• Gaines' Mill battlefield -- Watt House area

    Richmond

    National Battlefield Park Virginia

Embattled Capital, 1861 to 1865

Richmond's story is not just the tale of one large Civil War battle, nor even one important campaign. Instead, the park's resources include a naval battle, a key industrial complex, the Confederacy's largest hospital, dozens of miles of elaborate original fortifications, and the evocative spots where determined soldiers stood paces apart and fought with rifles, reaping a staggering human cost.

Features

  • Ranger-led Capitol tour

    Civil War Sesquicentennial

    This spring and summer, explore the places where more than 200,000 Americans waged war against one another to decide the fate of the United States.

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  • A ranger stands next to a cannon at Malvern Hill battlefield

    History

    There were two major campaigns to take Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy: the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and the 1864 Overland Campaign.

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  • Park ranger talking with a school group

    For Teachers

    Find out how to book a school program and receive pre and post visit activity booklets for your classroom.

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  • Park ranger greeting visitors

    Plan your Visit!

    This section will help you learn how to begin and how best to see our thirteen sites. Includes directions, maps, site addresses and operating hours.

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Did You Know?

Large seacoast gun atop Drewry's Bluff

The USS Monitor participated in the unsuccessful attempt to run the Confederate batteries atop Drewry’s Bluff on May 15, 1862.