all that could be spared into a movable column and forward it to make a junction with the Army of the Potomac. Accordingly, on the 29th of May, a force of sixteen thousand men, under General W. F. Smith, made up of four divisions taken from the Tenth and Eighteenth corps, was embarked on transports in the James River, and after passing down the James, and ascending the York and Pamunkey, debarked at White House on the following day. Here General Smith received orders from the headquarters of General Grant to move his command to New Castle, on the south side of the Pamunkey.* It will be observed that a movement on that point must throw Smith completely out of position in relation to the Army of the Potomac, then fronting the Chickahominy —a fact that was sufficiently evident to that officer on his arrival there, on the night of the 31st, after a long and fatiguing march. It was not, however, till the following morning that he learned from an officer of General Grant's staff that his orders had been wrongly worded-that instead of New Castle it was New Cold Harbor he was designed to reach, and that in consequence he had made an unnecessary march of ten or fifteen miles. Upon this, General Smith countermarched his column, and on the afternoon of that day (June 1st) reached Cold Harbor, where the Sixth Corps, detached, as already seen, from the right of the Army of the Potomac, had just arrived. At Cold Harbor General Smith was met with orders from General Meade, to take position on the right of the Sixth Corps and co-operate with it in an immediate attack.t

Now, as soon as the Sixth Corps was withdrawn from the right of the army, Lee, detecting the procedure, and sus

* General Smith's Report: Order from General Grant, dated Hanovertown May 28th.

The precise terms of the order to General Smith were quite peculiar; for he was commanded to "hold the road from Cold Harbor to Bethesda Church" (Warren's position), and "co-operate with the Sixth Corps in an attack." As General Smith's force was insufficient even to fill this space of several miles he abandoned the attempt to comply with the first part of his instructions and resolved to execute the second-that is, attack.

pecting its object, met this manoeuvre by withdrawing Longstreet's corps from his own left, and directing it towards Cold Harbor, to cover there any attempt to force the passage of the Chickahominy: so that when Wright and Smith arrived, it was no longer the slight force encountered by Sheridan that they were to meet. The enemy was descried in force holding position behind Cold Harbor in a thick wood, to reach which it was necessary to traverse an open field several hundred yards in width. Dispositions being completed towards four o'clock in the afternoon, the assault was made very spiritedly, the troops advancing over the open space under a very severe fire. Both the left of Smith's line and the right of the Sixth Corps succeeded in carrying the first line of rifle-trenches, capturing between them six hundred prisoners. It was, however, found quite impracticable to carry the second line, and the troops rested on their arms for the night, after dispositions to secure what had been gained. The casualties in this action were severe, being upwards of two thousand men in the two corps.

Great as was the loss in this action it secured the possession of Cold Harbor, which it was indispensable to hold; for General Grant had determined there to force the passage of the Chickahominy, and compel Lee to retire within the intrenchments of Richmond. Hancock's corps, which, since the withdrawal of the Sixth Corps from the line of the Tolopotomy, formed the right of the army, was ordered that night from its position, and directed on Cold Harbor, to take position on the left of the Sixth Corps. Warren's corps continued near Bethesda Church, and though holding a line excessively long (nearly four miles in extent), there was still an interval between his left and Smith's right. To close this gap, Warren was directed by General Meade to extend his left, while Burnside's command was to retire altogether from its place on the right of the line, and mass on the right and rear of Warren. When Burnside, during the afternoon of the 2d, was in the act of executing this movement, the enemy, detecting it, followed up with a line of battle, drove Burn

side's skirmish line through a swamp, capturing many, and then penetrating between Warren's line of battle and his skirmish line, cut off and took prisoners about four hundred men. This sudden attack of course put an end to Warren's contemplated extension to the left, and compelled him to act on the defensive at once, to avert any positive disaster. The enemy's sally was, however, not made with much vigor, and was readily repulsed by Bartlett's brigade. Dispositions were then made by the Fifth and Ninth corps for the battle which was determined on for the morrow.

Cold Harbor, where Generals Grant and Meade established their headquarters for the impending passage at arms, is no harbor, as the name might imply, for it is quite inland ;* nor is it even a centre of population, nor so much as a collection of farm-houses, but a mere locality, having all its importance from the convergence of roads there. Behind it runs the Chickahominy, and the map will reveal that we are here again on classic ground; for it was here that the battle of Gaines' Mill, the first of the series of actions in McClellan's retrograde movement across the Peninsula, was fought. As the lines were now drawn, however, there was this difference, that the relative situations of the combatants were quite reversed-Lee holding McClellan's position and Grant Lee's.

Lee disposed his force on the hither side of the Chickahominy, in an excellent position for defence, having the front of approach obstructed by thickets and cut up by marshes. The Union force was drawn up in the order already givenHancock's corps on the left; then the Sixth Corps; then Smith's command; then Warren and Burnside on the right. The left rested across the Dispatch Station road, the right on Tolopotomy Creek. Sheridan with two divisions of horse

* Many interpretations of Cold or Coal Harbor have been given. It has been suggested that the proper form is "Cool Arbor”-8 designation which its shady coverts might justify. But it would appear that "Cold Harbor" is a common name for many places along the travelled roads in England, and means simply, "shelter without fire."