Richmond National Battlefield Parks
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During the War Between the States, Richmond was the Capital of the Confederacy and would soon became a target of the Union Forces. During the Seven Days’ Battles of 1862, General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia successfully defended Richmond from the Union Army of the Potomac who were commanded by Maj. General George B. McClellan ending the Union's Peninsula Campaign. However the victorious Confederates suffered heavy casualties and were stunned by the losses.
From May 31 to June 12, 1864, The Battle of Cold Harbor, the final battle of Union Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant’s 1864 Overland Campaign was fought, again taking place to east of Richmond, this was the last true victory won by Lee’s army during the war. When the Union Army disengaged and crossed the James for Petersburg, Lee beat them there to protect Richmond's southern defenses. A long ten months later the war was over with the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House.
Two introductory sites in downtown Richmond which are well worth the visit before taking the tours to outlying battlefields, they are the Visitor Center at the Tredegar Iron Works and the Park Headquarters at the Chimborazo Medical Museum.
National Park Service Civil War Visitor Center at Tredegar Iron Works - 470 Tredegar Street / Richmond / VA 23223
Today the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar is the nation's first museum to interpret the Civil War from Union, Confederate, and African American perspectives. During the Civil War, the Ironworks operated day and night to satisfy the demands of the Confederacy for artillery, ammunition, and other war-related materials.
National Park Service Chimborazo Medical Museum & Park Headquarters - 3215 East Broad Street / Richmond / VA 23223
Chimborazo was the main hospital for Confederate soldiers wounded on the battlefields of Virginia during the Civil War. Today it houses the Park Headquarters as well as the Chimborazo Medical Museum with a collection of equipment used by the doctors and nurses who tended to the soldiers of the Confederacy. Exhibits include a 17 minute film and a diorama of the original hospital complex.
Additional Richmond National Battlefield sites include:
Beaver Dam Creek Battlefield - 7423 Cold Harbor Road / Mechanicsville, VA 23111
Also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville or Ellerson's Mill, the event took place on June 26, 1862, in Hanover County. It was the first major engagement of the Seven Days Battles, a tactical victory for the Union Army where the Confederates suffered heavy casualties. However McClellan began to withdraw his army to the southeast and never regained the initiative.
Chickahominy Bluff Battlefield - 4300 Mechanicsville Turnpike / Richmond, VA 23223
Part of the 1862 Seven Days Battles. A part of the outer Confederate line defending Richmond, Chickahominy Bluff offered a view of Mechanicsville and the Chickahominy River Valley. Within sight of the earthworks here, General Robert E. Lee witnessed the start of the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek on June 26, 1862.
Cold Harbor Battlefield and Visitor Center - 5515 Anderson-Wright Drive / Mechanicsville, VA 23111
In a hopeless assault on fortified Confederate troops, Grants loss at Cold Harbor in 1864 was seen as the bloodiest, most lopsided battle in the American Civil War. The Battle of Gaines Mill in 1862 was fought on the same ground which has been labeled in some accounts as being the First Battle of Cold Harbor and the 1864 date as the Second Battle of Cold Harbor.
Drewry’s Bluff (Fort Darling) Battlefield - 7600 Fort Darling Road / Richmond, VA 23237
Known as both the Battle of Drewry's Bluff and the Battle of Fort Darling, the 1862 was fought south of Richmond along the James River in Chesterfield County. The Union Army had sent gunboats up the river to test Richmond's defenses when they were attacked by Confederate fire from the batteries at Drewry's Bluff. This along with submerged obstacles forced the gunboats retreated to City Point.
Fort Harrison Battlefield and Visitor Center - 8621 Battlefield Park Road / Richmond, VA 23231
On September 29, 1864, 2,500 Union forces over ran and captured Fort Harrison. It was the strongest Confederate Fort on the Richmond-Petersburg line. The next day Lee personally organized a major effort to retake the fort, but failed.
Gaines’ Mill Battlefield - 6283 Watt House Road / Mechanicsville, VA 23111
The Battle of Gaines' Mill, also known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River took place in June of 1862, east of Richmond in Hanover County on the third day of the Seven Days Battles. It was the Union defeat here that convinced McClellan to abandon his advance on Richmond and to retreat to the James River.
Glendale Battlefield Visitor Center (inside Glendale National Cemetery) - 8301 Willis Church Road / Richmond, VA 23231
As the fifth of the Seven Days Battles in June 1862, the Confederates converged on the retreating Union Army in the vicinity of Glendale or Frayser's Farm. With help from Federal gunboats the Union Army escaped to Malvern Hill and established positions of safety there.
Malvern Hill Battlefield - 9175 Willis Church Road / Richmond, VA 23231
The sixth and last battle of the Seven Days Battles, General McClellan successfully defended the Unions entrenched position at Malvern Hill but there were high casualties on both sides. The southern troops were mowed down when battle plans were poorly executed due to miscommunications and muddy conditions. McClellan's army retreated to Harrison's Landing on the James River, where his army was protected by gunboats, thus ending his Peninsula Campaign.
Parker’s Battery - 1801 Ware Bottom Spring / Chester, VA 23831
This small Confederate artillery work helped to immobilize Union General Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the James during its attack on Richmond in May, 1864. Fighting, which continued into June, successfully "bottled up" Butler at Bermuda Hundred. The battery then became part of the Howlett Line helping to defend Richmond until the capital was abandoned in April 1865.
