Cedar Creek 144th Anniversary Reenactment Is Oct. 17-19
By Julio C. Zangroniz
(October 2008 Civil War News)

MIDDLETOWN, Va. – The 144th anniversary edition of the battle of Cedar Creek will take place on Oct. 17-19, in spite of ongoing controversy related to rezoning of a limestone mining operation on the battlefield.

Suzanne Chilson, executive director of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation (CCBF), declared at presstime, “We have over 3,300 registered participants already, which is about the same size as last year.”

She added that the total was somewhat surprising, in view of earlier CCBF estimates of lower participation due to both skyrocketing gasoline prices and the two large reenactments of the Battle of Gettysburg held this summer.

CCBF’s split from a coalition of preservation groups to reach its own agreement with Carmeuse Lime & Stone, a Belgian conglomerate that owns much of the battlefield’s core area, does not appear to have affected the 18th annual reenactment.

On May 28, the Frederick County Board of Supervisors voted to rezone 394 acres and allow mining operations to triple in size. CCBF did not oppose the expansion at the hearing. Preservation coalition member Howard Kittell, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, told Civil War News, CCBF’s separate arrangement “basically stopped any opportunity for compromise.” (See July and August stories)

In its deal with the CCBF, the mining company agreed to pay for archeological and cultural-resource studies; donate any found artifacts to the CCBF; move piles of waste materials from the site and build landscaped berms to conceal the mining operation as much as possible.

Also, Carmeuse will donate eight acres of land to the CCBF, with the possibility of approximately 40 more acres at a later time, if the new land is deemed historically significant. Archeological studies are being carried out right now, Chilson said.

In a statement to Civil War News CCBF president Joseph W.A. Whitehorne said the agreement with Carmeuse was not dependent on the rezoning request. He said CCBF acted after almost two years of waiting for the preservation partnership group to negotiate a position.

CCBF’s solo action led to a great deal of bitterness among the preservation organizations, and as of yet no one knows how, or if, they will continue to cooperate in their efforts on behalf of the Cedar Creek battlefield. Chilson said a meeting of all concerned parties is scheduled for Sept. 22 and that she believes “everyone will be civil.”

In the meantime, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which owns Belle Grove Plantation adjacent to the battlefield, recently filed a motion with the Circuit Court of Frederick County to join a suit filed by 20 homeowners against the mining expansion.

In a Winchester Star op ed piece National Trust President Richard Moe and Belle Grove board chair Anne Buettner wrote: “…in order for us to support any expansion of the quarry’s operations, careful impact analysis must be completed and the necessary protections put in place. We will not cede our commitment to preserve Belle Grove Plantation and the Cedar Creek Battlefield for posterity.” 

Belle Grove Inc. and the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation are entities in the partnership park Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park that was established in 2002. The Trust announced in June that Belle Grove property could not be used for the October reenactment. There will be living history programs at the mansion, just as in previous years.

A number of businesses in Middletown, adjacent to the battlefield, are reputed to have called for a “boycott” of the Oct. 17-19 reenactment, though at presstime it was not possible to contact anyone who could discuss specific details.

The situation, naturally, has become a hot topic of conversation in the reenacting community.

As of mid-September, talk of reenactors boycotting the event had failed to generate much visible momentum, with a couple of exceptions, because most participants seem to feel a boycott may end up hurting the cause of historical preservation rather than helping it.

Drew Gruber, who reenacts with the 14th New Jersey and the Atlantic Guards Soldiers Aid Society, has been following the Cedar Creek saga more closely than most reenactors, even attending area meetings of the county supervisors.

He gathered and disseminated a lot of the pertinent documentation, including meeting minutes. Gruber favors action against what he perceives as the CCBF’s detrimental actions.

”Not going one year, to show that we actually take history seriously … will not hurt the organization, but effect change in both the CCBF’s administration and that of the Board of Supervisors who brokered such a poor deal,” he wrote. “Preservationists must present a battle line, unbroken and unwavering – and reenactors are the rank and file.”

Gruber emphasized that although he personally is not supporting this year’s reenactment, he is not advocating a general boycott. “I am happy that people are interested in learning the facts and taking some sort of stand, be it a silent protest, the writing of a letter, or whatever.”

Chris Daley, a reenactor since turned sutler, stated in the Szabo Forum, an electronic bulletin board for Civil War reenactors: “I’m very proud of the fact that I can take my son to Cedar Creek and tell him that reenactors paid for that battlefield; it’s one of the only places on earth we can say that.

 “The reenactment has been a crucial part of the preservation of the battlefield. If it had not been for the reenactment, we wouldn’t even have a Cedar Creek today.” He said boycotting would ensure CCBF “won’t be able to buy a single acre ever again.”

Michael Schaffner, of Brady’s Sharpshooters, who attends the Cedar Creek event nearly every year, commented, “It’s no longer clear that helping CCBF is at all the same as helping the Cedar Creek battlefield as a whole.”

In mulling over what kind of protest “would best respect the cause, the site and the work CCBF has done in the past,” he came up with three possibilities: “distributing literature at the event, walking out of the Sunday battle in silent protest, or wearing white arm-bands to signify concern about the Board of Supervisors vote.”

He concluded that he would attend this year, participate in some sort of protest, and encourage a boycott next year if CCBF doesn’t join with Belle Grove and the Civil War Preservation Trust.

And then there are those who have personal reasons for not showing up this year. John Petty, another member of the 14th New Jersey, wrote in the Szabo Forum that his unit will not support the CCBF and will be boycotting the event.

“I know my great-great-grandfather who fought and was captured at Cedar Creek would roll over in his grave if I supported them,” he wrote.

The reenactment will feature full-scale battles both days. Camps will be open to spectators on Saturday from 9:30 to 6 and Sunday from 9 to 5. Demonstrations, talks and entertainment are scheduled both days. For more information go to www.cedarcreekbattlefield.org.