Chronological History of the American Civil War

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all along. Brig. General John Morgan’s (CSA) Confederate Cavalry lead a raid into Kentucky on Major General William T. Sherman’s (U.S.) supply lines.

Tuesday, May 31, 1864 : Dissatisfied over Lincoln’s policies, a group of hard-line abolitionists of the Radical Republicans meets in Cleveland, Ohio, and nominate Major General John Charles Fremont (U.S.) (pictured) and Brig. General John Cochrane (U.S.) as President and Vice- President in the forthcoming elections.

Confederate troops commanded by J. E. Johnston knew their tactics were never going to defeat Sherman, but they were sufficient to stall him by slowing down his army on average to just one mile a day advance on Atlanta. This one month, in small places many of us never heard of, 56,850 men became casualties of this awful war. This number is almost as many people that died in all of Vietnam War, (58,220 ). With the way the war going, President Lincoln was beginning to realize his reelection might not happen. Wednesday, June 1, 1864 : The Confederates attack Union troops at the strategic crossroads of Cold Harbor, Virginia, less than a dozen miles from Richmond. The Confederate attack wilted. Sheridan’s (U.S.) troops held the crossroads. Grant attacked the Confederates in the late afternoon, after more Union troops had arrived. But the Yankees could not break through the Rebels’ newly constructed fortifications, and so they decided to wait until the bulk of his army had arrived before launching another attack. This waiting, was to prove costly with many lives lost. Union troops under Major General Sturgis (U.S.) leave Memphis at White Station and La Grange, Tennessee as word get out that Sherman (U.S.) has ordered out nearly 7,000 troops (3,000 cavalry and nearly 4,000 infantry) to hunt down the cavalry of Bedford Forrest, (CSA) who continued to be a serious problem along Sherman’s supply lines. Thursday, June 2,1864 : At Cold Harbor, both armies were on the field, forming on a seven- mile front that extended from Bethesda Church to the Chickahominy River. Grant spends the day improving the entrenchments of his ground forces. In Georgia, after having captured the Allatoona Pass, Sherman (U.S.) was able to speed up his march to Atlanta. Friday, June 3, 1864 : At 4:30 a.m., Grant launched a major attack with 50,000 men on Lee’s positions at Cold Harbor. Still, Lee’s men were well dug in and in scarcely one hour, the Union force lost 7,000 soldiers. Most of these men died in the first hour, but since General Grant (U.S.) would not call for a truce long enough to recover the wounded, many more just lay dying on the battlefield for several more days. The Confederates lost 1,500 men. At noon, Grant called off the attack. If the attack had been successful nothing could have stopped Grant. General Grant commented in his memoirs that this was the only attack he wished he had never ordered . Saturday, June 4, 1864 : Generals Grant and Meade (U.S.) launched no more attempts on the Confederate defenses at Cold Harbor. The two opposing armies faced each other in a standoff of trench warfare, in some places only yards apart. Sharpshooters worked continuously, killing many. General Joseph E. Johnston (CSA) men are fighting at Big Shanty and Acworth, Georgia. He moves from New Hope Church area outside Atlanta, to fortified positions fronting Major General William T. Sherman (U.S.) at the Pine Mountains, Georgia. Sunday, June 5, 1864 : Today, 5,000 Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley are defending against the advancing Federal Army of Major General David Hunter, towards