Cold Harbor • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The Cold Harbor National Cemetery is on the north side of Cold Harbor Road about 1/2 mile east of the Visitor Center (see map below) The 1.4 acre cemetery is surrounded by a brick wall and has a two story lodge designed by Civil War General Montgomery Meigs.
There are four large monuments in the cemtery:
Mortuary Cannon
8th New York Heavy Artillery monument
Pennsylvania Monument
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The Entrance to the National Cemetery, with the Cemetery Lodge on the right.
The cemetery was established in 1866 and holds the remains of 2,110 soldiers. Of these, 1,952 are from the Civil War, 1,279 of whom are unknown. Most were soldiers who died on the battlefields outside Richmond, but there were a few burials from later periods. The cemetery is closed to further interments.
The cemetery is the last resting place for one Medal of honor recipient. Sergeant Major Augustus Berry was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Civil War. He later served as Superintendant of the National Cemetery.
View across the cemetery showing the Pennsylvania and 8th New York Heavy Artillery monuments.
Cold Harbor National Cemetery is not administred by the National Park Service, but by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It is closed on Federal holidays.
View across the cemetery showing the Cemetery Lodge and the Mortuary Cannon next to the flagpole.
Map and directions to the cemetery
The cemetery is on the north side of Cold Harbor Road about 0.5 mile east of the Visitor Center. There is a very small parking pulloff right in front of the building along the north side of Cold Harbor Road. (37.589062° N, 77.279969° W)