Local Virginia Grass Roots Preservation Group Begins 23rd Year of Saving Battlefields

Originally published March 2019 · p. 20

Local Virginia Grass Roots Preservation Group Begins 23rd Year of Saving Battlefields With the advent of the Civil War by the bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and secession from the Union of eleven states, decades of political turmoil in the United States Congress and the nation came to a head. As thunder clouds of war descended on the tranquil cities and towns of the South, the conflict would leave behind more than 750,000 casualties, by modern estimates, and see desolation beyond imagination. A large part of those casualties, over 100,000, would occur in the Fredericksburg, Va., area with the town bombarded and urban combat chasing civilians from their homes. The Union Army of the

Potomac and Confederate Army of Northern Virginia would clash several times in central Virginia between 1862 and 1864, making the names of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania indelible in American History. Fredericksburg, centered between the warring capitals,

Washington D.C., for the North and Richmond, for the South, made central Virginia one of the most fought over areas during the Civil War. A visiting British statesman observed a century ago, that Fredericksburg is “the cockpit of the Civil War.” For over 100 years, this region lay relatively forgotten and untouched by development. Now, again, with its proximity to Washington, D.C., and Richmond, pressure to develop this once war-torn area was great. On Sept. 4, 1996, several dozen community leaders gathered at a Fredericksburg home to organize a group dedicated to saving the most important Civil War sites that remained unprotected. The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust grew out of that session. The next March, the CVBT received the official non-profit 501(c)3 status necessary to begin raising funds. Almost immediately, the new organization played a pivotal role in acquiring the Montfort Academy site atop Marye’s Heights, that the college sought to turn into a parking lot until blocked by political efforts at the state level. This area was a Confederate artillery position during the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. Several preservation groups collaborated to acquire Montfort in June 1997. A few months later, the CVBT bought 100 acres on the south side of Route 3, just east of Chancellorsville intersection, the “McLaws Wedge” where Lafayette McLaws’ Division fought. In 1999 and 2002, the Trust purchased a further 12 acres in two parcels directly across Route 3 from the “wedge.” Generous bequests by the estates of Ralph Happel, retired National Park Historian, Brian Pohanka, Civil War author, historian, and preservationist, as well as the group’s loyal and growing membership base, gave CVBT the means to begin acquiring endangered battlefield land, meanwhile developing a national support base. The Trust today has loyal Partners in all parts of the United States and abroad. In 2009 and 2013, the Trust purchased significant property around the crucial Wilderness intersection, near where modern Routes 3 and 20 meet, totaling 150 acres. For the past decade, the CVBT has achieved its greatest preservation success in the area west of Chancellorsville where “Stonewall” Jackson’s epic flank attack struck the Union right flank on May 2, 1863; that historic location enjoyed no protection at all until fairly recently. Between 1999 and 2017, the Trust purchased eleven tracts there, totaling nearly 100 acres. By the end 2018, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust had saved outright, or participated in protecting, 1,300 acres on the four main Fredericksburg battlefields. In February 2018, the Trust signed a contract to save 14 acres just outside the entrance to Spotsylvania Battlefield on Brock Road, and most recently acquired 73.3 acres on the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield known as Myer’s Hill. Tom Van Winkle currently serves as president of CVBT and is supported by a 14-member volunteer board. At this year’s 2019 annual conference, being held April 5th -7th in Fredericksburg, the CVBT will again welcome Partners from all across the country to celebrate its preservation successes by visiting sites saved and other locations that deserve protection. Its motto remains “Preserving Dirt and Grass.” The historical benefits of that remarkable record must be obvious. As an additional benefit to local citizens, it becomes steadily more apparent that preserved battlefield land soon will be the only large block of green space in a region becoming densely urbanized. But this battle to save more hallowed ground from the blade of the bulldozer continues. For information on becoming an active Partner and donating, please contact the Trust at P.O. Box 3417, Fredericksburg, VA 22402; (540) 374-0900, visit the website at www.cvbt.org, or email at [email protected].