axiom among both officers and men that a well-defended rifle trench
could not be carried by a direct attack without the most careful
preparation nor even then without fearful loss. Such undertakings were
far too costly, and far too frequently ended in failure, to justify
them when they could be avoided. But no experience, however frequent or
bloody, no remonstrance however forcible, could eradicate the practice
of resorting to them occasionally. Rawlins was utterly opposed to them
and never failed to inveigh against them but the advice of more than
one trusted and influential staff officer was uniformly in favor of
assaulting fortified positions. The favorite refrain at general
headquarters is said to have been "Smash `em up! Smash `em up!"

It was with special reference to the application of this method of
procedure at Cold Harbor, that General Smith afterwards gave vent to
his indignation in words of the bitterest criticism. It will be
remembered that the entire army confronting the enemy had advanced on
that fatal day in compliance with a general order to attack "all along
the line," which was done in a half-hearted, desultory manner,
foreboding failure and defeat. Not a soul among the generals or in the
fighting line dreamed of success and not a commander from highest to
lowest except Smith and Upton, made any adequate preparation to achieve
it. Officers and men alike felt that they had been ordered to a sure
defeat. Knowing intuitively what awaited them, they wrote their names
on scraps of paper and pinned them to their coats in order that their
bodies might be identified after the slaughter was over. This done they
advanced in long and wavering lines of blue against the enemy's
bristling breastworks and rifle pits, and were mowed down like ripe
grain before the scythe. In almost as short a time as it takes to
recount the useless sacrifice, over twelve thousand Union soldiers were
killed and wounded, without shaking the enemy's position or inflicting