Editing Battle of Cold Harbor (section)

==Aftermath==
The Battle of Cold Harbor was the final victory won by Lee's army during the war (part of his forces won the [[Battle of the Crater]] the following month, during the [[Siege of Petersburg]], but this did not represent a general engagement between the armies), and its most decisive in terms of casualties. The Union army, in attempting the futile assault, lost 10,000 to 13,000 men over twelve days. The battle brought the toll in Union casualties since the beginning of May to a total of more than 52,000, compared to 33,000 for Lee. Although the cost was great, Grant's larger army finished the campaign with lower relative casualties than Lee's.<ref>Salmon, pp. 259, 296, cites 55,000 total Union campaign casualties, 27,000 Confederate. Esposito, text to map 137, cites 55,000 Union, 20–40,000 Confederate. Trudeau, p. 341, cites 54,000 Union, 32,000 Confederate.</ref>

Estimates vary as to the casualties at Cold Harbor. The following table summarizes estimates from a variety of popular sources:<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/va062.htm National Park Service] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618232825/http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/va062.htm |date=June 18, 2010 }} (also Salmon, p. 296); Bonekemper, p. 311; Eicher, p. 686; Kennedy, p. 294; King, p. 307; Rhea, p. 386; Trudeau, p. 341; Young, p. 240.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|+ '''Casualty Estimates for the Battle of Cold Harbor'''
! rowspan="2" | Source
! colspan="4" | Union
! colspan="4" | Confederate
|-
! Killed
! Wounded
! Captured/<br />Missing
! Total
! Killed
! Wounded
! Captured/<br />Missing
! Total
|-
| National Park Service
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 13,000
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 2,500
|-
| Kennedy, ''Civil War Battlefield Guide''
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 13,000
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 5,000
|-
| King, ''Overland Campaign Staff Ride''
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 12,738
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 3,400
|-
| Bonekemper, ''Victor, Not a Butcher''
| align="right" | 1,844
| align="right" | 9,077
| align="right" | 1,816
| align="right" | 12,737
| align="right" | 83
| align="right" | 3,380
| align="right" | 1,132
| align="right" | 4,595
|-
| Eicher, ''Longest Night''
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 12,000
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | "few<br />thousand"
|-
| Rhea, ''Cold Harbor''
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 3,500–4,000<br />(June 3 only)
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 1,500
|-
| Trudeau, ''Bloody Roads South''
| align="center" colspan="2" | 12,475
| align="right" | 2,456
| align="right" | 14,931
| align="center" colspan="2" | 3,765
| align="right" | 1,082
| align="right" | 4,847
|-
| Young, ''Lee's Army''
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | &nbsp;
| align="right" | 788
| align="right" | 3,376
| align="right" | 1,123
| align="right" | 5,287
|}

Some authors (Catton, Esposito, Foote, McPherson, Grimsley) estimate the casualties for the major assault on June 3 and all agree on approximately 7,000 total Union casualties, 1,500 Confederate. Gordon Rhea, considered the preeminent modern historian of Grant's [[Overland Campaign]], has examined casualty lists in detail and has published a contrarian view in his 2002 book, ''Cold Harbor''. For the morning assault on June 3, he can account for only 3,500 to 4,000 Union killed, wounded, and missing, and estimates that for the entire day the Union suffered about 6,000 casualties, compared to Lee's 1,000 to 1,500. Rhea noted that although this was a horrific loss, Grant's main attack on June 3 was dwarfed by Lee's daily losses at [[Battle of Antietam|Antietam]], [[Battle of Chancellorsville|Chancellorsville]], and [[Pickett's Charge]], and is comparable to [[Battle of Malvern Hill|Malvern Hill]].<ref>Rhea, p. 386. Claims for Union June 3 casualties in the 7,000 range can be found in Grimsley, p. 219, McPherson, p. 735, Catton, p. 267, and Esposito, text for map 136. Shelby Foote, p. 292, claims that the 7,000 casualties were suffered in the first 8 minutes of the battle.</ref>

McPherson states:  {{blockquote|In that [Cold Harbor] attack, ordered by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, fifty thousand Union soldiers suffered seven thousand casualties, most of them in less than half an hour.  For this mistake, which he admitted, Grant has been branded a 'butcher' careless of the lives of his men, and Cold Harbor has become a symbol of mule-headed futility.  At Gettysburg, Lee's men also sustained almost seven thousand casualties in the Pickett-Pettigrew assault, most of them also within a half hour.  Yet this attack is perceived as an example of great courage and honor.  This contrast speaks volumes about the comparative images of Grant and Lee, North and South, Union and Confederacy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McPherson |first=James M. |title=Unhallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg |publisher=Crown Publishers |year=2003 |isbn=0-609-61023-6 |location=New York |pages=123 |language=English}}</ref>}}

The battle caused a rise in anti-war sentiment in the Northern states. Grant became known as the "fumbling butcher" for his poor decisions. It also lowered the [[morale]] of his remaining troops. But the campaign had served Grant's purpose—as ill-advised as his attack on Cold Harbor was, Lee had lost the initiative and was forced to devote his attention to the defense of Richmond and Petersburg. He beat Grant to Petersburg, barely, but spent the remainder of the war (save its final week) defending Richmond behind a fortified trench line. Although Southerners realized their situation was desperate, they hoped that Lee's stubborn (and bloody) resistance would have political repercussions by causing [[Abraham Lincoln]] to lose the [[1864 United States presidential election|1864 presidential election]] to a more peace-friendly candidate. The [[Atlanta Campaign|taking of Atlanta]] in September dashed these hopes, and the end of the Confederacy was just a matter of time.<ref>Kennedy, p. 294; Salmon, p. 259.</ref>

===Cold Harbor Tavern and Garthright House===
During the battle, Burnett's tavern (no longer standing) was used as a hospital. Union soldiers carried away all items of value, except for a crystal [[compote]] bowl saved by Mrs. Burnett.  The Garthright House was also used as a field hospital, the exterior of which is now preserved.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080518044125/http://richmondthenandnow.com/Cold-Harbor.html Richmond Then and Now website.]}}</ref>