Fort Harrison: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Richmond National Battlefield Park
von Bieberstein A and Foulds E. 2026. Fort Harrison: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Richmond National Battlefield Park. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 300096. National Park Service. NPS Northeast Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
Fort Harrison is located approximately 6 miles southeast of downtown Richmond, Virginia. It is part of Richmond National Battlefield Park, which preserves, protects, interprets, and commemorates Richmond Civil War battlefield landscapes, struggles for the capital of the Confederacy associated with the 1862 Seven Days’ Battles, the 1864 Overland Campaign, and the 1884-1865 Richmond and Petersburg Campaigns, including the American military, social, and political history as exemplified by the New Market Heights Battlefield. A portion of the property was initially conserved in 1927 and was included in the establishment of the national park in 1936. Fort Harrison is associated with the Intermediate and Outer Lines of Richmond’s defenses, built between 1862 and 1864, and the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm/New Market Heights, September 29–30, 1864. In concert with Major General Benjamin Butler’s army at Bermuda Hundred, General Grant launched a number of feints or concerted attacks on the Confederate defenses around Richmond, including Parker’s Battery and Fort Harrison. Using siege tactics to overextend Confederate resources, Grant was able to force the breakthrough resulting in the abandonment of Petersburg and Richmond on April 2, 1865, and the surrender of General Lee’s army a week later at Appomattox Court House. The 475-acre property comprises a narrow strip of land roughly six- miles in length, from the intersection of Battlefield Park Road and New Market Road at the north end to Fort Brady and the James River at the south end. The majority of the extant historic resources were present during the battle, including seven forts, eight batteries, and numerous linear-shaped earthworks. The fortifications are covered in a mix of grass and woody vegetation, and several are accessible to the public from roadside parking areas and trails. A log cabin dating to the early development of the park by the Richmond Battlefield Parks Corporation houses a visitor center, while a picnic area constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) is nearby. Other features include historic commemorative markers installed by the Battlefield Markers Association, and non-historic offices, housing, and maintenance buildings. Encroaching suburban residential development surrounds the entire site, although the houses are generally set well back from the park roads and screened by roadside vegetation and successional forest growth.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- von Bieberstein, Alexandra; Foulds, Eliot
- Date of Issue
- 2026
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- RICH
- Keywords
- Agricultural Field, Battery (Defense), Battle Site, Battles In The North And South, Camp, Campground/Picnic Area, Commemoration, Conservation, Engineering, Ethnic Heritage-Black, Expressing Cultural Values, Fort Burnham, Fort Harrison, Handicapped Trail, Historic Preservation, Historic Site, Interpretive Landscape, Interpretive Trail, Leisure-Passive (Park), Military, Monument (Marker, NPS Class I Principal Road, Other-Commemoration, Overlook, Plaque), Shaping the Political Landscape, The Civil War, The Federal Government Enters The Movement, Transforming the Environment