Cold Harbor • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The “A Lethal Occupation” trailside marker is the eighth marker on the Cold Harbor primary walking trail.
The marker is beside defensive works that sheltered the dealy sharpshooters that preyed on the Union lines.
Text from the marker:
A Lethal Occupation
From this advanced Confederate line, constructed after the grand Union assault of June 3, Lee’s sharpshooters searched for targets. They were near enough to the Federal line that enemy voices could be heard.
Between June 3 and June 12 constant skirmishing, artillery firing, and the deadly business of the Union and Confederate sharpshooters characterized the Cold Harbor fighting. Up and down the lines soldiers feared the work of these marksmen with their long range rifles. One Virginia artilleryman considered the sharpshooter “little better than a human tiger lying in wait for blood.”
Location of the marker
The marker is the eighth marker on the Cold Harbor primary walking trail. It is about 500 feet beyond the previous marker, “A Deadly Delay”.