Richmond Renaissance – Day 18

I got lost on the way to our destination on Day 18.

Some of the stops were intentional, like following a sign about “Deep Bottom,” which turned out to be a portion of the James River that is 35 feet deep. Virginia is so loaded with history that this area was claimed by two different historical signs. One let us know that Captain John Smith traveled this part of the river in 1607 to trade with the Indians to support the Jamestown colony. Another told us that this was a strategic Union river crossing point in the Civil War.

We continued en route to our intended destination, winding down new but somehow completely familiar rural roads. We got to an intersection where we had no choice but to turn right or left and the only signs in place were these.

“Must be right,” I thought and followed the signs. The road became narrower and more rural. At one point my car was literally being chased by dogs while their owner calmly sat on his lawn tractor mowing the lawn as though nothing was amiss. The road eventually looped right back to where I had started from.

The next time around, we chose the unmarked left turn and finally found what we were looking for.

Malvern Hill was the site of the last battle of the Seven Days Battles in 1862. While these battles as a whole were essentially a Confederate victory, holding off the Union attack of Richmond, this last battle was a definite Union stronghold.

Malvern Hill is described as “one of the best preserved battlefields in the nation.” The landscape is nearly identical to the way things looked in 1862. There is lots of open farmland and the farmhouses that were here during the battle still stand. Successive owners have rebuilt the houses on their original foundations.

You have a couple of choices visiting this battlefield. You can just drive up, park and look quickly at the main field and read the signs or you can take one of two walking trails. The first is a short quarter-mile trail and the other a 1.5 mile loop around the entire battlefield. We needed to kill some time so we opted for the 1.5 mile route. If you have the stamina and the time, take this route and you are in for a treat.

Because the battlefield is so well-preserved, the 1.5 mile loop trail allows you to retrace in almost exact detail the movements of the Union and Confederate troops during the battle. There are two parking lots for Malvern Hill. We happened to park on the Union side but you could also park on the Confederate side. If you start on the Union side, you begin seeing the strong position the Union had and you walk into the Confederate lines, appreciating what an uphill challenge they were unknowingly facing.

As we walked the path, we came across this trail sign with an arrow pointing to the right and a small trampled part in the woods. “Looks like we go over there,” I thought. We mucked through the tall brush and came across this scene.

The trail was totally uncleared and there were large trees blocking the path. “Well, even if this is the right way, we aren’t dressed to go through this!” I thought and we turned back to the original path.

I have no idea why that curious arrow sign is there. Perhaps in winter it helps guide people coming from the opposite direction but its orientation has clearly confused those of us coming from the Union side.

The best bet in summer at least is to stick to the mown grass trail.

As we reached the halfway mark of the trail, we entered the Confederate side.

You can see from the view below that the Confederate Army probably had no clue that there was a line of huge cannons on the crest of the hill and infantry below them. One of the accounts says that soldiers were progressing through a cornfield where the corn was about waist high. Add a lot of smoke from gunfire and you can see that the Confederates likely had no idea what they were up against.

We then entered the woods where the Confederates sheltered against Union attack. There were sections of these woods that looked like they had million dollar landscaping! The moss covered the forest floor perfectly and the ferns were thick and lush beneath the trees. I assume this was all natural growth.

As we emerge from the woods, we learn that the Confederates were under attack from not only cannonballs but also “canister.” Canister was an alternative artillery where a tin can filled with small lead balls was fired out of a cannon. This seemed to be very deadly. I can’t quite visualize what it would be like to encounter a cannonball or canister but the accounts indicate it was awful.

When we got to the Confederate cannon position, we see that they literally had an uphill battle trying to take out the Union guns. From what I recall reading, the Union easily took out these cannons by blasting them from their strong uphill position.

I found myself really enjoying Malvern Hill. The loop trail is probably the very best Civil War trail I have walked. It gave me a complete understanding of the battlefield from both Union and Confederate perspectives. I would rank it up there with Drewry’s Bluff as a must-see battlefield.

We left Malvern Hill and drove a short distance down the road to Glendale National Cemetery where many of the Union dead from Malvern Hill were buried. There are also more recent burials of World War II and Vietnam veterans. The visitor’s center here was also closed but we enjoyed walking the grounds for a little while.

After all my Civil War battlefield trips, I started thinking about what would make these battlefields more interesting and understandable to the average visitor. Obviously structuring the battlefield trails like Drewry’s Bluff and Malvern Hill so that you feel like you are part of the battle helps a lot. Most of the battlefields can’t really do this well, however.

For those other battlefields, what I think would help would be an explanatory film in the visitor’s center or maybe even online about Civil War battlefield tactics. It is hard to understand the battles if you don’t know how these types of wars were fought. I envision a film where members of the current U.S. military or maybe reenactors show demonstrations of these battlefield tactics. Below is an outline of topics that were new to me as I wandered the battlefields.

1) Physical terrain – It seemed like an important skill for a military officer to scan a battlefield and identify quickly where the hazards were as well as the opportunities. Great things were hills of any size, fences (when lined with knapsacks, they made impromptu trenches) and mill races. Bad things were dips and hollows that could hide the enemy. Woods could cut both ways. Sometimes they were an advantage if they hid your presence or allowed for shelter. In the middle of a firefight, woods could also be deadly as the artillery could cut down the branches and falling branches could be as deadly as bullets.

2) Lines – “Lines” of battle are discussed at every battlefield. I don’t understand at all how these worked or what the enemy was trying to do with a line. Sometimes they were “holding,” sometimes pushing a line back, sometimes they broke the line but got killed anyway. They were worried about “flanking.”

3) Communication – In the era before cell phones or radios, how did each brigade know when and where to attack? How did they make decisions in the middle of battle?

4) Cannons – It would be helpful to see a demonstration of how you load and fire a Civil War cannon, how soldiers would have transported them to the battlefield and to understand the strategic placement of cannons. Also, since cannons aren’t a common movie weapon, understanding what kind of damage a cannon does would be helpful.

5) Earthworks – I am still not exactly sure how you use earthworks/trenches to protect yourself in a battle or how you fight against them if you are an aggressor. My husband says that earthworks were primarily a Confederate innovation to compensate for their lack of troops and that earthworks changed battlefield tactics dramatically.

6) Technology – We might think that Civil War weapons were somewhat primitive but we can see that both sides were constantly innovating their battlefield tactics and weaponry and really both sides were somewhat cutting edge with what they were doing. Union soldiers came up with the IED “Crater” and new cannonball weaponry like canister. Confederate soldiers were innovators in trench warfare and land mines. Both sides used hot air balloons for surveillance. My husband informs me that innovations in rifle weaponry were also critically important in the Civil War and that battlefield notions of chivalry didn’t really keep up with the technology, resulting in many needless deaths.

What would make you more inclined to visit a Civil War battlefield? Please share in the comments.