A Captured Trench

On the morning of June 1, 1864, Confederate soldiers of Thomas Clingman’s North Carolina brigade frantically dug this trench in anticipation of a Union assault later that day. Around 6:00 p.m., Federal troops of the VI Corps moved into position near Old Cold Harbor, a half-mile to the east, and with two hours of daylight remaining received orders to attack as part of the first Union assault at Cold Harbor. Emory Upton’s brigade of 2600 Union infantry attacked here, and an intense, bloody battle followed. Upton’s men eventually reached this earthwork and held to it despite repeated attempts that evening to retake it. At dawn the work was strengthened and occupied by skirmishers, and during the Union stay at Cold Harbor, which lasted until midnight of June 12, it remained their front line. The trench is a rare surviving example of a turned entrenchment, used by each army and consequently facing in two different directions.

Mechanicsville, Virginia · United States