Battle at Garthright House - Mechanicsville VA - Battlefields on Waymarking.com

TEXT from Historical Marker attached:

Garthright House-"We charged across the open field under a murdrous storm of balls & canister shot...& soon gained complet[e] possesion of all the buildings....We soon fortified as best we could the aproaches to the house by barrells & farming tools & held the position...."
June 1, 1864, diary of John F.L. Hartwell, 121st New York infantry

The Garthright House stood in the path of charging troops at two battles: Gaines’ Mill in 1862 and Cold Harbor in 1864. The house belonged to Miles Garthright, a Confederate soldier whose cavalry unit saw action around Cold Harbor early in the battle. Portions of the building might have been 100 years old by the time of the Civil War. The nearby enclosed brick cemetery dates from the middle of the 1700s, if not earlier.

Union surgeons used the house as a field hospital in June 1864. Mrs. Garthright took refuge in the basement, where “with fear and trembling” she watched as blood dripped through the cracks in the floor and into the cellar. At least 97 soldiers died from their wounds here and received temporary burial in the front yard. Two years later the Cold Harbor National Cemetery opened across the road and work crews reburied all of the Union dead there.

Name of Battle: Battle at Garthright House Name of War: U.S. Civil War Date(s) of Battle (Beginning): 06/01/1864 Entrance Fee: Not Listed Parking: Not Listed Date of Battle (End): Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Post a photo of you in front of a sign or marker posted at the site of the battle (or some other way to indicate you have personally visited the site.

In addition it is encouraged to take a few photos of the surrounding area and interesting features at the site.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/16/2021 Don.Morfe visited it 07/31/2021 dream chaser visited it

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