American Battlefield Trust — March 2024

Originally published March 2024 · pp. 26–27

Play a Part in Preserving Battlefield Land in Virginia and Mississippi

To start the new year, the American Battlefield Trust launched a campaign to preserve 10 acres of hallowed ground across three Civil War battlefields within two states: Spotsylvania Court House (Va.), Corinth (Miss.) and Champion Hill (Miss.). Altogether, the transaction value for these properties amounts to more than $687,000. However, with anticipated state and federal matching grants, the Trust is left to raise the final $215,300. With a match in place, this means that each donor dollar will be matched $3-to-$1. Spotsylvania Court House was the second battle of the Overland Campaign, and with more than 31,000 casualties, became one of the bloodiest ever fought on American soil. On May 12 ,1864, the fifth long day of fighting, more than 22 hours of close quarters combat followed a massive Union attack. The targeted twoacre tract is surrounded by land that has already been protected and is just adjacent to the property where Union General John Sedgwick was killed by Confederate sharpshooters.

The tract plays a crucial role in telling the complete story of the battlefield. At Champion Hill, the Trust has an opportunity to save five acres of bloodstained hallowed ground that witnessed Confederate troops advancing and retreating throughout the course of fighting on May 15, 1863. Preserving this acreage which is surrounded by preserved battlefield land and is highly desirable to developers now would add to the decades of work the Trust has done to preserve the site of a critical engagement in one of the most important campaigns of the war. The third target tract is at Corinth, where Union forces, fresh off their victory at Shiloh, advanced and laid siege to the city. The Confederates eventually evacuated but tried and failed to recapture Corinth a few months later, suffering 7,200 casualties. An impressive network of earthworks and trenches still remains. Today, we can preserve three acres and add to the battlefield landscape that is already protected. These historic grounds continue to be sought after by developers with unlimited budgets. Because of this, the Trust must act fast to ensure these properties are preserved forever. To learn more about this preservation effort and others, visit www.battlefields. org/give/save-battlefields.

Trust Joins Legal Battle to Protect Manassas Battlefield In mid-January, the Trust joined nine local citizens in taking legal action to stop construction of the world’s largest data center campus on more than 1,750 acres immediately adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park. The land was rezoned without regard for the irreparable impact on the region’s unique historic, natural, and cultural resources. The lawsuit asks the Circuit Court for Prince William County to overturn the trio of rezonings granted in violation of Virginia Code by the lame duck County Board of Supervisors in December 2023. “The Manassas Battlefield is a national treasure and the very definition of hallowed ground,” remarked Trust President David Duncan. “Hundreds of thousands of people visit this National Park every year, generating tourism dollars for the community and providing local residents with recreational trails and open space. It is reckless in the extreme to jeopardize this historic sanctuary over a development that could easily be built elsewhere in the state.” The proposed data center development, dubbed the Prince William Digital Gateway, is slated to become, at full buildout, the world’s largest data center campus and would overshadow famed Brawner Farm where, at the Second Battle of Manassas in August 1862, Union and Confederate forces faced off against one another in horrific combat. The fallow fields that were the launching point for one of the most devasting and decisive assaults of the Civil War could soon be blanketed with as many as 37 data centers, eightstory, drab concrete-and-steel behemoths that would loom over the battlefield park. In December, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors approved, in a 4-3 vote, the three rezonings after a nearly unprecedented, 27hour public hearing, despite overwhelming local opposition, over objections from the National Park Service, and against the recommendation of both County staff and the County’s Planning Commission. The lawsuit cites an array of legal violations committed by Prince William County as grounds to overturn the rezonings, including the lack of required information about the development, inadequate public notice and hearings, unlawful waivers of key analyses, submissions and approvals, failure to consider key environmental and historical facts, and unlawful delegation of rezoning power through failure to identify which of the more than 1,750 acres could be put to what uses. Senate Introduces Key Bill for Battlefield Preservation In early January, the Trust celebrated the introduction of the American Battlefield Protection Program Enhancement Act, H.R. 3448, in the U.S. Senate. The bill, introduced by Senators Tim Kaine and Cindy Hyde-Smith, aims to strengthen the already successful American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP), administered by the National Park Service. Since 2002, the program has been used to save more than 35,000 acres of hallowed ground in 20 states. Due to its continued success, the program’s funding has increased from an initial authorized level of $2 million in 2002 to $20 million beginning in 2019. The new legislation enhances the existing program by allowing non-profits and tribes to directly apply for land preservation grants. It also clarifies the scope of the program, ensuring it is used only on the most significant battlefield sites. Additionally, it provides the National Park Service with a mechanism to update battlefield boundaries when new research and information allow. The companion legislation, H.R. 3448, passed the House of Representatives in early November with widespread bipartisan support.

Save the Date: Park Day 2024

Park Day will take place on April 6 at various locations nationwide. For 28 years, thousands of history lovers, families, Boy and Girl Scouts, and more have come together to help keep our nation’s heritage preserved and well maintained at battlefields, museums, cemeteries and historic sites around the country. Whether you’re interested in participating or have a site you’d like to register, visit www.battlefields.org/parkday. *Note: Sites should register by March 17 if they wish to be listed on the Trust’s website and receive Park Day-branded water bottles.

Celebrating 58K Acres of Preserved Hallowed Ground in 2023

While 2023 presented increasing development threats to land preservation, the Trust ramped up its advocacy efforts and is especially pleased to have celebrated high-profile preservation successes at Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields that helped push the organization’s total acres of hallowed ground saved to over 58,000. The nonprofit began 2023 with the announcement of having preserved land in its 25th state, but that was just a starting point for a year filled with dramatic achievements. Advocacy fights included a legal challenge against a megadevelopment near the Wilderness Battlefield, efforts to prevent a gas station at Chancellorsville, and vocal opposition to the world’s largest data center complex adjacent to the Manassas Battlefield. Legislatively, the Trust celebrated the House of Representatives’ vote to pass the American Battlefield Protection Program Enhancement Act to supercharge battlefield preservation. In education, the Trust’s Teacher Institutes professionally developed more than 1,335 educators and the History Field Trip Grant Program allowed 6,000 students and teachers to visit battlefields and historic sites. In preparation of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Trust continued its 2,500 Revolutionary War acres campaign, debuted Revolutionary War Traveling Trunks to classrooms, and partnered with the Daughters of the American Revolution for the American Revolution Experience traveling exhibit. Utilizing cutting-edge GPS, augmented reality and photogrammetry technology, the Trust also created immersive digital experiences. This includes five virtual field trips, a groundbreaking all-wars map and the Anthem Award-nominated “Step Into History” series. The Trust added over 235 new videos, as well as hundreds of articles, biographies, battle pages into its already expansive content library.