The Killing Fields at Cold Harbor, Virginia.

[Buckeye Bill]

 

[Jimklag]

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Once again, great pictures.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

On this day in 1864 at 0430 hours, 50,000 Federal troops in the II, VI and XVIII Corps launched a massive assault near the Cold Harbor Tavern just east of Richmond, Virginia. The Confederate position, now well entrenched, proved too strong for the Federal troops. In less than an hour, thousands of Federal soldiers lay dead and dying between the lines. Pinned down by a tremendous volume of Confederate infantry and artillery fire, Federal Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant's men could neither advance nor retreat. With cups, plates, and bayonets, they dug makeshift trenches. Later, when darkness fell, these trenches were joined and improved.

 

[Jimklag]

On this day in 1864 at 0430 hours, 50,000 Federal troops in the II, VI and XVIII Corps launched a massive assault near the Cold Harbor Tavern just east of Richmond, Virginia. The Confederate position, now well entrenched, proved too strong for the Federal troops. In less than an hour, thousands of Federal soldiers lay dead and dying between the lines. Pinned down by a tremendous volume of Confederate infantry and artillery fire, Federal Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant's men could neither advance nor retreat. With cups, plates, and bayonets, they dug makeshift trenches. Later, when darkness fell, these trenches were joined and improved.

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Good story. This nasty battle pretty much finished off the famous II Corps. Very few veterans were left in Hancock's command after Cold Harbor. There was no widespread use of ID tags in the Civil War, so before the charge, Union boys pinned their names to their uniforms so burial details could identify their bodies. They knew they would be shot.

 

[Jimklag]

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If you've been to lots of Civil War battlefields, you found the vast majority of them beautiful places despite the bloodshed and horror that took place there. I found in my visits to Cold Harbor that there's not much beautiful about it and it has, to me, a very sinister vibe. The place gives me the creeps. Don't know why.

 

[amweiner]

I've never been to Cold Harbor. Thank you for sharing these great pictures, @Buckeye Bill. This is such a heartbreaking battle, for many reasons - the tremendous loss of life in such a short time, the inability or unwillingness to stop attacking an impregnable position, the stubbornness that let the wounded die horribly, and the poignancy (as @Jimklag mentioned about soldiers writing their names down to identify their bodies, the diary entry reading "June 3. Cold Harbor. I was killed").

 

[shermans_march]

There was no widespread use of ID tags in the Civil War, so before the charge, Union boys pinned their names to their uniforms so burial details could identify their bodies. They knew they would be shot.

That hit me in the gut when I read this. Having the courage to charge the fortifications with the knowledge that you would not survive. Words fail me.

 

[BillO]

Grants Overland campaign did wear out Lee's army but it did the same to his. This fight is the first I know of that the AoP refused an order to advance against the enemy. They had had enough.

 

[AUG]

The XVIII Corps' attack on Kershaw's salient.

 

[Jamieva]

I walked the "shorter" trail but have not done the longer one yet. Hoping to do that before the weather gets oppressive.

 

[truthckr]

Awesome photos. As someone else mentioned there is a strange eerie vibe about this place when I visited.

 

[Blockaderunner]

If you've been to lots of Civil War battlefields, you found the vast majority of them beautiful places despite the bloodshed and horror that took place there. I found in my visits to Cold Harbor that there's not much beautiful about it and it has, to me, a very sinister vibe. The place gives me the creeps. Don't know why.

I visit quite a few WW1 battlefields, and that description applies to most of those. They tend to be in insignificant places, with no spectacular views. But what happened there tends to linger in the air.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Enjoy,
Bill

 

[Jimklag]

Unlike most Civil War battlefields, Cold Harbor has no beautiful landscape to compensate for the horror that took plce there.

 

[Dom71]

If you've been to lots of Civil War battlefields, you found the vast majority of them beautiful places despite the bloodshed and horror that took place there. I found in my visits to Cold Harbor that there's not much beautiful about it and it has, to me, a very sinister vibe. The place gives me the creeps. Don't know why.

Not trying to say theirs anything supernatural about it, but I have always believed the ground at these places retains an energy from what happened there. All these fields had terrible things happen upon them but Cold Harbor had a particular butchery to it that probably can be felt even today. You can sense it sometimes at Gettysburg and I definitely felt it at the wilderness battlefield.

 

[Patrick H]

Bill gives the best photo tours of battlefields. I have been to Virginia, but never to Cold Harbor.

 

[Jimklag]

Not trying to say theirs anything supernatural about it, but I have always believed the ground at these places retains an energy from what happened there. All these fields had terrible things happen upon them but Cold Harbor had a particular butchery to it that probably can be felt even today. You can sense it sometimes at Gettysburg and I definitely felt it at the wilderness battlefield.

I think part of my eerie feeling at Cold Harbor is that it never seems to be sunny there. Look at @Buckeye Bill 's photos and mine and note the overcast apparent in all of them.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Not trying to say theirs anything supernatural about it, but I have always believed the ground at these places retains an energy from what happened there. All these fields had terrible things happen upon them but Cold Harbor had a particular butchery to it that probably can be felt even today. You can sense it sometimes at Gettysburg and I definitely felt it at the wilderness battlefield.

I have had the opportunity to visit a ton of battlefields throughout our nation. In my opinion, there is a creepy energy lingering in the air at most of these sites. But nothing compares to this site.....

Bill

 

[Kip124thNY]

Great photos! Thanks for posting.

 

[Jimklag]

I have had the opportunity to visit a ton of battlefields throughout our nation. In my opinion, there is a creepy energy lingering in the air at most of these sites. But nothing compares to this site.....

Bill

You're right. I could feel the hair on my neck standing up just watching your video.