Civil War News
Roundup - 05/15/2009
Courtesy of the Civil War
Preservation Trust
-------------------------------------------------------
(1) Opinion:
Wal-Mart's Attack on Civil War Battlefield in Virginia -
US News & World Report
(2) VMI Cadets March in
the Footsteps of History - Waynesboro News Virginian
(3) Webb Asks for Full Authorization
of Battlefield Preservation Money - WHSV-TV
(4) Wounded Vets Tour Civil
War Battlefield - Culpeper Star-Exponent
(5) Words of Civil War Soldiers
Found on Wall of Small Church - Charleston Daily Mail
(6) Editorial: History Sho uld
Win this Battle - Buffalo News
(7) Historic Site under Siege
- Deerfield Valley News
(8) Actor Joins Foes of Walmart
- Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
(9) Duvall Joins Fight Against
Wal-Mart in Orange County, Va. - Associated Press
(10) History, Curiosity Link this
Descendent to Champion Hill - Vicksburg Post
(11) Opinion: Walmart vs. the Wilderness
- Washington Post
(12) WVU Students Help Preserve Battlefield
- West Virginia Public Radio
(13) Preservation Group to Counter
Park ,Äôs Appeal in Cyclorama Lawsuit - Gettysburg
Times
(14) Editorial: Wilderness Folly
- Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
--(1)
Opinion: Wal-Mart's Attack on Civil War Battlefield in Virginia
-----------------------------------------------------
Opinion: Wal-Mart's Attack on Civil War Battlefield
in Northern Virginia
By John Aloysius
Farrell
5/13/2009
US News &
World Report (NAT)
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/john-farrell/2009/05/13/wal-marts-attack-on-civil-war-battlefield-in-northern-virginia.html
The Wilderness battlefield cannot be moved.
It is a one-of-a-kind place, where tens of thousands of Union
and Confederate boys died in the Civil War. You can't just shift
the signs down the road a mile and call another tract of ground
the battlefield.
But a Wal-Mart shopping center? How special is that?
Assuming
that what America needs is another Wal-Mart, how hard can it
be for corporate planners to choose a location that isn't within
the boundaries of a national battle park?
These
are the questions being asked by historians, legislators, and
preservationists as Wal-Mart plans to build a 138,000-square-foot
supercenter on the Wilderness battlefield in Northern Virginia
. It would be the fifth Wal-Mart store within a 20-mile radius
and a major new commercial threat to a necklace of Civil War
fields,—Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg,
Spotsylvania,—in the area that have already been
ravaged by development.
In
December, a group of 253 historians,—including David
McCullough, Ken Burns, James McPherson, and Edwin Bearss, the
chief historian emeritus of the National Park Service,—asked
Wal-Mart to reconsider.
The
Vermont Legislature (the state lost its heaviest casualties of
the war at the Wilderness, repulsing a Confederate attack) adopted
a joint resolution in February asking Wal-Mart to move its store.
U.S.
Reps. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, and Ted Poe, a Texas Republican,
have led a contingent in Congress urging Wal-Mart CEO Michael
Duke to think this through.
And the Civil War
Preservation Trust put the Wilderness battlefield on its list
of "most threatened" battlefields in March.
The
land that Wal-Mart covets is commercially zoned, but the company
needs a special use permit from the Orange County Board of Supervisors,
and preservationists are hoping to block the development there.
A coalition of local and national preservation groups have offered
to pay for a comprehensive, long-range planning study to help
local officials.
All
they need is a little flexibility from Wal-Mart. How about it,
Mr. Duke?
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--(2)
VMI Cadets March in the Footsteps of History -----------------------------------------------------
VMI Cadets March in the Footsteps of History
By Bob Stuart
5/13/2009
Waynesboro News Virginian (VA)
http://www.newsvirginian.com/wnv/news/local/article/in_the_footsteps_of_the_past/40026/
Seven Virginia Military Institute cadets are retracing on
foot the historic efforts of former cadets in a Shenandoah Valley
Civil War battle.
The
cadets are marching more than 80 miles this week from the Lexington
college to New Market to participate in the 145th anniversary
reenactment of the Civil War Battle of New Market. The reenactment
occurs this weekend.
Two
hundred fifty-seven cadets ages 15 to 21 fought alongside Confederate
soldiers in the Civil War battle, and 10 lost their lives in
the battle. The names of the dead cadets are on a monument at
the site.
The
seven modern cadets hope to get a better understanding of what
their late colleagues dealt with.
"This
gives us an understanding of what cadets went through in 1864,"
VMI sophomore Aaron Cregar, of Frederick , Md. , said during
a Tuesday stop in Mint Spring.
The
cadets are walking about 20 miles per day along U.S. 11. They
camped at the Cyrus McCormick Farm in Augusta County on Monday
night, and were to spend Tuesday night at Staunton's
Frontier Culture Museum.
The
students are clad in replica Confederate uniforms and are lugging
muskets.
All
seven are members of VMI's Civil War Roundtable,
a Civil War study group.
Senior
Ben Scudder, of Petersburg , said the cadets spend about 50 minutes
of each hour marching and the remaining 10 minutes resting.
"You
get foot weary," said Scudder, who added that it
was cold camping out Monday night at the McCormick Farm.
Scudder said he and his fellow cadets are looking
forward to this weekend's reenactment, but he believes
all will be exhausted from the march.
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--(3)
Webb Asks for Full Authorization of Battlefield Preservation
Money -----------------------------------------------------
Webb Asks for Full Authorization of Battlefield Preservation
Money
5/12/2009
WHSV-TV
(VA)
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/44820842.html
Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) sent a bipartisan letter Tuesday to the
chairman and ranking members of the Senate Appropriations Committee
and its Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
requesting the full authorization of $10 million in FY2010 funding
for the federal Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program.
A
15-member coalition of the U.S. Senate joined Webb in this call
for full funding.
Over
the program's ten-year life, it has saved more than 15,300 historic
acres. Nearly half of the land saved under the program is in
Virginia , the home to the greatest number of battles during
the war.
Despite
the fact that Congress has authorized CWBPP annually at $10 million,
the program has only received an average of $3.6 million a year
since FY1999.
"As
the nation celebrates the bicentennial of President Lincoln's
birth and prepares to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the
Civil War, full funding of CWBPP is critical to saving high-priority,
threatened Civil War battlefield sites and thus preserving our
history for future generations," writes Webb, a
longtime advocate for historical site maintenance.
Through
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, supported
by Webb, the National Park Service will also invest more than
$27 million in 37 projects to upgrade facilities, extend hiking
trails and promote energy efficiency at historic sites throughout
Virginia.
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--(4)
Wounded Vets Tour Civil War Battlefield -----------------------------------------------------
Wounded Vets Tour Civil War Battlefield
By Allison Brophy Champion
5/10/2009
Culpeper Star-Exponent (VA)
http://www.starexponent.com/cse/news/local/article/hallowed_ground/35365/
A small group of wounded veterans from Walter Reed Army Medical
Center walked the grounds of the largest cavalry battle of the
Civil War Saturday as part of a special battlefield tour sponsored
by the Blue and Gray Education Society and The Yellow Ribbon
Fund.
More
than 20,000 Union and Confederate troops, including 17,000 on
horseback, clashed here June 9, 1863, near the village named
for a tavern, claiming more than 1,400 men and leading the way
to Gettysburg.
Nearly
150 years later, Iraqi War veteran Sgt. Yvette McDermott of the
National Guard was among the wounded warriors from Walter Reed
visiting the sprawling farm fields, soaking in the sun and some
Culpeper history.
From
Goochland, McDermott is already familiar with Virginia's
part in the Civil War and said she enjoys taking advantage of
the touring opportunities provided through the Army hospital
in D.C.
As
Civil War historian and tour guide Dr. Dan Beattie of Charlottesville
talked about the Brandy Station battle of sabers and pistols,
the 42-year-old female veteran leaned on a cane, an indication
of her tours of duty in Iraq and Kosovo.
"We
came under fire in Iraq" McDermott said of her
first tour in 2004. "I fell with my weapon and
was trying to crawl back to the bunker."
In
the process, her knee became badly infected, but she opted against
a stay in the hospital.
"I
didn't want to go to Baghdad. So I toughed it out,"
said McDermott, who serves with the 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry
based in Lynchburg. "We wear the Stonewall Jackson
patch."
After
10 months in Iraq , she spent 19 months in Kosovo, re-injuring
the same knee in a fall.
In
September, she had knee replacement surgery and will be at Walter
Reed rehabilitating until December. Beyond that, McDermott hopes
she can get rehired at the Powhatan Correctional Center , where
she spent 15 years as a guard.
In the meantime,
she said she's doing all she can to get retrained
and learn new skills in the field.
"I
want to be able to keep that job because I'm young,"
McDermott said.
Len
Riedel, executive director of the Blue & Gray Education Society
— a nonprofit Civil War history group based in Chatham
that co-sponsored Saturday's tour —
realized commonalities between today's fighting
in the Middle East and the War Between the States.
"War
makes ugly wounds that man has to bind up as best it can,"
he said.
Or
woman.
In
the Civil War, prosthetic devices were crude but functional,
Riedel added, and then, like now, exploding shells caused most
of the wounds.
"Soldiering
is still about a man or woman on the ground with a weapon fighting
for a cause that they and their government believes is just,"
he said.
In
2007, Blue & Gray joined The Yellow Ribbon Fund of Bethesda,
Md. in offering history programs and tours for today's
wounded vets. Liedel said they've done 10 programs
so far and have another seven scheduled for this year, including
stops in Spotsylvania and Gettysburg .
"I
am impressed with the demeanor of soldiers we see, the strength
of their families and the determination they have to keep on
living and to master the challenges that have been passed their
way," he said.
The
demeanor Saturday on the Brandy Station Battlefield of U.S. Army
Sgt. Michael Alarcon was one of staid resilience. Wearing a camouflage
hat and dark sunglasses, the Oregon native also wore a neck brace.
"That's
how I did this," he said, nodding and pointing
to his neck when asked if he served in Iraq. "January
28 — and IED explosion got me," Alarcon
said, standing near Fleetwood Hill, the site of the beginning
of the Brandy Station battle, not far from the Rappahannock River
or today's Culpeper County Airport.
Airplanes
and helicopters took off and landed nearby as Beattie recounted
the initial skirmish in 1863 down Beverly Ford Road .
"Caution
slowed the Feds coming down the road," he said.
"They didn't charge this position."
A
couple hundred yards away, Beattie added, the Sixth Virginia
met Union troops face-to-face and horse-to-horse.
Earlier,
he led the tour down Auburn Road to the 1855 Greek Revival estate,
Auburn , a white house located on the southern portion of the
battlefield. Subsequently, it saw lots of action during the Civil
War.
In
fact, Major Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart, commanding officer
at the Battle of Brandy Station, lived at Auburn for a while
after seizing it from its owner, a Union sympathizer.
And
then in late 1863, after the battle of Brandy and during the
Winter Encampment, the Army of the Potomac moved its thousands
into Culpeper, covering the grounds around Auburn and most everywhere
else in the county. Ulysses Grant and George Meade were among
the Federals who dined at Auburn .
Speaking
near Auburn Saturday, Beattie focused on the pre-battle "grand
review" of Confederate cavalry forces conducted
for Gen. Stuart and Robert E. Lee.
"They
had a ball before the review in Culpeper and the night after
in Culpeper," said Beattie, a Vietnam-era veteran
and author of "Brandy Station 1863: First Step
Towards Gettysburg."
He
said Stuart was quite the flirt — though
he never cheated on his wife," — and
was quite in his glory as the troops on horseback paraded past.
"The
cavalry's main job was to look for the enemy so
the enemy didn't find them," Beattie
said. "Both Lee and Stuart were immensely pleased
with the sight of the cavalry."
Alas,
no horses were seen during the first half of Saturday's
tour, but fields of cows grazed around every corner.
Field
after field of tiny yellow flowers at Auburn added to the beauty
of the estate, as did an American flag flying from a silo. The
day was hazy and warm with large clouds ever looming above, but
the rain held off.
Natural
beauty aside, it mostly was a time for military appreciation.
"It is our way of saying we won't
forget you and thank you," Riedel said.
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--(5)
Words of Civil War Soldiers Found on Wall of Small Church -----------------------------------------------------
Words of Civil War Soldiers Found on Wall of Small
Church
By Charlotte Ferrell Smith
5/8/2009
Charleston Daily Mail
(WV)
http://www.dailymail.com/News/200905070756
As workers scraped layers of paint inside Morgan's Chapel
in Bunker Hill, the walls of the little Berkeley County church
began revealing bits of history.
Writings
and drawings done by soldiers during the Civil War had been hidden
for decades.
One
notation dated 1864 said, "Excuse me for writing on the
walls of the house of God. For I should not have written on these
walls had it not been all marked up."
Other
writings say things like: "Treason, Traitors and Copperheads."
"We ate dinner on the other side of the creek." "I
write my name here the first day of June, 1863."
"We are ecstatic about this find," said the Rt. Rev.
W. Michie Klusmeyer, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West
Virginia.
The bishop said when he arrived eight
years ago, he was told about the state of the church.
The
little brick church has two rooms. The sacristy had been vandalized
by arson in the 1990s. Klusmeyer said it was known that Civil
War writings were in that room. However, it apparently never
occurred to anyone there could be writings on the walls inside
the main portion of the church.
Klusmeyer
had the roof replaced after it was damaged by high winds, and
he searched for contractors willing to do historic preservation
work.
In
November 2008, Klusmeyer hired workers to clean the inside of
the church, which had not been used for several years. As the
workers began removing layers of paint, they were stunned by
what they found and called the bishop to say, "I've discovered
something you need to see."
West
Virginia became the 35th state of the union on June 20, 1863.
Created in the midst of the Civil War, West Virginia provided
troops to both the Union and Confederate armies in a war that
pitted brother against brother.
Morgan's
Chapel provided housing for both Confederate and Union soldiers
at various times during the Civil War. Among the notations is
one dated as early as March 5, 1862.
Klusmeyer
has sought the guidance of experts and historians and is dedicated
to making sure the voices of the past are not lost to the future.
He wants to carefully restore the historic graffiti so that it
can be appreciated by generations to come.
Morgan's
Chapel was erected in 1740 by Colonel Morgan Morgan, whose descendants
founded Morgantown . The current building housing Morgan's Chapel,
constructed in 1852, is the third built on the site. Morgan is
buried in the cemetery next to the church.
The
church has no indoor plumbing and is rarely used, Klusmeyer said.
Initially, plans called for refurbishing so it could be used
for weddings and various events. However, the discovery of the
writings puts a whole new light on things. Precautions now must
be taken to keep fingerprints off the walls. However, the building
will be restored, preserved and open to those who would find
its history important, Klusmeyer said.
"I have a feeling this will be a work in progress,"
he said.
He
said additional writings and drawings may be uncovered in the
balcony, but a lack of railings makes it too treacherous to work
in that area right now.
The
Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia includes 67 churches in all
55 counties. Many of the churches are old, but nothing of such
historical significance has been discovered in them, he said.
However, the recent discovery sparks a desire to "start
digging deeper," the bishop said.
He
said the historic treasure discovered on the walls of Morgan's
Chapel is important to Berkeley County , the state of West Virginia
and the Episcopal Church.
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--(6)
Editorial: History Sho uld Win this Battle -----------------------------------------------------
Editorial: History Sho uld Win this Battle
5/7/2009
Buffalo News (NY)
http://www.buffalonews.com/149/story/663638.html
It's time for the Blue and the Gray to suit up
again, though not in anger this time. Their descendants and history
admirers are needed to mount a joint assault on an effort to
despoil an important Civil War battlefield.
The
1864 battle of the Wilderness, near Fredericksburg, Va., was
one of that bloody war's most horrible. Wounded
soldiers burned to death as the fighting ignited underbrush.
The battle where Ulysses S. Grant first confronted Robert E.
Lee produced 30,000 casualties.
Only
21 percent of the battlefield has been permanently protected
as a national park. Now, Wal-Mart wants to build a superstore
across the road from that park.
Historians,
celebrities and politicians—from the North and the
South—are opposing the plan, but Wal-Mart hasn't
backed down. Indeed, it dismisses out of hand any idea that its
plan violates notions of respect for a cataclysmic past.
It
should reconsider. Even a giant corporation should be able to
recognize when it is intruding on sacred land. As renowned Civil
War historian James McPherson recently wrote in the Washington
Post, just because the proposed store would lie outside the boundaries
of the park does not mean the land lacks significance. That,
he says, betrays "a profound misunderstanding of
the nature of history."
"In
the heat of battle, no unseen hand kept soldiers inside what
would one day be a national park," he wrote. The
park's boundaries are artificial boundaries and
have little bearing on what is or is not historic. "To
assume the park boundary at the Wilderness encompasses every
acre of significant ground is to believe that the landscape beyond
the borders of Yosemite National Park instantly ceases to be
majestic."
We
have nothing against Wal-Mart or superstores in general. But
the competing interests in this case dictate what must happen:
yet another giant store, which could be built in any number of
places, versus a place of overwhelming significance to the history
of this country.
The
suffering brought on by the Civil War is beyond most of our imaginations.
It was a cataclysm that was and still is without equal in the
country's history. That is an enduring fact that
Wal-Mart, and all developers, need to take extra pains to acknowledge.
There
always will be issues of local development versus historic significance,
at sites as large as battlefields. But this land is not fallow,
it's hallowed.
The
company should build somewhere else. In doing so, it will make
long-lasting friends of shoppers who currently are appalled at
the company's plans while also setting an important
example for other developers to follow.
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--(7)
Historic Site under Siege -----------------------------------------------------
Historic Site under Siege
By
Mike Eldred
5/7/2009
Deerfield
Valley News (VT)
http://www.dvalnews.com/pages/full_story?page_label=news_feature&id=2517484-Historic+site+under+siege&widget=push&instance=secondary_stories_left_column&article-Historic%20site%20under%20siege%20=&open=&
An intersection that was once the scene of one of the bloodiest
battles in the war between Union and Confederate forces has become
the scene of a battle between proponents of historic preservation
and developers.
Tuesday
marked the 145th anniversary of the Battle of the Wilderness,
a battle that marked a turning point in the Union Army's
campaign against Confederate forces, and one in which Vermont
soldiers played a pivotal role. While the anniversary might have
slipped by, unnoticed by most Americans, Vermont Representative
Peter Welch was at the Wilderness Battlefield site to commemorate
the event and to speak out against a plan by Wal-Mart corporation
to build a "super center" adjacent
to the site.
Welch
was joined by Representative Ted Poe (R-Texas) and actor Robert
Duvall, who portrayed his ancestor, Gen. Robert E. Lee, in the
2003 film "Gods and Generals." Welch
and Poe have spoken out against the plan on the House floor,
and the two also penned a letter to Wal-Mart executive Mike Duke,
calling on him to abandon the development of the historic location
overlooking the battlefield. In response to the letter, Welch
says, Wal-Mart sent in one of their Washington lobbyists. "They
tried to argue that it would not adversely affect the battlefield,"
Welch said. "That's a matter of opinion,
but you can't have a new Wal-Mart and the additional
traffic and commercial activity it would attract without a significant
impact."
This
isn't the first time the Wilderness battlefield
has been threatened by development. More than 15 years ago, Vermont
Senator Jim Jeffords stepped in to oppose a proposed development
at the site. As a result of the opposition, the 500-acre battlefield
was purchased and preserved as a national park.
Although
the site of the proposed Wal-Mart isn't on the battlefield
itself, Vermont Civil War author Howard Coffin, who was instrumental
in preserving the battlefield, says the land is considered to
be part of the historic site. Coffin served on a congressional
advisory committee on Civil War sites that examined the site.
"It was a staging area," he says.
"It was the gateway to the battle. Troops were
massed there before they went into battle, and there was heavy
fighting very close to it."
The
Battle of the Wilderness was not a decisive victory, and is considered
a "draw." But Coffin says the battle
marked a turning point, and the beginning of the Union's
famed "Overland Campaign" that hammered
the Confederate Army.
Coffin
says the Battle of the Wilderness was Vermont's
most important moment in the Civil War. The battle was fought
over a strategic intersection of two roads, and took place in
a rough, wooded, and brambly area of "wilderness."
The Army of the Potomac was marching south toward the intersection,
which had been left undefended. Units of the Confederate Army
moved in to capture the intersection, and Grant sent Vermont
regiments in to hold the position for two days. "Early
in the war, the Union commanders discovered that, if you put Vermonters
in important places, they would hold their ground,"
Coffin notes.
Vermont
troops held their ground in the Battle of the Wilderness at a
terrible cost. Of the 3,500 Vermont soldiers who went into the
fray, there were 1,234 casualties. Three hundred Vermont soldiers
were killed in action, and many others died of wounds received
at the battle.
"It
was a slaughter," Coffin says. "The
commander of the Vermont brigade said 600 men fell in the first
minute they walked into the woods. They were flattened by hundreds
of muskets firing. And they stayed there and took it, and didn't
move."
Dozens
of soldiers from the Deerfield Valley were wounded in the battle,
according to Civil War records available at www.vermontcivilwar.org.
Soldier Andrew Vorce, of Wilmington , was killed in action at
the battle. Lewis Pike, a 23-year-old soldier from Whitingham,
was mortally wounded in the battle, and died from his wounds
two days later. Willard Bugbee, a 22-year-old soldier from Dover
died from wounds received in the battle almost two months later.
"If
you walk into almost any graveyard in Vermont , you'll
find soldiers that were killed in the Wilderness,"
Coffin says.
A
Readsboro soldier, David Atherton, was taken prisoner by Confederate
soldiers.
The
soldiers were initially buried where they fell. After the war,
they were disinterred and reburied in a cemetery on the battlefield.
Eventually, they were disinterred a second time for burial in
a national cemetery in Fredericksburg where 14,000 Union soldiers
are buried. Coffin says the empty gravesites on the battlefield
are still identifiable as small indentations in the ground.
When
the site was preserved as a national park, Jeffords had a granite
monument, made in Barre, placed on the battlefield to commemorate
the role Vermont soldiers played in the battle. Welch said his
visit and tour of the site was "a very powerful
emotional experience, one that puts you in touch with the heroism
of these Vermonters. It's a place where Vermonters
made the greatest sacrifice in the history of our state, and
in our country's darkest days."
Welch
says the proposed Wal-Mart would "compromise the
historic nature of the site," and hopes Wal-Mart
will rethink their plans. He points out that there are four Wal-Mart
locations within a 20-mile radius of the Wilderness battlefield
location. "Wal-Mart is one of the country"s
most successful companies, they do what they do well,"
he said. "But do they have to do it well at this
location?"
The
decision is one for Wal-Mart executives and Orange County zoning
officials, and Welch says the sentiment on the local board is
running about three to two in favor of granting approval for
the new store. But he says he'll continue to advocate
for preservation of the site. "There's
always a debate about where to locate any commercial entity when
you're in a historic location," he
said. "I think we should err on the side of preserving
this extraordinary battlefield."
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--(8)
Actor Joins Foes of Walmart -----------------------------------------------------
Actor Joins Foes of Walmart
By
Clint Schemmer
5/5/2009
Fredericksburg
Free Lance-Star (VA)
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/052009/05052009/463831
Academy Award-winner Robert Duvall added star power yesterday
to the fierce fight over development at The Wilderness, weighing
in for historic preservation.
The
actor, speaking on the Civil War battlefield in Orange County
, said he'll do whatever he can to help in "chasing out"
a Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed near the entrance to Fredericksburg
and Spotsylvania National Military Park .
Duvall
spoke from the porch of Ellwood, a historic house where his ancestor
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee consoled wounded troops during
the war. The Virginia resident was joined by two congressmen
whose states' troops suffered great losses in the Battle of the
Wilderness--fought 145 years ago today.
Duvall,
who portrayed Lee in the movie "Gods and Generals,"
said he holds no grudge against Wal-Mart but believes in "capitalism
with sensitivity."
Likewise,
Reps. Peter Welch of Vermont and Ted Poe of Texas also said they
don't oppose Wal-Mart's growth, just its choice of a tract on
the edge of the battlefield for its 138,000-square-foot store
and an associated retail center.
All
three men at yesterday's press conference--joined by Zann Miner,
president of the local Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield--urged
the Arkansas-based retail giant to choose another site along
State Route 3.
"The question for Wal-Mart, which has five stores within
20 miles of here, is whether it needs another store to be sited
on this cathedral of sacrifice," Rep. Welch told the 150-some
people assembled outdoors in the rain for the event.
Union
and Confederate forces suffered 29,000 casualties in the May
5-6, 1864, engagement. The first face-off between Lee and the
Union's Ulysses S. Grant, it launched the Overland Campaign,
which eventually led to Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
"There were 160,000 troops, Union and Confederate, who fought
in the Battle of the Wilderness," Poe said. "This is
the number of troops that we have in Afghanistan and Iraq combined,
on that one battlefield."
Earlier,
the congressmen toured the battlefield with National Park Service
historians and paid their respects to the places where their
states' soldiers held hotly contested ground. Vermont and Texas
each have placed granite monuments at those sites.
The
Texans suffered horrific casualties, Poe said. In one of the
war's most famous incidents, during brutal fighting at the Widow
Tapp field, men of the Texas Brigade begged Lee to return to
the rear so he wouldn't be killed. Then they rushed forward,
losing 500 of 800 men in the charge.
Welch
noted that the deadliest day in Vermont 's history occurred at
The Wilderness. Its soldiers suffered 1,234 casualties but kept
Lee's Confederates from splitting the Union Army in two.
Poe,
a Republican, and Welch, a Democrat, said their appreciation
for soldiers' sacrifice unites them on the Wilderness issue.
"Those young men who died, many of them are still out there
in graves known only by God," Poe said of the battlefield's
many unmarked burials.
On
the way back to Ellwood, the touring lawmakers stopped at the
McDonald's across Route 3 from Wal-Mart's 52-acre tract and hopped
out for a closer look at the landscape. Both expressed concern
that Wal-Mart's retail center plan will fuel more sprawl and
overburden the national park's scenic two-lane roads with traffic.
The
proposed Supercenter is opposed by 250 of America 's top historians,
including David McCullough and James McPherson, and filmmaker
Ken Burns.
Since
last summer, Wal-Mart's proposal has stirred an outcry like that
over The Walt Disney Co.'s 1994 plan to build a $650 million
theme park within miles of the Manassas battlefield. Bowing to
public pressure, the entertainment giant scrapped the project.
Duvall
referenced the battle against Disney's America , saying "Now
we have Wal-Mart, you know, Wal-Mart with its deep pockets full
of cash."
Wal-Mart
issued a statement yesterday repeating earlier arguments for
the store, primarily that the site has been zoned for commercial
use for 24 years and that the Wilderness area already has strip
retail development.
"From the beginning of this project, Wal-Mart has been very
sensitive to ensuring that our development is respectful of the
county's unique location and history," it said.
On
May 21, Orange planners will hear public comment on Wal-Mart's
plan. The county Board of Supervisors will decide its fate.
A
majority of Orange supervisors have said the store will bring
needed jobs and tax money to the rural county.
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--(9)
Duvall Joins Fight Against Wal-Mart in Orange County, Va.
-----------------------------------------------------
Actor Duvall Joins Fight Against Wal-Mart in Orange
County, Va.
By Steve Szkotak
5/4/2009
Associated Press (NAT)
http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/state_regional/article/duvall_joins_commemoration_of_va_battlefield/34413/
Actor Robert Duvall, who is a descendant of Robert E. Lee
and portrayed the Confederate general in the movie "Gods
and Generals," has some credentials when it comes
to the Civil War.
Duvall,
78, drew upon those connections Monday to make the case against
a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter within a mile of the Wilderness
Battlefield - where Lee and his Union counterpart, Gen. Ulysses
S. Grant, first fought in a battle l45 years ago Tuesday that
historians said hastened the South's fall.
Joined
by two congressmen whose states suffered heavy losses in the
Battle of the Wilderness, Duvall - who lives in Virginia's
horse country - pledged to do "anything we can,"
to support the fight against the Wal-Mart store. The proposed
construction has drawn opposition from 250 historians, including
David McCullough and James McPherson, and filmmaker Ken Burns.
"We'll
help first by graciously chasing out Wal-Mart,"
the Academy Award-winning actor said during brief remarks on
the back porch of Ellwood Manor, a former plantation house that
dates to the 1700s and served as a hospital for Confederate troops.
Confederate General Stonewall Jackson's left arm,
amputated during fighting at nearby Chancellorsville, is buried
in a small graveyard nearby.
Wal-Mart
has argued that its proposed 138,000 square foot store is planned
for an area already zoned for commercial use. It also has said
the store's location, near a strip mall and across
from McDonald's along busy Route 3, will not diminish
the battlefield.
In
a statement, Wal-Mart said: "From the beginning
of this project Wal-Mart has been very sensitive to ensuring
that our development is respectful of the county's
unique location and history."
Orange
County planners have scheduled a May 21 hearing on the proposal.
The county board of supervisors will have the final say on the
store.
Some
local supporters have said the store could bring needed jobs
and tax revenue to the rural county about 60 miles southwest
of Washington, D.C.
Duvall
and others, including Reps. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Peter Welch,
D-Vt., cited the sanctified ground of battle in arguing against
the Wal-Mart.
"Those
young men who died, many of them are still out there in graves
known only by God," Poe said. He said 60 percent
of Texas' 800-man force at the Wilderness was killed
or wounded.
For
Vermonters, the death toll of 1,234 on May 5, 1864, amounted
to 16 percent of the state's total combat deaths
for the entire war.
"This
hallowed ground must be protected and preserved so that future
generations of Vermonters can appreciate our state's
crucial role in saving the Union," Welch said
in prepared remarks.
Grant's
Union troops were headed to Richmond on May 5, 1864, when they
confronted Lee," Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
The Battle of the Wilderness involved more than 100,000 Union
troops and 61,000 Confederates. The fighting, according to National
Park Service estimates, left more than 4,000 dead and 20,000
wounded. Some put the number higher, at 29,000.
Approximately
2,700 acres of the Wilderness Battlefield are protected as part
of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
This
dispute has stirred an outcry similar to the one in 1994 over
The Walt Disney Co.s plans to build a $650 million
theme park within miles of the Manassas Battlefield. The entertainment
giant bowed to public pressure and abandoned the project. Thirteen
years ago, preservationists also successfully fought Wal-Mart's
plans to build next to the riverside farm where George Washington
grew up, in Stafford County.
Duvall
mentioned the battle against the Disney park in Manassas , and
others recalled Wal-Mart's abandoned plan to build
near Washington's boyhood home.
"Now
we have Wal-Mart, you know Wal-Mart with its deep pockets full
of cash."
Duvall,
like other speakers, said he has no grudge against Wal-Mart,
but added: "I certainly believe in capitalism but
I believe in capitalism coupled with sensitivity."
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--(10)
History, Curiosity Link this Descendent to Champion Hill
-----------------------------------------------------
History, Curiosity Link this Descendent to Champion
Hill
By Gordon Cotton
5/3/2009
Vicksburg Post (MS)
http://www.vicksburgpost.com/articles/2009/05/03/features/doc49fb47ed586a4297211628.txt
If Sid Champion had his druthers, he would like to be buried
in the family graveyard with his great-great-grandparents, Sid
and Matilda Champion, for Sid — who is the fifth
of the family to have that name — said he is ,"a
part of this land, and it is a part of me."
He
was standing near the family burial plot on the plantation known
as Champion Hill between Edwards and Bolton . A rusty iron fence
and a profusion of wildflowers surround the cemetery. Beyond
it is a wilderness of hardwoods where rows of cotton once stretched
into the distance.
The
place originally contained 1,400 acres but is now 564, still
owned by the descendants. Today it is used for hunting and farming.
Before the War Between the States, when Sid Champion married
Mary Matilda Montgomery, it was valued at $106,450, the equivalent
of several million today.
If
it hadn't been for that war, Champion Hill might
have eluded the pages of history. But that was not the case,
for on May 16, 1863, the armies of South and North clashed in
a long and bloody battle that was in many respects the last hurrah
for Confederate Gen. John C. Pemberton in his efforts to halt
the invading army commanded by Gen. U.S. Grant.
That
was 146 years ago, and the Champion Hill Heritage Foundation
has planned a variety of activities commemorating the event.
The
first Sid Champion was a lieutenant colonel in the 28th Mississippi
Cavalry. He was a little older than most of the men in gray —
he was 38, and he fought in battles not only in Mississippi but
also in Georgia and Tennessee. Matilda stayed at home and ran
the plantation, but she feared the worst, predicting that the
end would be "beyond human comprehension."
Sid
Champion came home to ruin and desolation and died three years
later. Five generations of the family have been named for him,
none for Matilda, but she was the star of the drama that unfolded.
"At
the time of the battle, Matilda cowered in the cellar with an
infant child as fighting literally raged around her home,"
Sid said. "She was there when Union army surgeons
took over the house. She saw the piles of arms and legs that
had been amputated on her dining room table and stacked outside."
He
has that table, along with other family treasures, because several
days after the battle Ma-tilda fled to her parents'
home at Vernon , then came back with wagons and servants to help
her haul away everything she could. No longer would she stay
at the scene of such horrors. He'll bring that table
home to Champion Hill for the day on this May 16.
"There
was no time for animosity," he said. "She
was absolutely terrified of the Yankees. She settled on poor
land in Rankin County on Fannegusha Creek," but
after the war, when her husband returned, they went back to Champion
Hill. The house had been torched by Yankee soldiers after the
siege of Vicksburg , so Sid and Matilda built a smaller home
a mile or so away from the bloody hill. It was there that he
died at 45 of malignant billious fever and was buried in the
yard, a few hundred feet from the house where his 41-year-old
widow reared their four children. Times were dark and the future
seemed dreary, "but she made a go of it,"
Sid said. "At one time, she had been a lady of
the highest level of Southern society," but the
outcome of the Civil War and the resulting military occupation
of the South found the resolute lady holding onto plow handles
and following a mule back and forth across the fields. At night,
she schooled the children not only in basics but also in the
classics.
As the years passed and the veterans
grew old and began visiting the battlefields and holding reunions,
many from both sides, who were usually incredibly polite to one
another, visited Champion Hill.
"Matilda
became the darling of the Illinois soldiers," Sid
said, so when the Illinois Memorial Temple was dedicated in the
Vicksburg National Military Park in 1906 she received a personal
invitation from the governor of Illinois , "pretty
cool for the widow of a Confederate lieutenant colonel."
She died the following year at 80.
Sid's
father, who was No. 4 in the naming, wasn't very
interested in the history of the family, and his son recalls
that he was "extremely closed-mouth about the battle,
couldn't understand how people would fixate upon
this great bloodletting, as he called it" and thought
a memorial verse said over the graves of the dead was enough.
"As a result, I grew up knowing that
there was a battle fought here, but not a whole lot more."
Sid
was born in Vicksburg and grew up here, in Gulfport and Jackson
and now lives in Clinton . He went to Hinds and Southern Miss,
earning a degree in music education. He taught music in public
schools for 16 years, then left to do construction work. He is
married and has a 13-year-old daughter, Lauren Necole. His son,
who was Sid VI, died as an infant and is buried in Edwards with
most of the other family members. On Sundays, Sid plays the piano
at Pocahontas Baptist Church .
He
has always loved history, though, and he's just
the opposite of his father when it comes to interest in Champion
Hill. After his father's death, he discovered a
batch of letters Sid I wrote to Matilda during the war, which
have been edited and published by Becky Drake and Margie Bearss
under the title, "My Dear Wife — Letters
to Matilda."
"I
found out what an incredible story my family history is,"
he said. "It isn't about me. It pricked
my curiosity, and I've been on a quest ever since."
The name Sid Champion carries with it a bit of responsibility,
especially when you're the end of the line, and
Sid feels that the Champions are "just a little
cog in the wheel of history of the United States, and I am responsible
for passing this history along the best that I can for as long
as I can."
That's
why he just made a trip to Iowa where he met with re-enactors
and Boy Scouts to talk about the battle and instill in them the
importance of heritage.
He
also takes people on guided tours of the battle site. He has
a Web site, battleofchampionhill.org, and has gotten calls from
Canada to Pelahatchie. The tour is strenuous, he said: "We
walk it all until our legs come loose."
Sid
has discovered two classes of tourists: "One class
is, 'Well, I know my great-uncle's
cousin fought here, I think, and I just want to see what it looked
like.' Then you have the ones who play 'stump
the chumps' me being the chump. That's
why I carry my reference books and maps with me."
"He
likes to take people down to the double trench, 78 yards long,
where the Union dead were buried. It's a very sobering
scene. The Union dead were later moved to the National Cemetery
in Vicksburg . Most of the Confederate dead remain there, their
graves unknown, thus unmarked. Some months after the battle,
Sid said, Southern soldiers passing through noted seeing the
bones of some scattered about the battlefield.
Champion
Hill is private property, strictly posted. There has been talk
for years of making it a state or national park, a plan opposed
by Sid and his relatives. Once he retires, he plans to build
a house on the place. He said he has enjoyed his first 50 years
so much that he thinks the second half of his century is going
to be even greater.
Until
then, the place is still Champion property.
"The
family can do what they want to with this place,"
he said, "after they come back from my funeral."
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--(11)
Opinion: Walmart vs. the Wilderness -----------------------------------------------------
Opinion: Walmart vs. the Wilderness
By James M. McPherson
5/3/2009
Washington Post (DC)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/02/AR2009050202004_pf.html
In May 1864, two armies clashed in a desperate struggle for
the course of our nation's history. The Battle of the Wilderness
was a great turning point of the Civil War -- the first clash
between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant and the beginning
of the end for the beleaguered Confederacy. The fighting was
so intense that the tangled underbrush caught fire, burning wounded
soldiers alive.
To
commemorate the bloody struggle, portions of the Wilderness --
which is near Locust Grove, Va., in Orange County -- were set
aside as a national military park. However, just 21 percent of
the battlefield is permanently protected; other key areas are
privately held and vulnerable to development.
This
vulnerability became apparent when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced
plans to build a 138,000-square-foot superstore on historically
sensitive land directly across the road from the national park.
The store would sit on a hill overlooking key parts of the battlefield,
looming over a national treasure.
Preservationists
are not opposed to Wal-Mart opening a superstore in the region.
A coalition of national and local conservation groups has merely
asked Wal-Mart to choose a different location. Together with
more than 250 other historians, I signed a letter to the company
in support of that idea. We wrote that "the Wilderness is
an indelible part of our history, its very ground hallowed by
the American blood spilled there, and it cannot be moved. Surely
Wal-Mart can identify a site that would meet its needs without
changing the very character of the battlefield."
"Wilderness Wal-Mart" supporters argue that because
the proposed store site lies just beyond the park, it lacks historic
significance, a profound misunderstanding of the nature of history.
In the heat of battle, no unseen hand kept soldiers inside what
would one day be a national park. Such boundaries are artificial,
modern constructions shaped by external factors, and they have
little bearing on what is or is not historic. To assume the park
boundary at the Wilderness encompasses every acre of significant
ground is to believe that the landscape beyond the borders of
Yosemite National Park instantly ceases to be majestic.
With
Civil War battlefields we have a true tool for determining historic
value: the findings of the congressionally appointed Civil War
Sites Advisory Commission. I was privileged to serve on this
distinguished panel of historians and lawmakers, and I stand
by our decision to include the area Wal-Mart is considering within
the battlefield's historic boundary.
The
controversy illustrates another misconception about historic
preservation -- that it must occur at the expense of economic
development. A properly managed historic site can be a powerful
economic driver for its community, creating jobs and generating
tax revenue by drawing tourists.
Recognizing
this, preservationists have proposed a comprehensive planning
process to balance protection of the Wilderness Battlefield with
regional economic development goals, marrying respect for the
old with the promise of the new. It is a process by which everyone
-- Wal-Mart, local residents and the battlefield -- wins. The
alternative is the type of piecemeal development that has swallowed
up historic sites and destroyed the identities of countless communities.
It is a scenario in which only Wal-Mart wins.
There
is still time for Wal-Mart to recognize its error and identify
another location. This week marks the 145th anniversary of the
Battle of the Wilderness, a perfect opportunity to seek a solution
in everyone's best interests. The Wilderness Battlefield is a
living memorial to American sacrifice and heroism. It would be
tragic if such a landmark was lost through the short-sightedness
of local decision-makers and Wal-Mart's stubborn refusal to consider
reasonable alternatives.
The
writer is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor of History at
Princeton University and a past president of the American Historical
Association. McPherson won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for "Battle
Cry of Freedom" and is a two-time winner of the Lincoln
Prize.
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--(12)
WVU Students Help Preserve Battlefield -----------------------------------------------------
WVU Students Help Preserve Battlefield
By Cecelia Mason
4/28/2009
West Virginia Public Radio
http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=9356
Civil War buffs can soon learn more about the 1862 Battle
of Shepherdstown thanks to efforts by West Virginia University
public history graduate students.
Their
class project for this semester is to create a podcast tour of
the battlefield, and to complete an application to list the battlefield
on the National Register of Historic Places.
On
a recent Thursday Ed Dunleavy, Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation
Association president, drilled a deep hole in soft soil moistened
by several days of rain. Dunleavy then worked with three WVU
graduate students to level and secure a numbered wooden post
in the hole.
After
they secured this post, the group moved downhill to install another
post with another number. The numbers correspond with a podcast
about the battle.
"This
is stop number three, I believe," student Ashley
Whitehead said. "So this is describing the advance
up toward the top of the bluffs for the 118th Pennsylvania."
Whitehead
went on to describe how men from the 118th climbed the steep
and formidable landscape, not knowing what was going on above
this ridge above them. Whitehead said the soldiers knew there
was fighting but they were a green regiment and they didn't
know what they were going to find.
The
battle at Shepherdstown took place along the banks of the Potomac
River in September 1862 as Confederate forces retreated from
the battle of Antietam in nearby Sharpsburg , Maryland.
This
was the first time Pennsylvania's 118th, known
as the Corn Exchange Regiment, saw combat. Soldiers in the 118th
were issued faulty rifles, and failed to hear the order to retreat.
Student
Joe Obidzinski said about 40 percent of the regiment was killed
or injured during this battle.
"As
they fall back through the ravine they're trying
to get out of the cliffs and down the ravines. They're
trying to get back towards the river," Obidzinski
said. "And they end up falling back towards the
cement mill. And its there that amidst the archways and the bricks
they're able to take some shelter from the Confederates
who have moved up on top of the bluffs and are firing down on
them."
Student
Jake Struhelka has been working on the national register nomination.
He said it's been a challenge to write a narrative
that balances what happened here from a military and human standpoint
with the battle's national significance.
"The
battle at Shepherdstown was the last action in the eastern theater
of the American Civil War that took place before President Abraham
Lincoln signed the preliminary emancipation proclamation on September
22 1862," Struhelka said.
Struhelka
said an argument could be made that by preventing General Robert
E. Lee's army from continuing its fight in Maryland
allowed President Lincoln to issue the emancipation proclamation.
Peter
Carmichael, WVU Eberly Professor of Civil War Studies, said this
is an ideal project for his public history students to pursue.
"It
brings together so many issues," Carmichael said.
"It brings together the preservation issue. It
brings together the issue of how do you interpret an historic
sight. It brings to the forefront heritage tourism."
Whitehead,
Struhelka and Obidzinski all agree that this project puts a practical
twist on their academic pursuits.
"Having
the experience both with working with the national register nomination
team and working on the podcast has really enabled us, those
of us who want to pursue a career in public history, to learn
more about what it takes to do effective interpretation, to engage
an audience, to get the attention of the federal government or
of preservationist groups," Whitehead said.
"It's
demonstrating to me the importance of partnering academic institutions
with organizations in this state that have an interest in historic
preservation," Struhelka said.
"It's
the opportunity to preserve an area that is both significant
to our national heritage but most importantly has a story that
has not been told to the general public at least on a very broad
sense," Obidzinski said.
The
Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association has a conservation
easement on this portion of the battlefield.
Dunleavy
said having the map, podcast and markers created by the students
represents a major step toward the organization's
goal of attracting visitors.
"I
think this will help to draw more people," Dunleavy
said.
Dunleavy
points out that about 200,000 visitors come to nearby Antietam
National Battlefield every year and he hopes to draw some of
them to Shepherdstown.
The
podcast will be finished by mid May.
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--(13)
Preservation Group to Counter Park ,Äôs Appeal in
Cyclorama Lawsuit -----------------------------------------------------
Preservation Group Plans to Counter Park ,Äôs
Appeal in Cyclorama Lawsuit
By Scott
Andrew Pitzer
4/27/2009
Gettysburg
Times (PA)
http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/articles/2009/04/27/news/local/doc49f594f98f142806356074.txt
There are no new arguments in the National Park Service appeal
of a judge's ruling in the Cyclorama lawsuit, according
to the group that's trying to save the Gettysburg
Battlefield structure from demolition.
Recent
Past Preservation Network is working to meet the May 11 deadline
to respond to a 55-page Park Service appeal filed Thursday.
The
federal government is challenging the opinion of federal Magistrate
Judge Alan Kay, who ruled that the park did not follow the proper
legal requirements when it developed plans to raze the 47-year-old
building designed by internationally-renowned architect Richard
Neutra and his partner Robert Alexander.
"The
Park Service filing consists of a lengthy restatement of the
same arguments that were previously rejected by Judge Kay. We
will continue to oppose the Park Service on these points, and
we expect to file our response in mid-May," said
Recent Past Preservation Network attorney Matthew Adams.
The
Park Service, which awarded Neutra the design commission in 1958
under the federal "Mission 66" program
to improve national park facilities, wants to tear down the building
as part of plans to reconstruct the landscape of Ziegler's
Grove to an 1863 appearance.
Park
officials are not commenting on the lawsuit, saying that they
are unable to discuss pending litigation.
Gettysburg
National Military Park Supt. John Latschar has stressed that
Kay's ruling was only a recommendation, and that
the final decision is up to presiding Judge Thomas Hogan.
"A magistrate judge does not have
the authority to render a final decision," Latschar
explained.
The
28-month old lawsuit concerns whether the park's
decision to demolish the Cyclorama building complied with procedural
requirements set forth in the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969.
Previously,
the building housed a famous Civil War painting, but the artwork
is now on display at a new $103 million visitor center, following
a $16 million restoration project. As a result of the lawsuit,
the park's plans to raze the building are on hold.
Park
officials have argued that the case is barred by a six-year statue
of limitations, which the federal government believes started
in 1999, coinciding with the adoption of the GNMP General Management
Plan. The document includes plans to raze the Cyclorama building.
Kay
has ruled that the statue of limitations did not begin until
"sometime after" 1999. He stated
that the park acted "unlawfully"
when it decided to raze the building, because it did not consider
alternatives to demolition, such as relocation.
Kay
wrote in court documents that the park did not "properly
evaluate environmental impacts," as required by
law. He also ruled that the park's intent to "remove"
the Cyclorama from Ziegler's Grove, as described
in the park's 1999 General Management Plan and subsequent
studies, is unclear and open to interpretation.
Kay
wrote in his recommendation to Hogan that the park should prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement evaluating the potential impacts
of demolishing the Cyclorama Center , including alternatives
to demolition.
Two
Gettysburg area businessmen, Eric Uberman and Bob Monahan Jr.,
have expressed a preliminary interest in accommodating the building
on their properties. According to court documents, an engineer
has determined that the building can be relocated for about $5
million, although the figure does not include factors that will
undoubtedly push the price upward.
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--(14)
Editorial: Wilderness Folly -----------------------------------------------------
Editorial: Wilderness Folly
4/21/2009
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star (VA)
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/042009/04212009/460018
Those sharp retorts heard recently from the direction of the
Wilderness battlefield were the sounds of Orange County supervisors
shooting down a proposed planning study for the county's eastern
gateway. Alas, their shortsightedness made them miss the target
altogether.
The
"target," of course, is the overall good of Orange
County , their principle purpose. Charged with the hard job of
balancing the county's budget, most of them have eyes only for
the immediate re-wards offered by Wal-Mart, which proposes a
138,000-square-foot store near the intersection of Routes 3 and
20. So the supervisors rejected an appeal from the Wilderness
Battlefield Coalition and a major county landowner to formulate
a plan for the eastern gateway that would cover all corners--including
economic development.
Chairman
Lee Frame, in a letter to Jim Campi of the Civil War Preservation
Trust, wrote that the supervisors don't reject the goals of a
comprehensive planning project, but that they won't hold up Wal-Mart's
pending application for that process. That's a classic "ready
fire aim" view. Because once the big-box store is planted,
others will sprout up, and the chance to "plan" obviated.
As a witness, we call to the stand the Salem Church battlefield
site--dwarfed now by commercial development and the attendant
roads.
Some
of the Orange supervisors are miffed at the interest in the Wilderness
Wal-Mart from outside the county, including a flood of e-mails
from Civil War buffs and an unprecedented proclamation from the
Vermont legislature. Apparently, parochialism isn't dead.
True,
Vermont lawmakers aren't going to pay for a new school in Orange
, and many Civil War enthusiasts will never spend a tax penny
in the county. But it's also true that attracting interest from
around the nation could be a benefit via tourism. Establishing
the county's reputation as a preservation-conscious historic
destination could bring in outside dollars, maybe even increasing
traffic at Montpelier .
No
county is an island. The Orange supervisors may hope to entice
a few Spotsylvanians to their new Wal-Mart, and no one with an
out-of-state license plate would be refused admittance to the
place. So why shouldn't others weigh in on the county's plans?
Rejecting
the reasonable request of the Wilderness Coalition is foolish.
Orange supervisors should rethink their position. The target
of the public good still stands. Only they can hit it.
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