COLD HARBOR

By the late spring of 1864, Ulysses S Grant's Army of the Potomac was battering its way south towards Richmond, but his forces would reach their nadir along a crossroads north of the Confederate capital

- IAIN MACGREGOR

MECHANICSVILLE, VIRGINIA WORDG LAIN GOO 31 MAY 12 JUNE 1864

By the beginning of March 1864, President Abraham Lincoln had finally found the general he could trust to lead the Union to victory over the southern Confederate states. Three years of incompetent, confused leadership and missed opportunities had delivered a succession of calamitous defeats or missed opportunities to deliver a killer blow to the enemy. With the war dragging on into its fourth year, Lincoln finally settled upon Lieutenant General Ulysses S Grant. The hero of countless engagements in the western theatre was elevated to commander in chief of the entire Federal army. This was the officer who had captured the once-impregnable port city of Vicksburg, who had turned defeat into triumph at Shiloh on the banks of the Tennessee and had driven the Confederates out of Chattanooga. Grant was now going to bring his leadership qualities to fight in the east and, Lincoln hoped, ultimately defeat the South's premier general - Robert E Lee - and destroy his Army of Northern Virginia.