Cold Harbor, Virginia, was the bloodiest in a series of battles that formed the Overland campaign, which was undertaken by the Union army in early May 1864. Besides the carnage, the Battle of Cold Harbor was notable as a turning point when defensive fortifications, siege warfare, and relentless daily fighting characterized the war in the eastern theater.
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac marched south into Virginia with hopes of putting an end to the conflict. Northern moral was high, yet Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia blocked Grant’s relentless westward movements toward Richmond, inflicting heavy casualties on their opponents. After the Battle of North Anna during May 23-26, Grant moved west again and crossed the Pamunkey River. By month’s end, the left wing of the Federal force had reached a tiny crossroads called Cold Harbor, named after a tavern.
Cold Harbor had a road that led into the Chickahom-iny River and then continued on to Richmond. Grant’s plan was to bring his army through Cold Harbor, turn on Lee’s right, and pin the Confederates in a vulnerable spot against the river. Unfortunately, the Union forces delayed, and the attack, set for 4 A. M. on June 2, had to be postponed until the same time on the next day. The Confederates, meanwhile, used the extra time to build and extend their fortifications.
By predawn of June 3, 59,000 well-entrenched rebels faced 108,000 Federals across a seven-mile front. Grant’s massive frontal assault on Confederate lines failed miserably. That terrible day saw some 7,000 Federal casualties (compared with less than 1,500 for the rebels) that shattered three Union corps. One Northern soldier described some details of the assault: “The time of actual advance was not over eight minutes. . . . In that little period more men fell bleeding as they advanced than in any other like period of time throughout the war.” The assault was a disaster, and before the end of the day, Grant stopped the fighting. “I regret this assault more than any one I have ever ordered,” he said.
Cold Harbor culminated a month of nonstop campaigning for both armies. The North had experienced
50,000 losses and the South 32,000. In percentages, that represented 41 percent of Grant’s forces and 46 percent of Lee’s. These losses were a disaster for the South, which could not replenish its armies. Although the Battle of Cold Harbor and the Overland campaign resulted in Northern losses or stalemates on the field, Grant’s overall strategy of attrition was working.
Further reading: Louis J. Baltz III, The Last Battle of Cold Harbor: May 27-June 13, 1864 (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1994); Ernest B. Furgurson, Not War but Murder: Cold Harbor, 1864 (New York: Knopf, 2000).
Colored National Labor Union (1869-1872) Established in 1869, the Colored National Labor Union (CNLU) was the first major attempt on the part of African Americans to organize their labor collectively on a national level. The CNLU, like other labor unions, had as its goal improving the working conditions and quality of life for its members. Unfortunately, in its short life span, the CNLU made precious few inroads for its black constituents.
African Americans had traditionally been excluded from existing labor unions, but when workers sought to capitalize on organizational opportunities created by the Civil War and formed the National Labor Union (NLU), black laborers wanted to participate as well. William Sylvis, president of the NLU, made a speech in which he agreed that there should be “no distinction of race or nationality” within the ranks of his organization. In 1869 several black delegates were invited to the annual meeting of the NLU. One of these delegates was a man named Isaac Myers, a prominent organizer of African-American laborers. At the convention, he spoke eloquently for solidarity, saying that white and black workers ought to organize together for higher wages and a comfortable standard of living. But Myers’s plea fell on deaf ears. The white unions refused to allow African Americans to enter their ranks. In response to this, Myers met with other African-American laborers to form a national labor organization of their own. In 1869 the Colored National Labor Union was formed, with Myers as its first president.
The CNLU was established to help improve the harsh conditions facing black workers. Exclusionary white unions and uncooperative employers prevented African Americans from getting highly paid, skilled labor jobs in the North. In the South, the emancipation of the slaves did not result in social or economic equality. Among the goals of the CNLU, which represented African-American laborers in 21 states, were the issuance of farmland to poor Southern African Americans, government aid for education, and new nondiscriminatory legislation that would help black workers who struggled to make ends meet.
The CNLU ultimately made few economic gains for African Americans. A hostile and prejudiced business and labor environment prevented the CNLU from making much headway, and in 1872 the union went under. The CNLU did, however, help raise awareness among many people in the labor movement that all workers deserved adequate representation.
See also employment; race and racial conflict.
Further reading: William H. Harris, The Harder We Run: Black Workers Since the Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982).
—Troy Rondinone
World History
