Robert Krick speaking before Civil War enthusiasts at the Charlottesville Senior Center.
Regular listeners of our podcasts might know Rick Britton. He’s an historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also organizes a Civil War lecture and day-trip series in conjunction with the Charlottesville Senior Center.
On Wednesday July 21st, National Park Service historian Robert E. L. Krick spoke on the Battle of Malvern Hill (the last of the famous Seven Days’ Battles). Fought on July 1st, 1862, Malvern Hill — located approximately 15 miles southeast of Richmond — pitted Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s 85,000 men against a similar number under Union Gen. George B. McClellan. In the afternoon, following a furious artillery engagement (during which the Federal guns maintained their defensive positions, as well as their superiority on the field), Confederate forces made repeated, futile assaults, losing over 5,000 in the bloody work. Although he had won the battle, McClellan withdrew that evening to Harrison’s Landing on the James River.
On Wednesday, July 28th, Rick Britton will conduct a tour of the Malvern Hill Battlefield. In the morning tour participants will take in Richmond’s wonderful National Park Service museum at Tredegar, then lunch nearby at the Tobacco Company. After lunch you’ll walk the fascinating Malvern Hill Battlefield. There is a fee for the tour. Call 974-6538 for more information.
This is the third in a six part series for 2010.