Jul 2, 9 AM - Malvern Hill Battlefield Hike

This hike isn't long, early, brisk, challenging, or designed to meet a specific pace. Having fun and learning something is our objective. Like Goldilocks said, "It's just right!". Near the conclusion of the Seven Days Battle in 1862 Confederate forces caught up to the retreating Union Army at this site on July 1. Had the South prevailed in this encounter, the war would have probably been over. However, having the advantage of high ground and facing a somewhat disorganized attack, the Union forces prevailed. As with each of the other battles during the dramatic week, darkness concluded the action. Malvern Hill had demonstrated the power and efficiency of the Union artillery in particular. Confederate leaders and soldiers alike could look back on poor command and control as the principal cause of their defeat. The casualty totals were more balanced than expected for a battle in which the outcome never was in doubt. Slightly more than 5000 Confederates fell killed and wounded, while roughly 3000 Union soldiers met a similar fate. One hundred sixty-four years later Malvern Hill is the best preserved Civil War battlefield in central or southern Virginia. Nearly unaltered in appearance since 1862, the battlefield's rural setting and extensive walking trails offer an ideal environment for visitors to study the climactic battle of the Seven Days Campaign. You will first observe the field of fire from the vantage point of the Union artillery, then move into the woods where the Confederate forces attempted to get organized for a frontal attack, and lastly emerge from the cover of the forest to retrace the ill fated charges into the teeth of the Union gunfire.…