Cold Harbor • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The “Waters Ran Red” trailside marker is the ninth on the Cold Harbor primary walking trail. It is alongside Bloody Run not far from the park road. The extended walking trail rejoins the main trail at this point.
The photo looks west at the trailside markerm which is alongside Bloody Run. The park road runs across the photo, coming from the Visitor Center (to the left). The walking trail crosses the park road here, then turns south (left) to climb a small ridge that heads back to the Visitor Center.
Text from the marker:
The Waters Ran Red
This sluggish creek is known as Bloody Run in memory of the violent hand-to-hand fighting that occurred here.
Bloody Run flows east to west, winding through the woods. During the battle the brush-choked stream and its gentle slopes provided the only cover in sight. The open terrain in this area made the powerful Confederate defenses on the hill to your left even more formidable, and contributed to the overwhelming victory of the Southern army on June 3.
Location of the marker
This is the ninth marker on the Cold Harbor primary walking trail. It is about 300 feet beyond the previous marker, “A Lethal Occupation”, and is just beyond the crossing of the the stream and just before the road.