The Battle Opens

By mid-afternoon on June 1, 1864, Ulysses S. Grant massed 45,000 Federals near Old Cold Harbor, 800 yards east of here, and at 5:00 p.m. ordered an attack in hopes of splitting Lee’s army into two parts. Six veteran New Jersey regiments under Colonel William H. Penrose crossed this ground and passed the nearby Garthright House. A death-dealing artillery fire first raked the Federals, followed by blasts of Confederate musketry, and the attack stalled after an advance of more than a half mile. Penrose’s men quickly began digging a line of works 400 yards in front of you, and for the rest of the battle it served as the Union front line. Sergeant-Major A. Vorhes Wyckoff of the 15th New Jersey was killed in the attack; shot through the head, he died the next morning and was buried in the yard of the Garthright House before later coming to rest across the road in Cold Harbor National Cemetery.

Highland Springs, Virginia · United States