A Deadly Delay

The Union assaults of June 3 failed on nearly all fronts, and for the next three days, while Federal wounded lay untended between the lines, Generals U. S. Grant and R. E. Lee struggled over the details of a truce. On June 7, more than 100 hours after the attack, the generals agreed to a two-hour truce. Along one part of the line, work parties found 244 Union dead and only three survivors. One New Jersey soldier recalled that during the truce the former enemies talked to each other and exchanged newspapers, the works were lined with unarmed men, all gazing upon the solemn scene, and when the two hours passed, the signal was given, the men rushed back to their arms, and the rattle of musketry again commenced along the line.

Mechanicsville, Virginia · United States