An Underground Civil War Time Capsule: While other Virginia caverns focus on natural beauty and geology, Melrose Caverns is also a living museum of Civil War history. During the war, Union soldiers actually sheltered inside the cave—using its cool, shadowed rooms for protection and rest, and even carving their names, unit numbers, and graffiti into the stone. These etchings are aging but most are completely visible today, offering a rare, raw connection to the past.