Ulysses S Grant's Greatest Mistake

On this date (June 3rd) in 1864 - General Ulysses S Grant ordered a frontal assualt on the entrenched Confederate forces at Cold Harbor. It was a disaster for the Union and Grant later said that the order to assualt the entrenched forces at Cold Harbor was his greatest mistake and in his memoirs he said that "Cold Harbor is the only battle I ever fought that I would not fight over again under the circumstances."

The Battle of Cold Harbor technically took 13 days but it was on this day that most of the fighting was done and the frontal assault was attempted. More than 12% of the Union's 108,000 troops ended up dead or wounded by the time the battle was done. It is sad that the generals who fought WWI either never read or learned from Grant's memoirs because assualting entrenched lines (along with the senseless slaughter) became a favorite tactic in "the War to end all Wars".