The Preservation of Land and Memory: Remembering an Oberlin alum and rising star in the Union army

Originally published September 2019 · pp. 31–33

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The great American editor, Maxwell Perkins, wrote to his colleague Ernest Hemingway in 1932, “Is there any chance you will be here in October? [F.] Scott [Fitzgerald] and I have got a grand tour of the Virginia battlefields planned, and although I do not see how I could take in more than two, it would be a great time if you were there.” Perkin’s had just visited Gettysburg and continued, “… Ernest, it was perfectly magnificent: you could understand every move in the whole battle if you had read about it. You could see the whole battlefield plain as day.” Still, many people can appreciate what Maxwell Perkins and his cohorts experienced at America’s battlefield parks. “We are trying to save land in Virginia where on May 14, 1864, former Oberlin College student, and soon-to-be Union General, Emory Upton, led his brigade against Confederate forces at Spotsylvania Court House at Myer’s Hill,” said Tom Van Winkle, President of the land preservation and conservation group, The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. “Although CVBT is based in Spotsylvania County, we have a national following, and we want it to grow. We are in a race with time to save historic greenspace around this county where Upton, and many other amazing figures from all over the United States, fought, and in some cases perished. Simply put, we need help to save this land,” said CVBT board member Paul Scott. Emory Upton, born in 1839 in Batavia, N.Y., attended Oberlin College to study under evangelist Charles Finney who taught Upton, “Slavery, alcohol, and other excesses were all evil.” In 1856 Upton was admitted to

West Point. He graduated in 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War. Over the next three years Upton would fight in most of the major battles in “the East” during the war, rising in the ranks to become a brigade commander by 1864. Myer’s Hill was part of Union General Ulysses Grant’s “Overland Campaign.” Grant’s Federal troops suffered 50,000 casualties in 50 days, slugging through the woods of Virginia. 1864 was a Presidential election year, and Abraham Lincoln needed military conquests to be re-elected. Without Federal victories emancipation efforts, and preservation of the nation, would be fruitless. The fight at Myer’s Hill was one piece of the 13-day Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, the third costliest engagement of the Civil War where 25-year old Emory Upton played a key role. On May 10, 1864, Upton led a column of 5,000 hand-picked men in a bayonet charge that punched a hole in the formidable, but protruding, Confederate earthwork, dubbed “The Mule Shoe.” The fighting netted 1,000 Rebel prisoners. General Grant was reported to have exclaimed of Upton’s Brigade success, “a brigade today, we’ll use a corps tomorrow.” Despite rain delays, just before dawn on May 12, Grant unleashed an attack similar to Upton’s May 10 assault. This time 20,000 Federal troops rushed The Mule Shoe from a different direction and captured 3,000 Rebels. The Mule Shoe fighting devolved into a 22-hour, hand-to-hand struggle. The most famous date of the 13-days at Spotsylvania Court House is May 12, 1864, because of the length and savagery at The Mule Shoe. “Because May 12 is so well-known, many other areas at Spotsylvania Court House are marginalized in popular history, including Waite’s Shop and Po River on May 9 and 10, and Myer’s Hill on May 14. The oversight spills over into our perception of preservation of the land at Spotsylvania Court House where much more acreage should be protected and isn’t. CVBT has been doing more about that neglect,” said CVBT board member, historian, and writing professor at St. Bonaventure University, Chris Mackowski. The race with time to save this battlefield`s land has accelerated because Spotsylvania County, just 60 miles from Washington DC, has been one of the fastest growing areas in the United States. The same roads becoming choked with rising traffic congestion are often the same roads where massive armies marched and fought from 1862 to 1865, posing a dilemma for conservationists. The rapid growth of Spotsylvania County contrasts with the hard reality that the underfunded National Park Service (NPS) owns just 1,500 acres (14%) of the 21,000-acre battlefield’s study area. CVBT has saved 40 acres in the western sector of the Spotsylvania battlefield. Last summer they saved 14 acres on the northern edge of the park, near where one of the highest-ranking Union generals of the Civil War was killed, John Sedgwick. Last September CVBT took title of 70 acres at Myer’s Hill. “Idealistically, preservation of historic greenspace can be bi-partisan activism. We are talking about protecting land from encroaching sprawl. We are talking about ingress and egress of traffic, quality of life, habitat, water quality, and saving trees. We are also talking about a specific and complicated history, where diverse cultural groups from all over the country collided under horrible circumstances, and in many cases were brave under such adversity. Despite all I have read on the subject it, is still hard to fathom what America’s soldiers and civilians went through,” said CVBT board member, Robert Lee Hodge. The fighting at Myer’s Hill isn’t exclusively a military story, but also how the soldiers sacrifice impacted their families at home; the loss of a son, or a father, or a brother, or a husband, or a friend. The battle’s impact on the civilian population of Spotsylvania County, and specifically the Myer family that Myer’s Hill was named after, are also parts of the massive saga at Spotsylvania Court House. In 1863 German immigrant John Henry Myer, a Fredericksburg, Va., businessman, moved his family away from the fighting to the then quiet village of Spotsylvania Court House. Soon Myer was drafted into the Confederate Army that would ironically gather around his home in Spotsylvania. On May 14 a Union attack took Myer’s Hill from Rebel artillery and cavalry units. Upton’s infantrymen arrived and began to build protective earthworks as an uneasy calm settled in. Upton’s commander asked him if he could hold Myer’s Hill. Upton thought he could, but said he would need additional troops to reinforce his exposed position. Upton received just a few hundred men to bolster his fragile post. Then, Union Army of the Potomac commander, George Meade, arrived for a conference at the Myer house with Upton. It began to rain in torrents. Soon after, hundreds of Rebels emerged from a wood line in a ferocious counter-attack that overwhelmed Upton’s forces, leading to Meade almost being captured in the Federal retreat. In response, a ruffled Meade ordered a massive Union attack, only to find the Confederates had left the hill. On May 15 the Union victors burned the Myer house. Stationed two miles away, John Henry Myer, a drafted Confederate soldier, undoubtedly saw his home burning. The ruins of the house are there today, as are some remains of Upton’s earthen entrenchments. Hodge said, “When I first visited Myers Hill 15 years ago, I found melted window glass at the house site. I couldn’t help but think, ‘This glass burned on May 15, 1864. What was John Henry Myer thinking on that day, and where was his family?’ That was an interesting connection to make. It’s nice to finally protect it, but now we need to pay off the debt before we can save more land.” “Emory Upton and his brigade, we want to remember, and thus pay respect to all the soldiers by saving this land; it is a physical reminder that helps tell their story more clearly. Additionally, we are saving greenspace along the way. We need your help in order to accomplish this,” said board member, author, and historian, Eric Wittenberg. He added, “CVBT’s administrative costs are low, at 12%; one of our mottos over the years has been, ‘Your green buys green.’” Other notable historians have wanted Myer’s Hill preserved for a decades. Civil War author Gordon Rhea, said CVBT’s Myer’s Hill purchase was “… one of the most important pristine sites remaining to be preserved on the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield. It is imperative that this key location be saved to enable future generations to walk the ground and understand the momentous events that transpired there.” Spotsylvania resident and Myer’s Hill historian, John Cummings added, “I’ve been hoping for nearly twenty years to see this vital property preserved. The human interest stories relating to Myer’s Hill abound, and its preservation and interpretation will greatly enhance the understanding of the two week struggle at Spotsylvania Court House.” Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service, Ed Bearss, said, “Spotsylvania is one of the seismic battles of the Civil War. At Myer’s Hill Grant was checked, but he went back and retook it. The fighting for the hill resulted in a crucial two-day delay for his army.” Because literacy and data gathering were exploding just before the Civil War began, historians and preservationists have a wealth of available resources to tell the Myer’s Hill story, as well as multitudes of other historic sites. Unpublished information is constantly being discovered and will continue well into the future to further explain our complicated history. Hodge said, “Often a battlefield is seen by many as an empty space and I get that; if one is not fortified with the specific knowledge of what transpired there, the historic fields are obviously much less meaningful. However, when one uses the written words from participants in those events, akin to what Maxwell Perkins was taking about in his letter to Hemingway, the doors of history open. When you read from the people who were there you realize more about the subject and the land it happened on and connect with America’s roots more completely.” History isn’t just about complicated names and dates, more importantly it is about the human experience, on that specific ground. The mass of letters breathes life into the space. On Myer’s Hill there are layers of stories to learn about, comprehend, and perhaps feel. It would be hard to have that same connection if that land became a Wal-Mart parking lot. The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust pays fair market value for battlefield land. They work with landowners who want to see their property saved for future generations to be able to appreciate and learn about this watershed moment in America’s history. For more information contact www.cvbt.org.