'Incredible bravery': A visit to New Market Heights (Va.)

Tim Talbott stands by Four Mile Creek, an obstacle for the USCT on Sept. 29, 1864.

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Dripping with sweat on a sweltering Virginia morning, I trudge behind Tim Talbott deep into the woods, a half-dozen or so miles south of Richmond. In the distance, traffic drones on the interstate. But it seems like we’re in another world.

Talbott's T-shirt, drenched in sweat, features a copy
of a painting of a USCT soldier.

“Is this remote enough for you?” says Talbott, the 52-year-old chief administrative officer for the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. We are tramping upon the New Market Heights battlefield, where, on Sept. 29, 1864, 14 U.S. Colored Troops and two of their white officers earned the Medal of Honor for valor.

Days before I set up my visit to Virginia, Talbott messaged me about New Market Heights: “It’s always an honor to be on that ground.” But this important battle gets stiff-armed in the history books.

Talbott grew up in Madison, Ind., a stop on the Underground Railroad—the network escaped slaves used to flee to free states and Canada. He has a deep interest in the experiences of Black people during the Civil War. The wallpaper on his phone is of Frederick Douglass, the famous orator, abolitionist, writer, and reformer. The copy of the painting on his maroon T-shirt, drenched in sweat, is of a one-legged USCT soldier on crutches. New Market Heights is his favorite battlefield.

During our nearly two-hour trek, Talbott and I examine the remains of earthworks of the famed Texas Brigade, swat away spider webs and mayflies, battle briars, remain wary of ticks, and explore Four Mile Creek—a major obstacle for the USCT as they advanced under withering fire toward the Rebel works. The USCT eventually forced the Confederates to abandon their line.

“Incredible bravery,” Talbott says of the Black soldiers at New Market Heights.

For more, read my book, A Civil War Road Trip of a Lifetime, coming soon.

Remains of earthworks constructed by the Texas Brigade

Tim Talbott navigates a path deep in the woods.

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