“On to Richmond!” - The Focal Point of the Civil War
The hub of Confederate manufacturing fueled a modern war, one of the South’s largest hospitals gave care to the sick and wounded, violent clashes of massive armies on open fields, and miles of formidable defensive earthworks meant that from 1861 to 1865, Richmond’s fate would determine America’s future.
24 Aug 2013
Today we headed up to the Northern and city sites of Richmond NBP first stopping at the Cold Harbor VC, this area was the area of two major battles. The Gains Mill area was the site of the battle during the Seven Days Battles of 62 and Cold Harbor was the site of a battle during the Overland Campaign of 64. The VC has a great show on the battles of the area. After driving the loop around Cold Harbor we made a stop at Maggie L Walker NHS. we have done a page on the site. After a lunch - nothing fancy this trip - McDonalds we headed over to Tredegar Iron Works. Two great movies can be seen at the VC. This is a large area with much to see. We elected to just see the NP portion and put the other museums on a return list as these were fee required. On to the last VC of Richmond NBP - Chimborazo Hospital. A small VC telling the story of field medicine and hospital care of the wounded during the war. What was amazing is that more died from non battle field injuries. Dysentery was so common that 162% got it during the war. This was a great park to take in and visit. If going plan on 2 days as this park is spread out and there is much to see.
7 Aug 2013
This park has many units and today we spent exploring the southern units of the park with a visit to Glendale/Malvern hill. Both of these sites were battle sites of the 1862 Seven Days Battles. We then went over to Fort Brady built by the Union to prevent Confederate gun boats from moving down river and threatening Grant's supply system coming up the James river. After that it was a short drive to the Forts of Hoke, Harrison, Johnson and Gilmer. These Forts were used by the Confederate forces to defend Richmond. Fort Harrison was taken by the union during the Overland Campaign of 1864. Much more remains to be seen at the park and we will take them in at a later time.
Our 36th NPS Unit
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| Union Artillery Line at Malvern Hill |
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| Molly learning the history of Union Cannons |
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| Parsonage at Malvern Hill |
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| Union Defences at Malvern Hill |
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| Fort Brady Earthworks |
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| Fort Brady Earthworks |
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| Earthworks Fort Hoke |
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| Fort Harrison / Fort Burnham Earthworks |
