Point of Rocks Hospital

Point of Rocks Hospital (HM22E3)

Location: Chester, VA 23836 Chesterfield County
Buy Virginia State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 37° 19.184', W 77° 20.214'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 511 views
Inscription

The Bermuda Hundred Campaign

Shortly after the Army of the James landed in Bermuda Hundred, a field hospital was established here at Point of Rocks. The hospital originally consisted of tents set up in the orchard around the Strachan House. The tents were 50 feet long and contained enough cots and bunks to accommodate 40 or more patients. Sometimes when crowded, patients had to lie on straw bags with a blanket on the bare ground.

As the Bermuda Hundred Campaign gave way to the Siege of Petersburg the hospital developed into large complex of wood buildings. The hospital was organized into divisions to distribute patients according to disease. Dr. Moses Greeley Parker, a surgeon here, described one division as consisting of 17 wards, each 80 feet long, 20 feet wide and 8 feet high, built of logs and grouped like a horseshoe on the bluff. Other divisions contained 8 wards that were each 250 feet long, 30 feet wide and 15 feet high. These large wards could accommodate 180 patients each. It is estimated that over 3,000 patients would have been here at any given time.

In addition to the hospital, a Federal cemetery was established here that contained over 2,500 soldiers by the end of the war. Among them were over 850 United States Colored Troops. A handful of Confederate soldiers were also buried here. After the war, the dead were moved to the City
Point National Cemetery. The wall around City Point cemetery is constructed of stone that was quarried from the bluff that gave Point of Rocks its name.

An Unusual Patient
According to the Regimental History of the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery an unusual patient arrived here in March of 1865. "A sergeant of the 10th New York Heavy Artillery who was taken sick on the picket line, was carried to the Point of Rocks Hospital early in the morning of March 6th, where he was delivered of a bouncing broth of a boy...For the next three or four days the event created a great question among the two regiments as to its parental relations. "

There were rare accounts of women impersonating men during the Civil War. This patient at Point of Rocks was apparently one of those occurrences.

This sign was sponsored by Charles Lee, Rockville, MD
Details
HM NumberHM22E3
Tags
Year Placed2016
Placed ByChesterfield County and the Blue & Gray Education Society
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, October 30th, 2017 at 1:02pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 292930 N 4132903
Decimal Degrees37.31973333, -77.33690000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 37° 19.184', W 77° 20.214'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds37° 19' 11.04" N, 77° 20' 12.84" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)804
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling East
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 1207 Point of Rocks Rd, Chester VA 23836, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. Is this marker part of a series?
  2. What historical period does the marker represent?
  3. What historical place does the marker represent?
  4. What type of marker is it?
  5. What class is the marker?
  6. What style is the marker?
  7. Does the marker have a number?
  8. This marker needs at least one picture.
  9. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  10. Is the marker in the median?