Keep Digging trailside marker

Cold Harbor • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies

The “Keep Digging” trailside marker is the fourth marker along the Cold Harbor Battlefield primary walking trail.

Keep Digging trailside marker on the Cold Harbor battlefield outside Richmond, Virginia

Text from the marker:

Keep Digging

These trenches represent a dramatic change in battlefield tactics. When the two armies met on this ground in 1862, soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder; victory was often dependent upon the success or failure of a dramatic charge.

By 1864 field fortifications played an increasingly significant role in determining the outcome of a battle. Despite the obvious advantage held by an entrenched army, commanders continued to order frontal assaults against these nearly impregnable positions, resulting in enormous casualties.

Keep Digging trailside marker on the Cold Harbor battlefield outside Richmond, Virginia

Location of the marker

The marker is the fourth marker along the Cold Harbor Battlefield primary walking trail. (37°35’18.4″N 77°17’01.1″W) It is a short distance past the previous “Keep Your Head Down” marker about a quarter mile from the trailhead at the Visitor Center.