June 3 — Early this morning we started with the cavalry on a reconnoissance around the right of the Yankee army. We made a circuitous march of about eighteen miles in the direction of the Pamunkey. While we were on the march General Grant’s forces charged General Lee’s whole line of works at Cold Harbor in the lower part of Hanover County, and as usual these latter days General Lee was ready for General Grant’s onslaught and assault. The enemy made some four or five gallant and desperate charges on Lee’s line, and were successfully repulsed and hurled back every time with fearful slaughter. The way the musketry roared and raged the fire must have been terrific at times, especially during the desperate charges of the enemy, when the Union patriots rushed up against General Lee’s line like maddened sea waves dashing against an adamantine wall, and were slaughtered by the hundreds, yes, thousands.
If we had a Stonewall Jackson now, with fifteen thousand men, just to show the great fighter Ulysses a little Jacksonian flanking trick, I am almost confident that after to-day’s slaughter Ulysses would be searching with more eagerness and anxiety for the friendly protection of the gunboats on James River than did General McClellan in 1862 when he heard old Stonewall thunder on his right flank and rear.
We passed to-day many and extensive earthworks that were constructed and occupied a few days ago by the enemy. The whole country along the south side of the Pamunkey is literally dug up and covered with breastworks, breastworks from which there never was a shot fired, and which have been abandoned in that oft-repeated movement by the left flank.
About middle of the day we encountered the enemy at Hawes’ Shop. We had a warm and spirited artillery duel with them of a couple hours’ duration; there was also some little sharpshooting among the cavalry. After fighting two or three hours both sides seemed to be satisfied, ceased firing, and withdrew from the field. We came back to the Chickahominy and camped about a mile above Meadow Bridge. In coming back this afternoon we passed the field on Tottapotamy Creek, where General Breckinridge fought and defeated the Yankees a few days ago. For about two miles the battle-ground is covered with intrenchments and heavy banks of earthwork higher than a man’s head. The whole field is a perfect labyrinth of thrown-up ridges running in every direction, and so constructed that men can pass from one to the other without exposing themselves to an enemy’s fire.
