The battle was fought in central Virginia over the same ground as the Battle of Gaines' Mill during the Seven Days Battles of 1862. In fact, some accounts refer to the 1862 battle as the First Battle of Cold Harbor, and the 1864 battle as the Second Battle of Cold Harbor. Soldiers were disturbed to discover skeletal remains from the first battle while entrenching. Despite its name, Cold Harbor was not a port city. It described two rural crossroads named for a hotel located in the area (Cold Harbor Tavern, owned by the Isaac Burnett family), which provided shelter (harbor) but not hot meals. Old Cold Harbor stood two miles east of Gaines' Mill, New Cold Harbor a mile southeast. Both were approximately 10 miles (16 km) northeast of the Confederate capital of Richmond
interesting bit about the name cold harbor. had not heard that before.
Wasn't cold, either. Not in June.
Cold Harbor has traditionally been held up as a Union bloodbath and an example of Grant's butcher tendencies. But recent research has uncovered quite a different picture. Gordon Rhea, who has done a four volume study on Grant's overland campaign, examined muster rolls regiment by regiment before and after the battle and has concluded that Union casualties were actually a fraction of the 13,000 that are usually quoted. He comes up with a figure of about 6,000 total casualties, and while that number is about 4 times the confederate losses it is still is considerably less than the 13,000 quoted. It is about the same number the confederates lost at Malvern Hill or Pickett's Charge.