Posted on 09/16/2004 3:26:44 PM PDT by yonif
(AP) - A portion of the battlefield where Gen. Robert E. Lee's outnumbered Confederate forces defeated Union soldiers in 1863 will be spared from development under a proposed deal preservationists call a model for other Civil War sites.
The agreement to set aside 57 hectares of the "core" Chancellorsville battlefield marks a breakthrough in a long campaign to save part of the land.
The national Civil War Preservation Trust compared the deal to the successful effort to defeat Walt Disney Co.'s plans 10 years ago to build a theme park near Manassas National Battlefield.
"We see this as the beginning of a trend of battlefield preservationists working with developers," trust spokesman Jim Campi said Wednesday.
Under the agreement, the trust would pay developer Tricord Homes of Spotsylvania $3 million for 57 hectares near Fredericksburg. Tricord Homes would forfeit its right to build retail space on its remaining property along a heavily travelled road nearby and also would agree to set back homes 300 metres from the road.
In exchange, Spotsylvania officials would permit Tricord to build 294 homes for adults on three parcels - roughly 220 more homes than allowed under current zoning.
The deal is subject to approval by the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors.
From May 1 to May 3, 1863, Lee's forces stopped the Union from wresting Fredericksburg from the Confederacy. Chancellorsville also was the last battle where Lee and Confederate Lt.-Gen. Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson fought together. Jackson was mortally wounded on the second day of the battle.
"Historians refer to it as one of the most important battles of the Civil War," Campi said.
"It's often referred to as Lee's greatest military victory."
Although the 57 hectares are outside the boundaries of Chancellorsville National Battlefield, preservationists said parts are nonetheless historically significant. The property to be preserved includes an area east of what is known as Lick Run, where Union and Confederate troops clashed on the first day of the three-day battle.
Russell Smith, the park's superintendent, said the land provides "a green gateway to the battlefield."
Wherever a site involved American troops losing, I recommend that no property be retained for historical reasons beyond that needed for a sign on a pole.
The 13 acres my wife and I have is the highest elevation in the county and clear view for miles in all directions. Our land will probably be used for elevation sightings and our house as a command post in Civil War II :)
Ping.
I'll be fighting with the South in that one. I have more in common with a Zell Miller than a jumpin' Jim Jeffords.
It's a good thing that Americans won here.
Confederates were all traitors ~ they gave up being Americans with secession.
For those of you not familiar with the peculiar French system of measurement, 57 hectares is equal to about 141 acres.
I'm sure the Confederates would have agreed with you. Mr. Lincoln disagreed, however.
So, Lincoln was wrong from time to time. Look at how he let McClellan linger on and on and on and on.
They shot him for that.
Ingrates.
Still, after [Lincoln]'d thumped their tails, and reacquired all the land they'd stolen from the United States, he was willing to let them reclaim their patrimony. They shot him for that. Ingrates.
Sheesh, and you Yankees tell us to get over it! What have you got to be so bitter about, 140 years after the fact? Let it go. . .
See Post 9
Quote:I'll be fighting with the South in that one
It won't be North vs South next time. It will be Red Bush and Blue Gore. Liberals vs conservatives. I truly feel there will be some form of bombings like the IRA going on in this country within 10 years to start things off. I have never seen this much hatred between the Rats and Republicans.
You are living proof of the failure of the American educational system. The union won only by waging war on cilvilian non-combatants, raping our women and starving our families. Do it today and you'd be known as a terrorist.
Hard to call half the nation traitors. You had two factions with rights and wrongs on both sides. This wasn't one or two renegade states... and this decision weighed heavily on all of those involved..... history supports this.
NO Confederate leader waas brought to trial for treason.... and this is an important point. The first union of the original 13 colonies was effected by the Articles of Confederation, which were adopted in 1781. The articles established a confederation of sovereign states in a permanent union, however the "permanence" of the Union lasted only until 1788, when 11 states withdrew from the confederation and ratified the new Constitution, which became effective on March 4, 1789. A textbook used at West Point before the Civil War, A View of the Constitution, written by Judge William Rawle, states, "The secession of a State depends on the will of the people of such a State."
Ping!
Neither factually nor legally true. They were part of the Confederate States of America, and since the 1950s, they have been legally recognized as veterans, the same as those who fought for Mr. Lincoln.
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