Cold Harbor • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
There are a variety of Markers and Monuments on the Cold Harbor battlefield to help the visitor understand what happened here.
Monuments
There are only a handful of monuments on the Cold Harbor battlefield. Neither side found much glory there, one month into a bitterly bloody campaign that would go on all summer. Most of the monuments are in the National Cemetery.
- 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery
- Battle of Cold Harbor Confederate Main Line
- Mortuary Cannon
- 8th New York Heavy Artillery
- Pennsylvania Monument
- Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Historical Markers
The Cold Harbor battlefield has two main types of markers to help the visitor interpret the battlefield.

Wayside markers
Wayside markers use modern printing technology to exhibit colorful maps, drawings and photographs to interpret what happened at that location. These can be found in the park in a variety of sizes. A few wayside markers along the Auto Tour feature audio recordings powered by solar panels.
- Battle of Gaines’ Mill
- A Bloody Baptism of Fire
- A Dreadful Harvest
- Cold Harbor: June 2
- Confederate Fortifications
- Federal Artillery Battery
- From Farmland to Forest
- Garthright House
- Grant’s Grand Assault
- Killing Fields
- Read’s Battalion
- The Battle Opens
- The Bloody Eighth
- The Deadly Work of Sharpshooters
- Union Reserve Line

Trailside markers
These smaller trailside markers deliver text messages or simple black and white graphics on a smaller surface. They are usually found along the trails in the park.
- A captured trench
- A deadly delay
- A lethal occupation
- A well preserved Union artillery position
- Bayonets are for digging
- Between the lines
- Digging in
- Family cemetery
- Keep digging
- Keep your head down
- Misery in the trenches
- Nowhere to go
- Preparation for battle
- Scars of conflict
- The waters ran red
- The ultimate sacrifice
- Those people stand no chance
- Walk in the footsteps of history
- We have broken through
- We must hold this line
