Preserving our Nations Battlefields Allows Us To
Walk the Fields Where History Happened
Sprawl in Central Virginia is rampant. Data Centers, Warehouse Distribution Centers, Big Box Stores, Housing Developments! Every day, Civil War hallowed ground is lost. Green Spaces along with them. Join CVBT to advance our 28 year legacy of saving places where history happened at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House.
Help Save our Historic Battlefields Now !
CVBT Announces 2025 Spring Seminar
Don't hesitate on this one, our 2024 Seminar sold out quickly.
This year we have a new venue with much more room for you to attend!
Five great historians will present fantastic programs.
Dennis Frye
Greg Mertz
John Hennessy
Frank O'Reilly
James Broomall
Witness Trees – Sentinels of the Battlefields
Witness trees are a living connection to the people and momentous events of the American past.
On CVBT's Jackson Flank Attack preserved battlefield, there are Civil War witness trees, possibly up to eleven which is an extremely rare amount in one location. Imagine what those trees saw while standing near the Orange Turnpike during that one day alone. Gen. Joseph Hooker rode by them to check on XI Corps troops and their line early that morning. That evening, as the attack commenced. Gen. Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson also passed these trees, twice; once going east among the flow of his massive assault force, and later, after being wounded by his own troops going west.
Witness trees are truly living Civil War relics.
Caring for witness trees does not come without expense. Will you help us ensure the health of our surviving Chancellorsville Flank Attack witness trees so that they remain on the historic landscape for future generations?
Witness trees at Brompton- - Fredericksburg
CVBT Witness Tree - Flank Attack Battlefield
Wilderness Battlefield Named to Nations Top 11 Most Endangered Historical Sites for 2024!
On Wednesday, May 1st, 2024, CVBT along with other members of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition held a press conference at Wilderness Run Vineyards to announce that the Wilderness Battlefield has been placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2024 list of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in America.
This is the second time the Wilderness Battlefield has been placed on the Trust's list. The first time was during the Wilderness Walmart battle in 2010.
CVBT President Tom Van Winkle Speaks at Press Conference
Photo credit: Hugh Kenny, PEC
The Fight Goes On!
Read about the Massive and Controversial Wilderness Crossing
Development Decision
Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, Inc. joins the American Battlefield Trust, and others, as a plaintiff in legal appeal of Wilderness Crossing Development decision.
“A project of this magnitude is unprecedented for this significantly historical area,” said CVBT Board President Tom Van Winkle. “Orange County apparently failed to follow proper procedures and also failed to reply to several queries from the National Park Service and other public entities. CVBT will continue to advocate to do the right thing for the area and our nation’s history.”
Victory!
CVBT Plays Role in new Culpeper Battlefields State Park
In August 2013, CVBT received a grant for $770,000 to assist the American Battlefield Trust in a 56-acre acquisition of Fleetwood Hill on the Brandy Station Battlefield.
ABT President David Duncan & CVBT President Tom Van Winkle
The entire battlefield preservation community including the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, and the Brandy Station Foundation, along with support of the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program and the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Civil War Sites Preservation Fund had a hand in saving this long sought after parcel of the Brandy Station battlefield.
"Preservation, It’s Chess, Not Checkers", stated CVBT President Tom Van Winkle. So, some 11 years after CVBT’s contribution to help protect Fleetwood Hill, this chess piece is now part of Virginia’s 43rd State Park and the battlefield, now 1,000 acres and about to grow to 2,200 acres after a series of land transfers are completed, will include parts of the four major Civil War battles fought in Culpeper County: Brandy Station, Cedar Mountain, Kelly’s Ford, and Rappahannock Station.
David Duncan, president of the American Battlefield Trust, said “nothing about today was inevitable,” meaning, there were many competing visions of what should happen to the land.
Present for the June 8th dedication ceremony, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin stated,
“Teaching our history and the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia is not just
complicated, it is filled with extraordinary highs and very dark lows,” Youngkin said.
“We must teach all of it — the good and the bad.”
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin & CVBT President Tom Van Winkle
Beckham Tract
Battlefield Restoration
Help us with this opportunity to restore one of CVBT's "Jackson" Flank Attack Properties to its Civil War Appearance!
We have saved it, now we must reclaim the battlefield!
Please assist the CVBT in the next phase of reclaiming the Beckham property and restoring it to it's battlefield appearance so we may stand on the ground and envision what the combatants experienced in 1863.
stonewall brigade III
Help Us Cross the Finish Line!
We have preserved a key piece of land along Jackson's Flank Attack at Chancellorsville, including the location where the Stonewall Brigade bivouacked on May 2, 1863. Another peice added to the Flank Attack Project!
The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust continues its process of piecing together the parcels of land that saw major fighting during Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's famous May 2, 1863, flank attack. This new tract, known as Stonewall Brigade III, adds acreage to two properties CVBT preserved in 2012 (9.2 acres) and 2016 (1.6acres).
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The mission of Central Virginia Battlefields Trust is
to preserve land associated with the four major campaigns: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, and the Overland Campaign, including the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House.
CVBT Has Saved Nearly 2,000 Acres of
Endangered Battlefields Since 1996!
ACT NOW! Time is Running Out!
The places where thousands of Americans gave their lives during the Civil War are rapidly being lost to development. Their suffering and sacrifice deserve our respect for the grounds where they fell. The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust has made significant progress toward "preserving dirt and grass" at the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House battlefields.
