Photo credit: Terry Rensel
Preservation Updates and News
From the President's Desk
Unbelievably, November is here. Thanksgiving is but days away, and then, yes, you guessed it, Christmas is right around the corner. This is the time of year when there are simply not enough hours in a day to accomplish all we need to do. I try to slow things down and enjoy the process. Does it work? Not always, but this year I was forced to do so.
As many of you are aware, especially those who attended this year's CVBT Annual Conference, I was quite limited in my mobility due to a malfunctioning hip. I would like to thank all of you who took the time to wish me well at the conference and to convey that it is not as bad as it sounds. You were all correct, I am very happy I had the procedure completed. Thanks! By the release of this email, I should be but a week or two away from completing rehab.
This unplanned speedbump, if you will, did slow me down and I had an opportunity to look at not only my current hectic lifestyle but also CVBT as a whole. This month I turn 65, which in turn usually spurs thoughts of retirement. This change in lifestyle, something those of you who have already retired know, is a tough one, especially for those of us who are used to running a hundred miles per hour a day with no end in sight. It is forcing me to realize what the most important pieces of my life are, what I want to keep, and what can go.
I began looking at CVBT in much the same way. CVBT was created back in 1996 with a mission to assist the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park to preserve our area's endangered battlefields by outright purchase, easements, donations, etc. The NPS is restricted by its congressionally set boundaries and only allows limited purchases. CVBT's role was to step in and save endangered battlefield tracts with the intent of paying any sales price difference, or to act quickly on a property and eventually have it absorbed into the NPS's holdings.
Life events force us to reconsider. CVBT had to evolve as rampant development that far exceeded anyone’s imagination has taken hold in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania and Orange Counties. As I have recently had the time to look more holistically at battlefield preservation, and I broached this subject at the Annual Conference, preservation has evolved, and I firmly believe CVBT has not only kept pace with this new world of saving our nation’s history, but we are proactively looking ahead.
In order to preserve not only the historical battlefield land, but also adding to the telling of the more complete story, we need to purchase those properties that the NPS may never be able to add to its holdings. In these cases, we have had the foresight to look to the possibility of county parks and other means to save and convey these tracks. Some parcels need to be purchased simply to preserve the viewshed of critical battlefield properties already saved. In many cases CVBT may purchase an “orphaned” property, and you may ask, why? As I always say, preservation is a game of chess, not checkers, so we look to the future of a specific area and plan on a much larger tract of combined battlefield land with future purchases. It's like eating an elephant; one bite at a time. An excellent example are CVBT's several Chancellorsville Flank Attack properties.
I also realized that saving battlefield land is not only our stated mission statement but now it has another residual effect, more green spaces in the ever-growing shadow of sprawl, big box stores, data centers, and blacktop. Battlefield preservation enhances our daily quality of life in many different ways.
You may have also noted our recent efforts to preserve the “Witness Trees” on our lands. We feel responsible to protect these timbers as “Living Relics” of the Civil War. They have stood for years over the actual events where history happened and are an important part of why we seek to save the properties where they reside. If only they could speak! It is now CVBT’s responsibility to care for these living witnesses of the war.
By slowing down these past couple of months I have been very pleased to consider CVBT’s evolution. Yes, we have made adjustments since 1996, and it is necessary we continue to modify our business plan. I have learned one important thing through my 30+ years volunteering in this preservation business: “what it looks like today, is not what it will look like tomorrow.”
If you ever get a chance to slow down and take some time to evaluate what is most important to you, hopefully it won’t take an aftermarket body part installation to do so, but it is worth the time and effort to reset once in a while. CVBT will always stay on the forefront and accomplish great things. Change is inevitable and required to maintain effectiveness.
As always, I thank you for your continued support. I’ll be back on the battlefields soon.
Happy Thanksgiving!Tom Van Winkle
CVBT Out and About: Youth Community Service Day Cleanup
On Saturday, October 26th, a group of area high school students, as well as members of the 47th Virginia Infantry, Company I, "The Stafford Guard" reenactors, CVBT board members, staff, and volunteers participated in a day of community service to do clean up and maintenance work at a couple of CVBT properties along Jackson's Flank Attack at Chancellorsville. The day ended with CVBT's Tim Talbott giving a brief presentation about the Battle of Chancellorsville under a 200-year-old witness tree on the property. A big "THANK YOU" to everyone who helped out.
2025 Spring Seminar
Tickets are Going Fast!
The 2025 CVBT Spring Seminar is set, and 45% of the tickets have already been sold! The 2025 Seminar will be held at the Tabernacle United Methodist Church's multipurpose space on Old Plank Road in Fredericksburg. This year's topic is The Road to Fredericksburg and will feature historians Dennis Frye, Jim Broomall, Greg Mertz, Frank O'Reilly, and John Hennessy. Lunch is included in the $50 ticket price. For more information and to register, click here.
Friends of CVBT Volunteers Needed
As you know, CVBT is a land trust. We focus primarily on purchasing endangered battlefield properties. However, we also host a large three-day annual conference, standalone events, and we interpret and maintain our lands. We need help in all of these areas.
In the past, CVBT has often relied on individuals from organizations to assist us, and for their help we are extremely grateful. But now we are in the process of recruiting CVBT's own official volunteer corps.
We have created “The Friends of CVBT." The purpose for this all-volunteer group is to be the “on call” corps of CVBT’s volunteers, serving the organization by assisting with events and battlefield related needs. Active volunteer members will have the unique opportunity to be involved with events hosted by nationally acclaimed historians, assist in tours, and work on preserved battlefields. Participating volunteers will also be enrolled in the membership ranks of CVBT every year that they contribute.
CVBT will provide each Friend of CVBT with an official volunteer staff shirt and CVBT cap to wear at events, or wherever wanted. We will be limiting this group to 18 volunteers.
CVBT is now beginning its 28th year of preserving our local battlefields; the very battlefields that you study and trek across. We would be honored to have you join the ranks of CVBT volunteers and help us further our mission of preserving our nation’s history.
If you are interested in being a part of our volunteer corps, please email executivedirector@cvbt.org.
Witness Trees - Sentinels of the Battlefield
Tim Talbott talking about the Battle of Chancellorsville during the recent Youth Community Service Day event under one of the witness trees on a CVBT Chancellorsville Flank Attack property.
Photo credit: Terry Rensel
Over 35% toward the goal!
Witness trees are a living connection to the people and momentous events of the American past. They stand as mute observers of enormous change over time, linking numerous generations through their continued existence.
People have recognized and respected the enduring nature of trees for centuries. However, of particular interest to modern Americans are those rather rare trees that have survived droughts, storms, fires, lightning strikes, insects, diseases, and the ax and chainsaw and that are located where particularly significant historical events occurred. If nothing else, their survival through the years is a testament to their durability and a lesson in enduring the challenges of life.
Recently, an oak tree on one of CVBT’s Chancellorsville Flank Attack battlefield properties—estimated by arborists to be over 200 years old—fell victim to a powerful windstorm. While it is tragic to lose such a treasured veteran tree that witnessed the pivotal events of May 2, 1863, it also serves as a call to action.
On the same piece of preserved CVBT battlefield, there are other 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, some Federal soldiers fled precipitously, while others attempted to stem the power of the assault, including Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Hubert Dilger and his Ohio artillerists. 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 to receive medical attention near Wilderness Tavern. These trees witnessed it all and should receive all the protection and care they can to help them survive and thrive as living connections to these momentous events. Witness trees are truly living Civil War relics.
Caring for witness trees does not come without expense. Periotic checkups for tree health, nutrition treatments, and preventive maintenance trimming, along with lightning prevention apparatus and other care measures by professional arborists costs thousands of dollars to do properly and have a continuous annual cost as well. 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? We also plan to install markers designating each tree and what they witnessed.
CVBT is currently raising $20,000 to begin the process of protecting the first two of what may be many more witness trees on our property on Jackson's Flank Attack. Learn more, and how you can help here.
Beckham Tract Landscape Restoration
CVBT is beginning the preliminary work to remove the modern structures on the Beckham Tract in order to return the land to its natural appearance. We are currently about 70% of the way toward our $35,000 goal to make this happen. You can learn more at our website.
Historic Quote
"Orders are just in to march in the morning. So we may celebrate Thanksgiving by a long march in the mud, or even possibly by a conflict with the enemy. Having little present cause for thanksgiving than ourselves, as far as the comfort of the day is concerned, may we at least be doing that which shall give the country some cause of lasting thanksgiving."
Capt. Samuel Fiske, 14th Connecticut Infantry, Nov. 25, 1863, on the eve of the Mine Run Campaign.
Photo credit: Jennifer Michael
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