Civil War Preservation Trust Unveils Report On Most Endangered Battlefields

(Washington, D.C.) - An historic West Virginia village where the scenic Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meet, a once rural crossroads town in Pennsylvania where the blood of 50,000 Americans was shed and a Tennessee battleground where weary Confederates paid dearly for their slumber are some of the nation's most endangered Civil War battlefields.

At a news conference this morning, the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) unveiled its annual report on the status of the nation's historic battlegrounds. The report, entitled History Under Siege: A Guide to America's Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields, identifies the most threatened Civil War sites in the United States and what can be done to rescue them.

"The Civil War was the most tragic conflict in American history. For four long years, North and South clashed in hundreds of battles and skirmishes that sounded the death knell of slavery," said CWPT President James Lighthizer. "Nearly 20 percent of America's Civil War battlefields have already been destroyed—denied forever to future generations."

According to Lighthizer, the sites mentioned in the report range from the famous to the nearly forgotten. However, all have a critical feature in common — each one is in danger of being lost forever, either fully or in part. The battlefields were chosen based on geographic location, military significance, and the immediacy of current threats.

If I recall, most if not all, of the battlefield historic sites in Virginia started out as Virginia State memorials, only later to be transfered to the U. S. Government's Park Service.

So it is not surprising that a (pardon my Southernism) Yankee battlefield (did they win that battle?) site would not be commemorated.

I've visited sites in Gettysburg too, on US parkland, where major Confederate charges occured--with no commemorative signs or markers anywere to be found. A lack of recognition of Confederate efforts in Pennsylvania...go figure. There are endless memorials to various Union units there though. Thee too, the mememorials were originally private/local/or State, only later did the Park Service take over.

You are so perfectly correct.

My grandparents purchased a 175 acer farm near Greenville, VA, in 1955. A wonderful plot of land. My grandfather was 75 years old at the time. He was a real "get go" sort of guy.

When I was there, when 13 years old, we took a "home tour" and visited a wonderful "pre-war" home.

There was an achient old lady who explained the family protrait in the dining room, who said the "slash" in the old family portrait was made by a "Damn Yankee".

It is part of my personal family and national history.

It was classic and understandable.

Being a California boy, I did not have a clue.

I'm aware, from working with them, that many of the preservation/conservation folks are liberals. Some of them are conservatives, too, but not as many. To be frank I don't care what their political philosophy or motivations are since we are working for the same ends: to keep an irreplaceable part of our nation's heritage--a very small part--intact for the enjoyment and education of future generations.

You seem to think there's some hypocrisy in it, but I thank God that the rich people in Middleburg and Upperville are active in this fight. They're the ones who have the money to pay for lawyers, feasibility studies, consultants; they know how to testify and depose effectively; they have the connections in Richmond and DC to achieve their goals. If only poor and middle-income people lived in Upperville, Til Hazel would have paved it all over entirely by this time.

Middleburg is not just about beautiful horse farms. Some of America's great architectural landmarks are there. Battles were fought there. Mosby was active there, and every other house sheltered him.

What those who favor development must remember is that the gorgeous open countryside of Northern Virginia is an enormous tourist draw. People come from all over the US and all over the world to see the battlefields, drive the Civil War Trails routes, track down their family roots, visit the places where their Confederate and Yankee ancestors fought and died. They go to graveyards, historic churches, inns, vinyards. The tourist dollars they bring in are clean income--that is, the dollars stay here but don't require new roads, schools, sewage treatment plants, or hospitals, as other industries do. And those tourist dollars won't get left in Virginia if people come and see nothing but endless ranks of townhouses and McMansions. They expect to see a landscape that looks not too much different from what was there in 1862, with stone walls and charming old farmhouses dotting the sweet green pastures, magnificent oak trees leaning over narrow country roads, an old church in the shadow of the Blue Ridge. Route 7 is not a tourist draw.

The horse business is a goldmine for Virginia, too. People who don't ride don't realize this, but the horse industry is a multi-billion dollar one and some of the best horseflesh in the world originates in Virginia. The breeding, training, racing, showing, and hunting require a lot of real estate. This is all profitable for Virginia.

So whether the argument for land preservation is based on a reverence for the history that created our country or on economics, preservation really is the wise course, and even if the person helping with the cause used to be a hippie, I'm glad for his efforts.

"I have not gone up by Monmouth battlefield in years...did they ruin it? I remember class trips to the towns where battles were fought. It was always very interesting. That church in Monmouth county where the wounded soldiers were taken was the last place I visited but I can not for the life of me remember its name. "

The portion of the battlefield where the battle started and General Charles Lee's troops were forced to retreat, is completely covered with houses now. The state park is actually larger now, having gotten a big chunk of land from the former ATT & T Corporation. Old Tennant Church is still there but housing developments are popping up very close to it. There is also talk of making the old freight railroad line that runs right through the battlefield park, into a commuter rail line that will host many trains during the day and night. They say the commuter rail line through the battlefield park is needed because of the tremendous influx of commuters now living in the area.

The Gettysburg rules were set by the winners.
Regimental monuments were only allowed where a unit spent the night, therefore all the union regimental monuments are on the high ground and all the confederate regimental monuments are at the bottom of hills. There is 1 Maryland confederate marker up by spangler's spring because they held it overnight and were driven back in the AM.
In addition in the 50 years after the battle, when most of the monuments were done, the local teams had both more money to pay for the work and more people who could make the trip to see it. Pennsylvania has the largest monument, etc.
Yous guys do have a few nice monuments along Confederate Avenue, including the Alabama monument. It's so fiercesome it looks like you won.
Even with all these advantages for the home team, everybody I ever met there sides with the South, especially since the Scout Medal hike ends with Pickett's charge. The youth campsite that our Scout troop used is actually in the woods where Pickett's division spent the night before the charge.

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