Richmond Battlefields Tour

[Buckeye Bill]

Chuck (@KLSDAD ), my son and I will be touring the NPS Richmond Battlefields on May 11th, 2016. We will be starting out at the Tredegar Iron Works and end our tour at Drewry's Bluff (Fort Darling). I have attached the official NPS map with my highlighted tour route. I know this is a lot to accomplish in one day.........

I have visited the Tredegar Iron Works (Visitor Center and Museum), Hollywood Cemetery, Virginia Historical Society, Museum of the Confederacy, Confederate White House, Gaines Mill Battlefield and Cold Harbor Battlefield.

I will be visiting the North Anna River Battlefield and J.E.B. Stuart's death site north of Yellow Tavern the day before our tour of the Richmond Battlefields. After our tour of the Richmond Battlefield, we are heading south to tour the Petersburg National Battlefield and the Lee's Retreat tour to Appomattox Court House.

Any advanced advice on this tour route of the Richmond Battlefields?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

The issue, of course, is with how long you want to spend at each site. You could easily spend a week doing this tour and not see everything in depth. How much you actually get to see is going to depend on whether you're doing this run and gun style, Bill.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

There are walking trails at the Gaines Mill, Cold Harbor and Malvern Hill battlefields. I think I am going to extend the Richmond Battlefields tour to two days instead of one. I would love to spend a week touring these sites but I just do not have the time, Eric. After this trip, I will visit Richmond again and spend more time exploring the area.

 

[ErnieMac]

Unless things have significantly changed over the past few years you're not going to find a lot to see or do at White Oak Swamp or Glendale. White Oak Swamp was nothing more than a road side pull off. There is a National Cemetery unit at Glendale. The Civil War Trust has purchased a fair amount of ground at Glendale, but I am not aware that anything has been developed at the site.

 

[James N.]

Look south of Malvern Hill on Route 5: McClellan's army occupied the area between Westover Plantation and Harrison's Landing (Berkeley Plantation) after the Seven Days; as I remember, Berkeley House and at least Westover's grounds were open for tours. Both homes are beautiful examples of early 1700's Georgian architecture; here's my photo of Westover taken while filming Ironclads:

 

[donna]

They are beautiful homes. Toured them several years ago.

 

[dlavin]

Find the Texas Monument at Gaines Mill!

In all seriousness, I did the battlefields in a day. The next day I saw Drewry's Bluff and a few museums downtown Richmond. It was maybe 2 when I got done that day. But day 1 was long. Was up early and got back when the sun was down. I walked trails at GM, Cold Harbor, and Malvern Hill, and the small trails at the Forts. I went at it alone, so was on my own pace. i would have loved to go with company or a guide.

As others said, there isnt much at some of the stops (White Oak, Glendale, Chic. Bluffs).

I'd recommend museum of confederacy and the white house, and Hollywood Cemetery if you haven't been.

Advice...driving wise, use what the NPS gives you for directions. Otherwise if you use navigation it will eventually take you on the highway and you dont want that! Water and snacks bring along. Not much around some of those sites

 

[bdtex]

There are walking trails at the Gaines Mill, Cold Harbor and Malvern Hill battlefields. I think I am going to extend the Richmond Battlefields tour to two days instead of one. I would love to spend a week touring these sites but I just do not have the time, Eric. After this trip, I will visit Richmond again and spend more time exploring the area.

Yep. If you are planning on doing the walking trails at Cold Harbor and Gaines' Mill you will need more than one day. Just the driving tour at CH and walking tour(that's all there is) at GM took me 3 hours in January. My only regret from that whole trip was not having time for the walking trails at Cold Harbor. Make a quick stop at Cold Harbor National Cemetery too if you haven't been there. It's not huge and it is very picturesque. Very well kept.

I'm glad you posted that and the map. I saved my map from my January trip. I'm probably going back to Richmond/Petersburg again next January and I'm already thinking about places I'd like to go on my next trip there. Malvern Hill,Fort Harrison,Drewry's Bluff and Chimborazo Museum are high on the list.

Btw,I saw that you had Deep Bottom yellow lined. I've heard there's nothing there except some metal highway markers.

 

[dlavin]

Other thing I remember is there are a good amount of state historic roadside markers for these battles. I got out of my car and read them when possible, but I did not research them in advance. So I only pulled over when traffic was light so as not to kill myself or other drivers.

 

[dlavin]

BdTex has a thread. As do I, both about these locations.

As much research as I thought I did, I could easily go back and see totally different things.

 

[bankerpapaw]

Chuck (@KLSDAD ), my son and I will be touring the NPS Richmond Battlefields on May 11th, 2016. We will be starting out at the Tredegar Iron Works and end our tour at Drewry's Bluff (Fort Darling). I have attached the official NPS map with my highlighted tour route. I know this is a lot to accomplish in one day.........

I have visited the Tredegar Iron Works (Visitor Center and Museum), Hollywood Cemetery, Virginia Historical Society, Museum of the Confederacy, Confederate White House, Gaines Mill Battlefield and Cold Harbor Battlefield.

I will be visiting the North Anna River Battlefield and J.E.B. Stuart's death site north of Yellow Tavern the day before our tour of the Richmond Battlefields. After our tour of the Richmond Battlefield, we are heading south to tour the Petersburg National Battlefield and the Lee's Retreat tour to Appomattox Court House.

Any advanced advice on this tour route of the Richmond Battlefields?

View attachment 93803

Thanks,
Bill

Can't wait to see your wonderful video of this.

 

[bdtex]

As much research as I thought I did, I could easily go back and see totally different things.

Absolutely. There were 3 places that I planned to visit in January that were closed. Poplar Grove National Cemetery and The Siege Museum were closed for renovation and Pamplin Historical Park is closed on the weekdays in the winter season.

 

[bdtex]

Chuck (@KLSDAD ), my son and I will be touring the NPS Richmond Battlefields on May 11th, 2016. We will be starting out at the Tredegar Iron Works and end our tour at Drewry's Bluff (Fort Darling). I have attached the official NPS map with my highlighted tour route. I know this is a lot to accomplish in one day.........

I have visited the Tredegar Iron Works (Visitor Center and Museum), Hollywood Cemetery, Virginia Historical Society, Museum of the Confederacy, Confederate White House, Gaines Mill Battlefield and Cold Harbor Battlefield.

I will be visiting the North Anna River Battlefield and J.E.B. Stuart's death site north of Yellow Tavern the day before our tour of the Richmond Battlefields. After our tour of the Richmond Battlefield, we are heading south to tour the Petersburg National Battlefield and the Lee's Retreat tour to Appomattox Court House.

Any advanced advice on this tour route of the Richmond Battlefields?

View attachment 93803

Thanks,
Bill

Looking at that map again,I feel a little stupid. I stayed at a hotel right next to the airport the last night I was there. Hit Cold Harbor,the Cemetery and Gaines' Mill the next morning before my flight left. Seven Pines National Cemetery is right there close to the airport. Coulda left a little earlier and gone there before I went to CH. Doh!

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Thanks guys for the responses! I realize a lot of these battlefields have been gobbled up by urban development. Some spots only have a CWT marker and a Virginia State Marker. But I still want to see them, assisted with my battle maps.

Totopotmoy, Gaines' Mill, Cold Harbor and Malvern Hill battlefields are the main attractions to the Richmond Battlefield Tour (besides the wonderful museums). The preserved earthen fortifications are probably second. But I still enjoy to tour the surrounding areas surrounding a battlefield to get an appreciation of the ground.

As of now, I will try to fit this battlefield tour into one day. If time runs short, I will visit Drewry's Bluff (Fort Darling) and the Federal earthen fortifications the next morning before we travel to City Point and the Petersburg National Battlefield.

Bill

 

[Buckeye Bill]

I want to start my tour at dawn. How is the traffic flow in the northern sector of this map? May 11th falls on a Wednesday.

* I wish the NPS visitor center at the Tredegar Iron Works opened at 0800 hours instead of 0900 hours.

 

[jackt62]

Sounds like a great itinerary. A lot to see on one trip however.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Sounds like a great itinerary. A lot to see on one trip however.

Itinerary.....

* Day One : Trevilians Station and Cedar Mountain.

* Day Two : Brandy Station, Kelly's Ford and North Anna River.

* Day Three : Richmond Battlefields.

* Day Four : City Point and Petersburg.

* Day Five : Lee's Retreat Tour (Petersburg to Appomattox Court House)

 

[jackt62]

I haven't been to stops for days one and two (must await another trip whenever). Depending on how much driving and trekking you want to do, the Richmond battlefields can be done in one day but its a lot to do. Might be better to focus on only two or three of the major sites (Beaver Dam Creek, Glendale, Malvern Hill for example). Same for days four and five. I remember spending a few hours at City Point not least because of the interesting ranger tour. It's about a half hour drive from the eastern Petersburg battlefields (Crater, Fort Stedman, etc.). Might be hard to do on same day the western Petersburg sites including Pamplin (definitely worthwhile) and Five Forks.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

If we decided to visit the museums, I would definitely stretch this out.....

But we decided to visit the battlefields only on this trip.

 

[dlavin]

I didn't have issues with traffic and I stayed west of the city of Richmond and had to drive through downtown . There was minor slow downs but nothing I would consider traffic jams.