Cold Harbor • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The “Federal Artillery Battery” wayside marker is along the mile long hiking trail in Hanover County Park. (see map below)
Text from the marker:
Cold Harbor Battlefield Park Walking Trail
Hanover County Parks and Recreation
Federal Artillery Battery
Under the cover of night, Union artillerists left their horses at the foot of the hill behind you and dragged six rifled cannon up the slope by hand. The guns were then placed side by side inside this redoubt, with earthen mounds known as traverses, separating them for protection. The ammunition chests were carried behind the guns and placed in trenches dug for their protection. One artilleryman recalled that spare ammunition was wrapped in raincoats and placed near the guns.
This hill afforded Federal gunners a commanding view of the fields stretching past the Garthright House to the Confederate lines, 500 yards to the west. As part of the bombardment preceding the Union assault of June 3, this battery hurled shot and shell at Lee’s trenches. Most of Grant’s ordnance either fell short or flew harmlessly over the Confederate works.
From the caption to the drawing:
Union battery in action at Cold Harbor.
Location of the marker
The marker is on the one mile walking trail in Hanover County Park. (37°35’06.1″N 77°16’38.9″W) The park is on the south side of Cold Harbor Road (Virginia Route 156) about 650 feet east of the National Cemetery and next to Gathright House.