In 1996, my Wolverine comrade, Steve Parlow and I participated in the ACWS Preservation March that retraced the Army of Potomac's "change of base" withdrawal from Savage Station (Elko Church) to Glendale. Steve and I discovered we were the only Sharp Shooters attending the March, so we fell in with the Pennsylvania Bucktails, acting as the 'rear guard' for the Federal column. Following behind 2-300 yards was the Confederate marchers.
While both groups waited in the Elko Church parking lot for the march to begin, One of the Rebs pointed at Steve and I calling us "leprechauns". I rose to his challenge with: "
Ey, laddy, we be leprechauns alright, with Sharps rifles that can take your hed clean off at 400 yards!" As his comrades boomed with laughter, he turned red. His pard nudged him: "
See, I told you not to go messing with them green fellows, now you got'em riled at you". The mood of all the participants, blue and gray, ranged from joyous to solemn. More than a few had ancestors who had trod this same ground, in some cases, their lives ending at one of the battlefields ahead. I learned afterwards that up to 500 blue and gray participants supported the March that weekend.
The opportunity to march in the footsteps of the original Sharp Shooters was memorable; the hallowed names
Frayser Farm,
Charles City Cross Roads,
Glendale were translated into green pastoral farm fields and cool deep woods. As we passed through White Oak Swamp, the marchers fell silent, only the steady tramp of feet echoing off the two lane blacktop and entwined tree branches overhead. A muddy stream, reflecting a rainbow of oil, was lined with wildflowers. Appearing out of the gloom, a yellow Caterpillar tractor sat mired to its drive wheels in black muck. I had a flashback to an Alfred Waud illustration of AoP wagons and mule teams stuck in the same mud 135 years earlier. When the column reached it's final water/blister tending stop at Glendale, I crossed the road and entered the silent National Cemetery enclosure to pay my respects to the Sharp Shooters buried there.
That afternoon I explored the woods and streams, gradually working my way south, from the Henrico Hunting Club (camp ground for the CSA/US participants), to finally emerge onto Carter Mill road and the Malvern Hill battlefield. I had left Steven's regimental history behind in the tent, but I had no trouble retracing the attack route of MaGruder and Huger’s divisions, the USSS skirmish line, artillery positions, the Crew House and Turkey/Crew Run 'bluff' overlook, (another USSS skirmish line). At that time the battlefield was lined with pines that have since been cut back to recreate the 1862 scenery. The next day, Father's Day, the ACPWS turned over the nearly 800 acres of Malvern Hill/Glendale battlefields to the National Park Service. To have been part of the March and preservation efforts is one of my fondest memories.
Since 1996, the ACPWS/ABFT has steadily added to the acreage to the battlefields. For those wishing to retrace the steps of the Sharp Shooters there are two sites that I found helpful when recommending hiking trails. Under the "L
ive and Let Hike" website, Andrew Wojtanik provides a excellent overview of the battle, complete with maps, distance/length of time and terrain difficulty:
https://liveandlethike.com/2018/06/03/malvern-hill-trail-richmond-national-battlefield-park-va/The 2017 National Park Service publication "
Cultural Landscape Inventory" is more detailed and comprehensive in its scope, but for those with an interest in the pre-post historical overview of the Park, makes for fascinating reading:
https://npshistory.com/publications/rich/cli-malvern-hill.pdfBill Skillman
Michigan Companies
Berdan Sharp Shooters Survivors Association