Cold Harbor: Is it as Chilling as the Name Suggests? 

by Fayeruz Regan 10.2022

Much ado has been made about the Civil War ghosts of the Petersburg battlefield. But what many don’t know is that one of the bloodiest skirmishes in American history took place just ten miles northeast of Richmond. It was the Battle of Cold Harbor, and locals say the battlefield is rife with supernatural activity.

It’s an immersive historical site. There’s a visitor’s center, cannons in the field, and a drive-through tour of the forest. Visitors can pull into small gravel lots to read historical markers, monuments, see earthwork trenches (likely riddled with bullets), and stretch their legs on the many hiking trails.

But I also wanted to check out the, well, vibes. Some people feel that the term “vibes” is overused nowadays, but to me, it describes that intangible sixth sense. An instinctual feeling that can be tied to certain places. It can feel joyously familiar, like the first time I visited my friend’s bay house. Or it can feel ominous, like the study in my grandparents’ basement. And these feelings arise without explanation.

The facts of the battle are shocking. According to History.com, 7,000 Union soldiers lost their lives within the first hour, compared to 1,500 on the Confederate side. An employee at the battlefield suggested that it could have been 3,500 Union casualties within that hour, but that the scene was so bloody and disorienting, that accurate counts were taken only after the smoke cleared. Nevertheless, about 13,000 lives were lost in just a few days. It was a lopsided battle and a sad defeat for the Union Army. Ulysses S. Grant wrote, “I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made. At Cold Harbor no advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained.”

The situation seemed doomed from the start. When troops arrived, they were greeted by the corpses and skeletons that remained on-site from a battle two years prior, known as the Battle of Gaines Mill. In the chaos of war, locals lacked the manpower to collect the bodies. And when the Union troops arrived, they were already demoralized. Exhausted from the trek and lacking provisions, they could barely take the summer heat and the sight of dead comrades on the field.

For such a massacre to have taken place, it’s not surprising that locals experience strange phenomena. They describe a low-lying mist that only appears over the battlefield. It’s said to be reminiscent of cannon smoke seen in battle, and that it disappears as quickly as it arrives, around 1:00 a.m. Neighbors have complained about the sound of “phantom” cannon blasts. Visitors come at night to witness the infamous orbs of light that float through the forest and the battlefield. An easy online search provides YouTube videos documenting both the mist and the orbs.

My family and I arrived on a sunny day and took a leisurely drive through the forest, stopping to read markers and hike the trails. We had hoped that our many photos would capture something unusual. It was a beautiful, albeit uneventful, tour. That is, until we visited the eerie Garthwright house across from the battlefield.

We were technically alone there, but it didn’t feel like it. Union troops had commandeered the Garthwright family’s home, locking the inhabitants in the basement. It was then converted into a field hospital. Catastrophically injured soldiers received rudimentary treatment. About 100 men died and were haphazardly buried in the front yard.

As the Garthwright family cowered in the basement surrounded by screams of agony, a section of ceiling dripped through with blood. Union surgeons performed amputations right above them. This was traumatizing for the family, and it’s been said that the spirit of the family’s little girl still haunts the area. Neighbors have seen her staring out from an upstairs window in the vacant home. There’s a family graveyard beside the house from the 1700s. When we peeked inside the brick walls, we saw that the entire cemetery was overgrown, with no grave markers in sight.

I’ve had friends describe the battlefield as chilling, while others call it a great hiking spot. A Cold Harbor employee described a “square, military man” running into the visitor’s center in a panic, because he felt an ice-cold patch of air in the forest – in mid-summer. This underrated historical site is a lovely place to take in the changing leaves. May you find whatever vibes you’re looking for.

Cold Harbor Battlefield

5515 Anderson Wright Dr, Mechanicsville, VA 23111

(804) 730-5025

https://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/cold-harbor.htm