American Battlefield Trust

Take a Hand in Protecting 128 Acres at Antietam and Shepherdstown

Originally published December 2022 · pp. 22–23

Champion Hill Battlefield in Hinds County, Miss. Photo by Mike Talplacido.

Advocates Needed to Shore Up Vicksburg Vicksburg National Military Park continues to languish; flooding and massive landslides nearly three years ago rendered up to a third of the park inaccessible. The Trust, bolstered by our allies at the National Parks Conservation Association and Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign, are calling upon Congress to step up and fund the work necessary to repair and reopen the park. The catastrophic damage, likened to “an earthquake,” is highlighted in a new video that outlines how a systemic solution is necessary to ensure that ongoing erosion does not further undermine park infrastructure or disturb burials at Vicksburg National Cemetery. Learn what you can do to advocate for solutions at www.battlefields.org/preserve/speak-out/ dont-erode-vicksburgs-impact. Vicksburg is not the only site currently facing threats to its integrity. Now, more than ever, we are seeing a resurgence of battlefield threats across the country in the form of data centers, highway interchanges, solar facilities, and more. Please join the thousands who have signed letters and petitions on behalf of sites like Gettysburg, Manassas, Brandy Station, and Wyse Fork. Help us advocate for win-win solutions that balance preservation and progress, and learn more about additional ways you can help our battlefield parks at www.battlefields.org/speak-out. Preservationists Seize the Crossroads at Champion Hill On May 16, 1863, the largest battle of Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign took place at Champion Hill setting the stage for a 47-day siege and ultimate Confederate surrender. During the Battle of Champion Hill, fighting unfolded on land then owned by Sid and Matilda Champion. Still located in the area, the Champion family agreed to sell their entire holdings, after building a multi-year relationship with the American Battlefield Trust, including a 144.4-acre tract that the organization previously placed under conservation easement. That tract, and an additional 353.6 acres, have now been acquired outright by the Trust, marking the nonprofit’s most recent victory and an opportunity to augment Mississippi’s most popular historic site, Vicksburg National Military Park. “This recent success equates to more than 1,200 acres we have preserved at Champion Hill, bringing our total acreage associated with the Vicksburg Campaign to 2,091,” said Trust President David Duncan. Since Vicksburg National

Military Park’s boundary was expanded to include the Champion Hill Battlefield and other sites from the broader campaign in 2014, the Trust and National Park Service have sought increase public access and interpretation. This victory, made possible by support from the American Battlefield Protection Program, the HTR Foundation, dedicated Trust donors and the State of Mississippi’s Department of Archives and History (MDAH) Historic Sites Grant Program, is a major milestone in that process. In the autumn of 1862, the Union faced multi-pronged invasion and now, 160 years later, the Trust has launched a national fundraising campaign to protect 128 acres of battlefield land tied to the Maryland Campaign, including properties on the Antietam and Shepherdstown Battlefields. Today, as national park visitors stand at the restored Dunker Church, their sight lines to the battlefield are obscured by multiple modern features. On September 17, 1862, this land was at the edge of the Reel Farm, just south of the West Woods. If the Trust is successful in acquiring these six acres, which are adjacent to other Trust-protected properties, they will be restored to their wartime appearance. Two days after the bloodshed at Antietam, the armies clashed at Shepherdstown, where the Trust has the chance to save 122 acres at the Osbourn Farm, an area long eyed for residential subdivision development. The Trust has already raised much of the $2.75 million cost through multiple federal and state matching-grant sources, including a first-time award from West Virginia’s Outdoor Heritage Conservation Fund. Further support from the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association Inc., Save Historic Antietam Foundation and a generous donor have left the private fundraising need at only $343,837, meaning all gifts are multiplied $8-to-$1. Learn more about this effort at www.battlefields.org.

The Dunker Church at Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md. Photo by Nicholas Iverson.

New Campaign Will Protect Site with Connection to Two Wars In late October, the Trust kicked off a campaign to preserve nearly seven acres of Revolutionary War hallowed ground at Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y., Eutaw Springs, S.C., and Fort Johnson, S.C.; the last named site has extraordinary significance in both the Revolutionary War and Civil War. In 1775, Fort Johnson was seized by Colonel Isaac Motte, marking the first time the South Carolina flag was raised over property previously controlled by the British Crown. Eightysix years later, a shot was fired toward Fort Sumter from Fort Johnson, officially beginning the Civil War. Today, the Trust is seeking to protect nearly two acres on Charleston Harbor. Over $2.7 million have been raised by the national non-profit, leaving only $62,000 left to fully preserve these American treasures with an opportunity match of $45-to$1! Learn more about this opportunity and more at https://www.battlefields.org/give/save-battlefields.

An aerial photo of erosion damage at Vicksburg National Military Park. Photo by American Battlefield Trust/Wide Awake Films.

The Trust Expands Virtual Reality Offerings

Fort Johnson in Charleston, S.C. Photo by Matt Brant.

Are you one of the more than 40 million people who have watched the Trust’s groundbreaking video Civil War 1864: A Virtual Reality Experience? Launched shortly before the start of the pandemic, this summer YouTube began featuring the title as suggested viewing and popularity of the acclaimed piece skyrocketed. With the increased eyeballs on our work, the Trust realized it was an ideal opportunity to preview a new project and take our audiences even further back in history. We’ve once again teamed up with our partners at Wide Awake Films to merged quality visual representations of the past with the latest technology and create a new short VR experience, Soldier Life of the American Revolution. It places viewers in a 360-degree perspective of what daily life would have looked like during the Revolutionary War, from the restless-yet-exhausted atmosphere of a military camp to the chaotic nature of woodland fighting to the perilous horrors of late 18th-century medicine and warfare. Check it out at www.youtube.com/americanbattlefieldtrust and look for more dynamic products in the same vein moving forward.

Virginia Leaders touring the Brandy Station Battlefield in Culpeper, Va. Photo by American Battlefield Trust.

Virginia Leaders Meet to Discuss New Culpeper Battlefields State Park

The Trust was recently joined by both House and Senate Virginia Natural Resources Committee members for a tour of Brandy Station Battlefield in Culpeper, Va., where plans for the new Culpeper Battlefields State Park were discussed. In attendance were over 40 Virginia leaders, county officials, and leadership from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Earlier this year, Governor Glenn Youngkin officially authorized the creation of the Culpeper Battlefields State Park; the new park is set to open July 1, 2024.