Near Mechanicsville in Hanover County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Confederate Fortifications
Photographed by Bernard Fisher, August 19, 2010
1. Confederate Fortifications Marker
The diary of Edward R. Crockett, 4th Texas Infantry, illustrates the daily pressure of life in these trenches:
June 4th
We work hard last night & dawn on the 4th have a heavy work completed. We have quit sleeping almost entirely.
June 5th
Last night we strengthened our works with a stockade & a cheaveau de freize, we worked all night, skirmishing all day...."
At Cold Harbor the quality of a soldiers entrenchments could mean the difference between life and death. Men in both armies incorporated lessons learned earlier in the campaign at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania to make their Cold Harbor fortifications even stronger. They piled up dirt and framed it with wood to create durable and defensible positions. The wood has rotted and the earth erodes slowly, yet even today these sagging lines convey power and security. Seven consecutive miles of defenses like these stood between Grant and Richmond in June 1864. Modern historian Earl Hess, in his study on the evolution of fortifications in the Overland Campaign, calls the surviving entrenchments at Cold Harbor the most singular set Civil War fieldworks we have.
Erected 2010 by Richmond National Battlefield Park.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, World I
this page online
Location. 37° 35.453′ N, 77° 17.331′ W. Marker is near Mechanicsville, Virginia, in Hanover County. It can be reached from Anderson-Wright Drive near Cold Harbor Road (Virginia Route 156). Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5515 Anderson-Wright Drive, Mechanicsville VA 23111, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Piedmont, in Central Virginia, and in the Richmond Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Confederate Position (a few steps from this marker); Between the Lines (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Confederate Breastworks (about 600 feet away); Grant's Grand Assault (about 800 feet away); The Waters Ran Red (approx. 0.2 miles away); Bayonets Are For Digging (approx. 0.2 miles away); A Lethal Occupation (approx. Ό mile away); Firing Blind (approx. Ό mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mechanicsville.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Union Position (was about 800 feet away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
More about this marker. The large drawing on the panel carries the caption, "When the armies withdrew on June 12-13, they left behind a scarred landscape. Many of the entrenchments survive today because they were so substantial that farmers proved unwilling or unable to destroy them."
Related marker.
Photographed by Bernard Fisher, August 19, 2010
2. Confederate Fortifications
Also see . . .
1. Richmond National Battlefield Park. National Park Service website entry (Submitted on August 20, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.)
2. Cold Harbor. American Battlefield Trust website entry (Submitted on August 20, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.)
Photographed by Evan Dwyer, December 27, 2025
3. Confederate Fortifications
View from the marker looking out on the line of Confederate trenches immediately beyond. The marker designating the Federal position on the opposite side of the field is just visible in the distance.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 20, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 20, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 918 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 20, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. 3. submitted on April 16, 2026, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia.
