Photo credit: Terry Rensel
Preservation Updates and News
From the Executive Director's Desk
It was great to see everyone who attended the Annual Conference last month, and we are already planning for next year.
That's not the only thing that's been going on around the CVBT office in the last month. Tim and I are working on the 2025 Spring Seminar, which you will find more information about below. At the end of September publisher Savas Beatie held their yearly meetup here in Fredericksburg, which had around 100 attendees. As part of the weekend, they visited Pelham's Corner and Harris Farm for tours. I was able to share the CVBT story with the group, many of whom were not previously aware of us. It was a great opportunity to not only show off these great battlefields, but also let people know the role that we play in preserving them.
That same Friday, I filed the Deed of Easement for Myer's Hill with the Spotsylvania County Clerk's office, which finalizes the easement process, protecting Myer's Hill in perpetuity.
We are also getting ready for our annual Youth Service Day event, where we bring a group of high school students out to one of our properties to do some general maintenance, clean up, and provide a program on the history of the battlefield as well as the role of the specific piece of land that we're working at played in the battle. This year we'll be out at Chancellorsville working on a couple of our Flank Attack properties.
I continue talking with property owners on several of our area battlefields about how we can work together to preserve their lands, and hope to have some news in the not-too-distant future.
The work never ends, and I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield.
Terry
CVBT Out and About!
Publisher Savas Beattie had their yearly meetup in Fredericksburg September 28th-30th. CVBT Board Member Chris Mackowski led tours at both Chancellorsville and the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania, and Executive Director Terry Rensel spoke to a group of about 80 about the importance of preservation and the work that CVBT does. Terry also assisted Ted Savas and author Jeff Hunt on a tour of Payne's Farm. The group also visited CVBT persevered sites at Pelham's Corner and Harris Farm.
2025 Spring Seminar
The 2025 CVBT Spring Seminar is set. The 2025 Seminar will be held at the Tabernacle United Methodist Church, 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 will be included, and tickets will be $50. 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
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. Period 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.
Preservation Victory - Myer's Hill Easement Filed
On Friday, September 27th, the Deed of Easement, placing the historic preservation easement, held by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, was filed with the Spotsylvania County Clerk's Office. The filing of the easement means that Myer's Hill will be preserved, in its natural state, in perpetuity. Thank you for your support of this project! We are looking forward to beginning the long work of doing interpretation of the property and opening it up to the public.
Historic Quote
“Gen. Meade on getting to the Myer’s house, found [Brig. Gen. Emory] Upton’s pickets but a few yards out and ordered them at once advanced. This discovered the enemy, close at hand, who charged and drove off our people. Gen. Meade had to gallop for it, and, not being familiar with the paths came quite near enough being cut off!”
Lt. Col. Theodore Lyman, Meade’s staff, May 14, 1864.
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