cold harbor national cemetery

I was successful in my search to find the grave of my civil war era Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity brother Lt. Edwin S. Rogers from Maine fighting on the Union side, that by chance, was found dying on the battlefield among the many dead and wounded by another fraternity brother from Alabama, fighting on the confederate side. He died in his arms of his southern brother, a remarkable chance meeting, and very touching story.Hundreds of soldiers that died in the fighting were buried hastily due to the sheer volume of casualties at the time, so most were not able to be individually identified when reinterrment happened a year later. Near his grave is a monument to honor those many many brave men, that gave the ultimate sacrifice, whose names we do not know and by circumstance, are not fortunate enough to have a headstone.

I made a quick stop at the Cold Harbor National Cemetery while visiting the National Park. It is across the street from the Garthright House and the Hanover County Cold Harbor Park. It is one of the smaller national cemeteries that I have been to, but still has the same effect. I would recommend parking at the park across the street as there is just a couple of tight parallel parking spots directly in front of the cemetery. The layout of the cemetery doesn't differentiate from the different wars, so you will need to walk through the entire area to look for the Union dead who are currently buried there. There are also a few monuments inside the cemetery to enjoy. Taking a few minutes to just take in everything will give you an appreciation of our past.If you are visiting the Cold Harbor and/or Gaines' Mill National Battlefields I would recommend visiting the Cold Harbor National Cemetery.

I wish I could go at night. I have walked through there during the day with a bunch of people and still I get creeped out.

We visited the Cold Harbor National Cemetery September 15, 2012. We live nearby and had never stopped. The cemetery is small enough to see all the graves in about an hour. Most of the graves are for Yankee soldiers killed during the Cold Harbor battles. There are a few recent graves and headstones. One of the most interesting things in the cemetery are two graves that have had their headstones completely enveloped by trees. All you can see of the original head stone is the tight side of the stone stickling out of the tree. The grounds are well maintained.