Cold Harbor • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The “A Deadly Delay” trailside marker is the seventh along the Cold Harbor primary walking trail.
Text from the marker:
A Deadly Delay
The Union assaults of June 3 failed on nearly all fronts. For the next three days, while Federal wounded lay untended between the lines, Generals U. S. Grant and R. E. Lee struggled over the details of a truce. On June 7, more than 100 hours after the attack, the generals agreed to a two-hour truce. Along one part of the line work parties found 244 Union dead and only three survivors.
One New Jersey soldier recalled that during the truce the former enemies were “talking to each other and exchanging newspapers…the works were lined with unarmed men, all gazing upon the solemn scene. The 2 hours soon passed, the signal was given, the men rushed back to their arms, and the rattle of musketry was again commenced along the line.”
Location of the marker
The marker is on the Cold Harbor primary walking trail. (37°35’19.5″N 77°17’06.2″W) It is about 400 feet beyond the previous marker, “We Have Broken Through”