Malvern Hill: Tragic evidence of a long-ago war

Union artillery shelled these woods during the Battle of Malvern Hill.

One of the best-preserved Civil War battlefields, Malvern Hill, near Richmond, is always a treat to visit. During a stop there early this morning, it also served up a surprise: Just off a path in woods where Rebel troops formed and later sought shelter from Yankee artillery, two depressions in the ground, each about six feet long, are easily seen. According to a National Park Service marker, the depressions once probably were graves for Rebel soldiers, most likely casualties during the battle on July 1, 1862. After the war, the remains may have been disinterred and re-buried in a cemetery in Richmond. Union dead from the area were re-buried at the nearby Glendale National Cemetery.

Depressions in the woods at Malvern Hill probably held the remains of Rebel soldiers, 
according to the National Park Service.