Interesting Facts

• During the Civil War
• The Chickahominy River dominated the planning and operations of both armies
•  In 1862 and 1864, the Chickahominy River swamps frustrated attempts by federal troops to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond
• Early in the war, as federal troops were making their way from Hampton Roads toward Richmond, the Chickahominy River, its bridges flooded by spring rain, forced the federal army to split its forces isolating a regiment at the famous battle of Seven Pines
• Upon assuming field command of the Confederate army, General Robert E. Lee immediately ordered his troops to start constructing extensive earth works in the central part of the Chickahominy watershed
• Later in the war with Lee’s and Grant’s troops positioned just north of the River, worries over becoming mired in the Chickahominy’s swamps influenced troop placement for the Battle of Cold Harbor 

• Many of the trenches and mounds constructed by both armies survive today, located near Mechanicsville, along Beaverdam Creek, in Cold Harbor, and at Gaines Mill. Several of these historic battlefields are located both on private lands and in the Richmond National Battlefield Park.

• VA Dept of Environmental Quality (n.d.). Chickahominy River Watershed – Fact Sheet. Retrieved October 10, 2018, from https://www.deq.virginia.gov/Portals/0/DEQ /ConnectWithDEQ/EnvironmentalInformation/VirginiaNaturally/k12ed/FactSheets.pdf

Mesch, A. (n.d.). Cold Harbor, VA. Retrieved October 10, 2018, from http://civil-war-journeys.org/cold_harbor_va.htm