Lee hoped that Porter would be overwhelmed from two sides by the mass of 65,000 men, and the two leading Confederate divisions would move on Cold Harbor and cut McClellan's communications with White House Landing.
Lee håbede, at Porter ville blive løbet over ende fra to sider under presset fra 65.000 mand, og Lee's to forreste divisioner ville derefter rykke mod Cold Harbor og afskære McClellan's kommunikationslinie med White House Landing.