Photo credit: Jennifer Michael
Preservation Updates and News
From the President's Desk
It’s October, the time of year for pumpkins, morning frost, and the realization that the holidays are just around the corner. For those fighting the battles in both the Union and Confederate armies, the upcoming holidays simply meant another year away from family and the inability to share those special times.
For those of us here today on the front lines, who are preserving the battlefields and stories of those soldiers, there is no slowing down in any of our battles either.
Earlier this month CVBT presented our 2023 Annual Conference, and we again sold out. Those of you who attended were treated to a fantastic Friday evening President's Reception at the historic Sentry Box, fun and informative tours including Moss Neck with Frank O’Reilly, numerous Chancellorsville battle sites with the Chris Makowski and Kris White show, and a wonderful dinner and provocative “What If” keynote presentation by Kris White. Sunday’s breakfast panel at Stevenson Ridge contemplated the topic of “Chancellorsville as a Prelude to Gettysburg” with historians Scott Walker, Robert Lee Hodge, and Sarah Kay Bierle.
Our CVBT "Generals” were provided a special tour of the Mine Run battlefield on Thursday by John Kanaster. Preservation opportunities there were clear and abundant.
While traveling from one battlefield site to another during the conference's Chancellorsville tour, the increased development and westward pressure in the area was obvious to all in attendance. There seem to be more bulldozers than cars on Route 3, and that’s saying something. Several of those threatening development projects include:
A proposed Andora Oaks subdivision directly across from the Day One Chancellorsville battlefield, consisting of 155 homes. This is in the area that Rodes' Division attacked during the May 1, 1863, battle.
A proposed gas station and convenience store on Route 3, 1,500 feet from the Chancellorsville house ruins. CVBT and ABT are supporting the large local outcry from residents to deny this permit.
A massive 2,600-acre development in the Wilderness that includes data centers, warehouses, and retail space, not to mention some 5,000 proposed homes. As you are aware, CVBT has joined the American Battlefield Trust and Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield, as well as adjacent residents in Orange and Spotsylvania Counties as a plaintiff in a legal appeal to this ill-advised Wilderness Crossing project. Progress is being made and we fully expect to win this challenge.
As you can see, the westward push for development is rapidly encroaching on what is left of this once pristine rural area and its battlefield land. CVBT is working “Double Quick,” and we need to, and are, putting forth an immediate defense.
Your continued support is truly needed to assist CVBT in defending our irreplaceable historic fields and forests. With that support, and our hard work, we hope to have additional “new” battlefields to visit during next year’s 2024 Annual Conference.
Together we make a difference!
Thank You,
Tom Van Winkle
Preservation Updates
CVBT Awarded Virginia Battlefield Preservation
Fund Grant
Photo Credit: Terry Rensel
On October 14th, the Commonwealth of Virginia's Department of Historic Resources (DHR) awarded the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust a $164,071.54 Virginia Battlefield Preservation Fund (VBPF) grant toward the purchase of the Stonewall Brigade III Tract on the Chancellorsville Battlefield in Spotsylvania County.
CVBT Annual Conference
CVBT Board Member Robert Lee Hodge in front of Moss Neck Manor during the CVBT Annual Conference.
Photo credit: Jennifer Michael
Thank you to those who attended the 2023 Annual Conference. We look forward to seeing everyone next year!
Become a CVBT General
When giving to CVBT at the “Generals” level you are making an investment in a proven organization and its preservation mission. Generals are those individuals who give an additional $1,000 a year over and above membership and land appeal donations.
This generous group receives additional benefits for their giving including an exclusive battlefield tour and Generals-only special event at the Annual Conference. For Generals who annually invest $2,500 or more above and beyond land appeals and membership dues, their Annual Conference registration is waived for a party of two. In addition, all of these donors also receive a special CVBT Generals cap.
Please consider becoming a CVBT General today. Learn more about how to become a CVBT General here.
Historic Quote
Photo credit: Jennifer Michael
"Stonewall being our foremon and Rades [Rodes] his second, gave orders to move forward and attact the enemy, we had no gawn more than one quarter of a mile before we cum in contact with the enemys Picketts the firing comenst, volla after volla of musketry was pourd in to them, whitch soon put them to flight, and in this way we drove them several miles through the roughfest woods I ever saw, capturing a number of prisoners, and many other valuable articals."
Pvt. Jeremiah Tate, 5th Alabama Inf., describing the May 2, 1863, Confederate flank attack at Chancellorsville.
Comments