June 6
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named May17
  11. ↑ Until June 5
  12. ↑ Transferred from 2nd Brigade June 5
  13. ↑ Transferred to 1st Brigade June 5
  14. ↑ Until June 9
  15. ↑ The First Battalion joined from the VI Corps May 31, 1864, and the Second Battalion from the V Corps May 29, 1864, thus uniting the three battalions
  16. ↑ From former 4th Division / 3rd Brigade
  17. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named June6
  18. ↑ Ordered home for muster out June 9, 1864
  19. ↑ Arrived June 1, 1864
  20. ↑ Gordon C. Rhea in Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee May 26-June 3, 1864, The Order of Battle lists the 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry in the 1st Brigade (see also: Pennsylvania in the Civil War - 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry)
  21. ↑ Was 1st Division / 1st Brigade until June 6, 1864
  22. ↑ Was 2nd Division / 3rd Brigade until June 6, 1864
  23. ↑ Was 2nd Division / 1st Brigade up to June 6, 1864
  24. ↑ Transferred to 2nd Brigade on June 11, 1864
  25. ↑ Was 2nd Division / 2nd Brigade up to June 6, 1864
  26. ↑ Transferred to IX Corps on June 4, 1864 (see: Cutcheon's and Serviere's report)
  27. ↑ Arrived June 1 or 2, 1864
  28. ↑ Ordered home for muster-out June 4, 1864
  29. ↑ Ordered home for muster-out June 4, 1864
  30. ↑ Assigned June 5
  31. ↑ From May 14, 1864
  32. ↑ From May 29, 1864
  33. ↑ Assigned June 11
  34. ↑ From May 15, 1864
  35. ↑ To May 16
  36. ↑ Wikipedia - no reference to this in Dyer or other Michigan Sharpshooter company pages
  37. ↑ Wikipedia - no reference to this in Dyer or other Michigan Sharpshooter company pages
  38. ↑ Assigned June 10
  39. ↑ Transferred from 5th Corps / 3rd Division / 1st Brigade on June 4, 1864 (see: Cutcheon's and Serviere's report)
  40. ↑ This division did not participate in many sub-operations of the campaign as it was primarily assigned to duty guarding Union railroads and supply lines
  41. ↑ Joined June 9, 1864 (see: Chapman's report) - unit homepage says only part of the regiment
  42. ↑ At Port Royal, Virginia; joined June 5, 1864 (see: Chapman's report)
  43. ↑ The two Horse Artillery brigades were consolidated under Captain Robertson on May 31, 1864 (see: Hunt's report; Official Records, Series I, Volume XXXVI, Part 3, page 377)
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 Sent to the Department of Washington on May 31, 1864 (see: Hunt's report)
  45. ↑ Transferred from Artillery on May 31, 1864
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Sent to the Department of Washington on May 31, 1864 (see: Hunt's report)
  47. ↑ On June 1, 1864 the XVIII Corps was placed under Meade's command (see: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXXVI, Part 3, page 466)
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 48.3 Temporarily attached from 10th Corps
  49. ↑ Organized temporarily May 30, 1864, and consisted of troops previously known as the Second and Third Divisions of the Tenth Corps
  50. ↑ Joined June 5, 1864 (see: New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center - 10th Artillery Regiment)
  51. ↑ Salmon, p. 252; Eicher, pp. 662–64.
  52. ↑ Rhea, Wilderness, pp. 101–103, 130, 140–56; Grimsley, pp. 35–36; Welcher, pp. 942–44; Eicher, pp. 664–65.
  53. ↑ Rhea, Wilderness, pp. 138–39, 157–69, 176–81; Welcher, pp. 943–44; Eicher, pp. 665–66.
  54. ↑ Eicher, pp. 664–67; Esposito, text to map 122; Grimsley, pp. 35, 39–41; Welcher, pp. 942, 945–47; Rhea, Wilderness, pp. 127–29, 133–36, 187–89, 191–229.

Sources

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