--(1) Park Day at Prairie Grove Battlefield -----------------------------------------------------
Park Day at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park
04/04/2008
Northwest Arkansas Times (AR)
http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/news/63817/
Saturday is Park Day at the Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park
. The event begins with a 9 a.m. meeting at Hindman Hall Visitor
Center .
The day is a chance for volunteers to clean up the battlefield
for the 100 th anniversary of the park. Volunteers will team with
the Civil War Preservation Trust to help clean and restore America
's battlefields, cemeteries and shrines with a grant from The
History Channel. Park Day is a nationwide effort and also benefits
from the help of Keep Arkansas Beautiful.
Volunteers are needed to clean and beautify the battlefield and
park grounds: General cleaning, trash pickup, raking leaves, painting
signs, repairing and replacing split rail fence, cleaning park
roads and trails, gardening, and maintenance and cleaning the
historic houses on the grounds. Local Master Gardeners will prepare
the park's heritage vegetable and herb gardens.
Some tools will be provided, but volunteers are asked to bring
gloves and tools if possible. Coffee, water and some snacks will
be provided. Volunteers will receive a Park Day T-shirt and have
the opportunity to hear a local historian discuss the significance
of the site.
For more information, call the Prairie Grove Battlefield State
Park at (479 ) 846-2990.
--(2) Perryville rejects subdivision plan -----------------------------------------------------
Perryville rejects subdivision zoning near battlefield
By Greg Kocher
04/03/2008
Lexington Hearld-Leader (KY)
http://www.kentucky.com/779/story/365954.html
PERRYVILLE - By a 4-1 vote Thursday night, the Perryville City
Council rejected a proposed subdivision that would have been near
Kentucky 's largest Civil War battlefield. "I'm relieved,"
said Sherry Robinson, a member of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy, who had spoken against the proposal. "Right
now, we're ecstatic."
Marion "Pete" Coyle Jr., the landowner who had wanted
to develop a portion of his farm on U.S. 150 just west of downtown
Perryville, had little comment after the vote.
"I'm upset right now," Coyle said as he left City Hall.
Had the council approved the rezoning, Coyle could have put 53
single-family houses, an assisted living center and two commercial
highway businesses on 34 acres.
But the proposal came under fire from Civil War re-enactors and
preservationists who feared the rezoning would only open more
farmland around the battlefield to development. At last count,
city hall had received 169 telephone calls, many from re-enactors
around the country who opposed the development. Re-enactors say
Perryville remains relatively unspoiled and appears much as it
would have to its original combatants.
"We have to continue to protect this land, because if we
don't there's a strong possibilty it may rear its head again,"
said Union re-enactor Chad Greene of Perryville.
The proposed rezoning prompted the Civil War Preservation Trust,
a non-profit group in Washington D.C. , to put Perryville on its
Top 10 list of endangered battlefields last month.
Some 7,500 were killed or wounded in the October 1862 Battle of
Perryville. It was a tactical Confederate victory, but Kentucky
remained in Union hands for the rest of the war. Perryville council
member Sheila Cox recalled those soldiers while reading a written
statement about her support for Coyle's proposal.
"I would hope to think that the soldiers that lost their
lives for rights and freedom did not intend for us not to grow
and make progress," Cox said.
She added: "The battlefield and the city of Perryville both
need to understand that each other have got to give and take in
order to survive. The Coyle proposal has taken great pains in
seeing that the plans include the best interests of both parties."
But council member Georgeanne Edwards said Coyle had failed to
demonstrate a need for the rezoning. And she said there was no
evidence of any major economic, social or physical changes to
the area that might warrant a zone change.
"Also, the development is not compatible with the efforts
to preserve the Perryville battlefield, and the historically significant
land surrounding the battlefield," Edwards said.
On the vote to reject the rezoning, council members Edwards, Bill
Chance, Julie Clay and Dawn Hastings voted yes, and Cox voted
no. Council member Phillip Crowe was absent. Mayor Anne Sleet
was not permitted to vote because she is not a member of the legislative
body.
Troops did not fight on the Coyle property. However, Old Mackville
Road , used by both Confederate and Union soldiers as they went
to and from the battlefield, crosses through the property.
Last fall Coyle had preliminary talks with the state Parks Department,
which wanted to purchase an easement for the old road and turn
it into a walking trail.
But those talks stalled when Gov. Steve Beshear shifted $29 million
in bond money to the Kentucky Horse Park for preparations for
the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
Council member Clay said she was encouraged that Coyle wanted
to preserve the Old Mackville Road corridor.
"I think that's something we should look into," Clay
said. "We do receive a lot of visitors to the battlefield.
And I think walking the land that the soldiers walked would be
an interesting and agreeable thing to promote."
--(3) Park Day at Wilderness Battlefield -----------------------------------------------------
Wilderness Battlefield Friends seek volunteers to help with
Park Day
04/03/2008
Orange County Review (VA)
http://www.orangenews.com/ocn/news/local/article/wilderness_battlefield_friends_seek_volunteers_to_help_with_park_day/7885/
The Wilderness Battlefield will be one of 110 Civil War battlefields,
parks and historical sites that are participating in the Civil
War Preservation Trust's (CWPT) Park Day 2008 on Saturday, April
5.
On Park Day, thousands of volunteers throughout the United States
work together to clean up and repair facilities, exhibits and
grounds that represent historical significance.
Friends of Wilderness Battlefield (FoWB) is coordinating the activities
on the Wilderness Battlefield, which is the largest of the four
battlefields that make up the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania
National Military Park . The volunteers who participate in the
Wilderness cleanup that day will receive a free t-shirt, donated
by the History Channel and CWPT. This is the 11th year that Park
Day has been sponsored by those two organizations.
Craig Rains, chairman of FoWB's Park Day 2008, said volunteers
were needed to pitch in that day.
"This will be a great time for hands-on participation by
people who care about preserving the Civil War history of this
part of Orange and Spotsylvania counties," Rains said.
"Even something as simple as picking up trash along the highway
is paying tribute to the thousands of men who fought in this horrible
battle that helped shape our country."
Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts who take part will receive a patch from
CWPT, while supplies last. FoWB will provide free water and snacks
to all volunteers.
Wilderness Battlefield projects will include pickup on roads throughout
the battlefield, painting of the National Park Service exhibit
shelter on Saunder's Field, repairing and repainting a foot bridge
at Saunder's Field and painting metal signs denoting entrenchments
along Hill-Ewell Drive. Other projects will include cleanup of
the Longstreet wounding site on Orange Plank Road and the parking
area of the Vermont monument at the intersection of Brock Road
and Orange Plank Road . Other projects may be developed.
Volunteers should bring work gloves. The National Park Service
is providing trash bags for those who will pick up litter and
furnishing paint and paint brushes for those doing painting projects.
Rains said volunteers from as far away as North Carolina and Ohio
volunteered to participate on the Wilderness battlefield last
year. In addition, 18 Cub Scouts and parents from Spotsylvania
County joined to clean up the Saunder's Field portion of the battlefield.
Rains said local volunteers for the April 5 event should meet
at 9 a.m. at the Wilderness Battlefield Exhibit Shelter, located
on Route 20, about two miles west of the intersection with Route
3 at Wilderness. Extra parking will be available along Hill-Ewell
Road at Saunder's Field. In case of inclement weather, the event
will be rescheduled for April 19.
To begin the day, a local historian will give the volunteers a
brief overview of the importance of the Battle of the Wilderness,
which was fought in May, 1864 and was the first time Generals
Grant and Lee faced each other on the battlefield.
For more information on the National Park Day 2008 project, go
to the Civil War Preservation Trust and http://www.civilwar.org/parkday.
CWPT is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization
in the United States . Its goal is to preserve the nation's endangered
Civil War sites and to promote the appreciation of these hallowed
grounds through education and heritage tourism.
Friends of Wilderness Battlefield is a nonprofit volunteer organization
with members in 29 states and three countries. Its mission is
to preserve, promote and protect the historic Wilderness battlefield,
along with the history of its battles and the soldiers and area
citizens whose lives were affected by the events of that time.
Visit http://www.fowb.org for more information about FoWB and
its events.
For more information about Park Day 2008 at Wilderness Battlefield,
contact Craig Rains at 540-972-2844 or by e-mail at craigrains@hotmail.com.
--(4) Foes See Picacho Rail-Yard Pick Up Steam -----------------------------------------------------
Foes See Picacho Rail-Yard Pick Up Steam
By Daniel Scarpinato
4/3/2008
Arizona Daily Star (AZ)
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/232653
More than a year after Union Pacific announced plans to build
a rail yard near the foot of Picacho Peak , the project continues
to face resistance.
But foes have found that with railroads regulated by the federal
government, there's little that can be done in Arizona to alter
or halt the project.
The site stretches six miles along Interstate 10, just east of
the peak. Concerns about the site are multiple - and passions
on either side are high.
The entire area the railroad is seeking to acquire, 1,500 acres,
is three times the size of a rail yard in Tucson .
How big is that? If you lay the plot of land over Tucson it would
stretch from the UA's Arizona Stadium to near Pantano Road . And
the rail yard itself would not only exceed the size of Tucson
International Airport - it would even be larger than Phoenix 's
Sky Harbor International Airport .
The rail yard's initial size is expected to be about 550 acres.
Such a facility is needed, Union Pacific says, because the number
of trains that cross through the area daily is expected to nearly
double during the next 10 years. Between 1999 and 2006, Union
Pacific's Arizona business increased by 46 percent, the company
reports.
Nevertheless, concerns remain about the environmental impacts,
particularly the proposed yard's proximity to a Central Arizona
Project canal that delivers water to Southern Arizona . Farm and
business owners worry it could harm them, since Union Pacific
is seeking to purchase state land leased by Herb Kai, a cotton
and pecan farmer. And preservationists say the spot - the site
of an important Civil War battle - is filled with nostalgia.
"It's not the kind of thing you want next to a signature
state park," said Sandy Bahr, lobbyist for the Sierra Club.
But those in favor of the development say the project could inject
jobs into the economy of Pinal County , the fastest-growing county
in the country. They also say noise and population would be minimized,
in part by buffer space around the facility.
Still, since the issue poked its head up more than a year ago,
it's been engulfed in politics.
State Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, introduced a bill last year
that attracted bipartisan support but also got wrapped up in a
debate over federal pre-emption. Ultimately, it earned a veto
from Gov. Janet Napolitano.
This year, as Union Pacific continues to seek the land at auction
through the Land Department, rail-yard foes started over. But
the legislation takes less drastic measures that some say could
make the development all but certain.
Law narrowed
While lawmakers initially sought to give the Arizona Corporation
Commission the power over deciding whether a railroad can use
state land and whether the railroad can exercise its condemnation
power, the new version is much more limited in scope.
Now it directs the Arizona Department of Transportation to conduct
environmental impact studies and call a public hearing on major
rail projects. And to pacify advocates of a long-desired Tucson-Phoenix
commuter rail, the bill would exempt those kinds of state projects.
But the potential effects of the railroad remain vague.
"Obviously, there's going to be an impact," says Janick
Artiola, a research scientist and associate professor in the UA's
Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science. But Artiola
said it's hard to predict.
"When you exhaust chemicals into the air, you don't know
where it's going to end up - it could be minimal, or it could
end up a mile away," he said. And on the concern about the
proximity of the potential yard to the CAP canal about a half-mile
away, he said, "The closer you bring in traffic to an open
source of water, the more likely there will be an impact."
Luis Heredia, public affairs director for Union Pacific, says
those issues will be vetted since the railroad must already meet
state and federal environmental standards.
"We feel the process is redundant," he said of the legislation.
State Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, says expanding the railroad
could be good for the environment since it might reduce the need
for commercial trucks on I-10. "We shouldn't be making it
harder; we should be making it easier for the railroad,"
he said.
The Land Department has yet to determine whether to put the land
up for auction, as Union Pacific has requested, said Jamie Hogue,
deputy commissioner.
The department is not required to do environmental impact studies.
It would only be after Union Pacific obtains the property that
the railroad would need to face the state and federal regulations.
Union Pacific remains opposed to the legislation, and during a
hearing before the Senate Transportation Committee Tuesday at
the state Capitol, a railroad attorney predicted a legal challenge
if the legislation is passed. The bill, which has already passed
the House, cleared that committee and needs to go to the full
Senate.
Rooftops or train tracks?
Legislators and community activists say the railroad failed in
the beginning to listen to communities when in 2006 it sought
to develop projects in Red Rock and Yuma .
In an effort to better deal with anxiety, Union Pacific recruited
Heredia, a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva,
D-Ariz. Heredia, who grew up in Yuma , says despite the complaints,
"local communities are in the front seat of the process."
"That whole stretch will either transform into rooftops,
or it can transform into some economic opportunity for Pinal County
," he said.
A proponent of the rail yard, state Rep. Tom Prezelski, D-Tucson,
says he's not fond of the "urbanization going on in the area,
and I'm not sure if it's sustainable, but I think this project
is good for the state," he said.
Prezelski was an opponent of Paton's legislation last year, but
this year he helped lead discussions with Union Pacific to bring
the bill to its current form. But Prezelski says he still thinks
it conflicts with federal law.
Historic ground
Since the 1970s, Tucsonan Richard Collins has been one of about
300 Arizonans who re-enact a Civil War battle near the base of
the peak. Collins says the actual 1862 battle, which resulted
in the withdrawal of Confederate forces from Arizona , was likely
in the area were the rail yard would be.
"I think it would destroy a lot of historic ground,"
Collins said. "Important historical areas of Arizona are
disappearing very quickly, and this seems a shortsighted solution
to the railroad problem."
Paton, the sponsor of this year's legislation, says the railroad
is still being treated the way it was in the 1800s.
"It's a different day in Arizona ," he said. "We're
not in the Old West anymore. We're in the New West that has whole
different demographic pressures."
Workers undecided
The Union Pacific workers union - the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and Trainmen - is unsure how the project would affect
them, said Vince Verna, legislative liaison for the Tucson chapter.
"There's potential reasons we could have some heartburn over
it," said Verna. Chief among their concerns is the potential
commute for Tucson engineers.
"I don't see very many people picking up stakes and moving
to Red Rock," Verna said. Since shifts can last up to 16
hours, Verna said driving 60 miles home from work could be dangerous,
and the union is waiting for more information - like whether Union
Pacific will provide transportation.
Heredia said no determinations on transportation for employees
will be made until the project is further along, and he stressed
that the site will provide new jobs for residents in Pinal County
.
Meanwhile, the impact of the latest legislative attempt to deal
with the railroad remains to be seen.
While Union Pacific argues it could harm its business in the state,
others say the legislation does little more than let people air
their concerns.
And on that point, Heredia says, Pinal County has already had
its own hearings.
But for the sponsor of the bill, that's not enough. "Giving
the citizens the power to speak their mind is a powerful thing,"
Paton said.
--(5) America 's Civil War Battlefields Under Siege -----------------------------------------------------
America 's Civil War Battlefields Under Siege
3/30/2008
CNN Sunday Morning (National)
http://www.cnn.com/
America 's civil war battlefields. They are under siege.
TRACE ADKINS, COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER: It's just consuming everything
in its path and if permitted to continue unchecked it will just
erase all the truly hallowed historic places that we have in this
country.
NGUYEN: So, can the past be saved? While still making room for
the future?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Take a look, live pictures right now, we are going to
be showing you momentarily the Olympic torch. These pictures of
the flames leave Greece , and is headed to Beijing where it will
be handed over to the organizers of this year's Olympics.
Well, some major civil war battlefields here in America such as,
you know, Gettysburg . They have been preserved but many lesser
known sites are under steady attack from developers.
HOLMES: And right now, a skirmish between the past and the future
is taking place at several historic battlefields. Here now is
CNN's Kate Bolduan.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're footprints
of our nation's past, land hundreds of thousands died to protect.
Battles reenacted time and again to keep the stories alive. Now,
almost 150 years old, preservationists say the country's civil
war battlefields are under siege once again.
TRACE ADKINS, COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER: The main threat to battlefields
these days is urban sprawl. BOLDUAN: One of the people leading
the effort is Trace Adkins. Better known as the country music
star and a contestant on NBC's celebrity apprentice. Adkins says
he's also the great great grandson of a confederate soldier and
he wants to make sure his as well as the nation's heritage isn't
bulldozed by urban development.
ADKINS: It's just consuming everything in its path. And if permitted
to continue unchecked it will just erase all that the truly hallowed
historic places that we have in this country.
BOLDUAN: The Civil War preservation trust, a non-profit organization
says it spent $120 million saving 25,000 acres of battleground
across the country. Recently, the group added 10 more sites stretching
from Arkansas to Pennsylvania to its endangered list.
BOLDUAN: This, the Monocacy battlefield in Maryland is one of
the endangered. It's known as the battle that defended Washington
from the south. But preservationists say it is now this land that
needs to be defended from a proposed waste energy plant right
next door.
JIM LIGHTHIZER, CIVIL WAR PRESERVATION TRUST: If we don't do something
fast, if we don't do something now, that endangered land will
in fact become lost.
BOLDUAN: But Frederick county officials say there is much more
to be gained than lost from the proposed development. In a statement,
the director of utility says the county has a well- documented
history of working closely with the National Park Service. "I
expect that similar cooperative efforts will occur between the
county and the National Park Service to ensure that our structure
doesn't have an unreasonable impact on the parks' operations.
But Trace Adkins and other preservationists say they'll continue
their fight to honor the nations' fading history.
ADKINS: It's an old cliche, I know, but it's true, you know. How
can you know where you're going if you don't know where you've
been?
BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Monocacy , Maryland .
--(6) Hartville Visitor's Site Taking Shape -----------------------------------------------------
Civil War Battle of Hartville Visitor's Site Taking Shape
3/28/2008
Mansfield Mirror (MO)
http://www.mansfieldmirror.com/publish/article_3187.shtml
The Battle of Hartville Visitor's Site project moved closer to
completion on Friday March 21 when the frame and roof were installed
by local contractor Calvin Morrow. The construction had been delayed
due to this year's inclement weather. The site is adjacent to
the Steele Cemetery on State Highway 5 in Hartville. The mass
grave of Confederate soldiers who died in the Battle of Hartville
is located in that cemetery.
The Wright County IDA owns the Visitor's Site and sponsored the
project which was proposed more than a year ago. The structure
will be open to visitors who will be able to view displays that
will depict and interpret the Battle of Hartville which took place
in January of 1863, during the Civil War.
Ted Quirk, Executive Director of the Wright County IDA , explained
that the site will serve two purposes: economic development and
memorializing the battle in which soldiers from both sides of
the conflict sacrificed their lives. He stated: "Historic
sites are among the most popular tourist destinations in the United
States and tourism is one of the most important industries in
the world. The tourism industry accounts for more jobs and more
dollars than most industries - at either the state or national
level. The Battle of Hartville was a significant event that took
place right here. It is of great interest to people all over
and, now, they will be able to learn about the battle and see
the ground on which so many men died."
Mr. Quirk said that " the IDA's focus in establishing the
Battle of Hartville Visitor's Site is centered on fueling the
tourism industry in Wright County . That industry is already very
healthy because of attractions like the Wilder Home and Museum,
Bakersville, Rosewood Farm, the M.S.U. Fruit Station, and Mansfield
Woods.
Those sites have been exceptionally successful and other tourism
businesses are starting to emerge as well. Recognizing the importance
of the Battle of Hartville is a major step in driving tourism
in this area and it will be even more important when the 150th
anniversary of the Civil War is commemorated in a few years (2011-2015).
Millions of dollars will be invested across the country over the
next few years as local, state, and national entities prepare
for the sesquicentennial commemoration."
"In addition to the economic aspect of the Battle of Hartville
Visitor's Site project, we are glad to be able to establish something
that will honor the memory of the men who died on this truly hallowed
ground," Mr. Quirk stated. "Historians have recognized
the importance of the Battle of Hartville for many years.
Once the Visitor's Site is completed, tourists and local citizens
will be able to understand the significance of the Battle more
easily and with greater appreciation for the valor and loss that
occurred in Hartville almost 150 years ago."
--(7) Officials Forming Future of Fort Monroe -----------------------------------------------------
State, Federal Officials Forming the Future of Fort Monroe
By Kate Wiltrout
3/26/2008
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot (VA)
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/state-federal-officials-forming-future-fort-monroe
FORT MONROE
Transferring ownership of an Army fort is a complex task, especially
when the place boasts as much history and as much valuable
real estate as Fort Monroe .
Almost three years after the federal government announced that
the Army would exit Fort Monroe , state and federal officials
are beginning to hammer out specifics.
They aim to sign an agreement by August that would specify how
the 570-acre peninsula will be managed after 2011.
A draft of the agreement released this week is 45 pages long.
Kathleen Kilpatrick, the state historic preservation officer,
warned that it's only going to get longer.
Kilpatrick is one of the state officials most closely involved
in the transfer. The bulk of the property would revert to state
control when the Army moves its personnel to Fort Eustis and Fort
Knox , Ky.
The agreement will be revised to reflect public input and comments
from more than 30 "consulting parties" involved in the
process, Kilpatrick said. But she emphasized that the principles
at its core are sound and won't change.
"It's a very strong agreement," Kilpatrick said. "It's
very preservation-friendly, while recognizing that preservation
depends on creating economic sustainability to support your culture."
The three guiding principles are to respect the fort's historic
assets, provide public access and cover the cost of running what's
essentially a small town.
The agreement divides the fort into five zones, each with its
own rules for demolishing buildings and constructing new ones.
The strictest rules would apply to everything within the moat-encircled
stone fort built in the 1830s. Development at the grassy, eastern
end of the base would be permitted, if it maintained the same
scale, density and characteristics as its surroundings.
Beyond that, the agreement states that the Army would facilitate
negotiations for a long-term loan of the collections at the Casemate
Museum . The museum, built inside the cavernous stone halls of
the fort, preserves the cell where Confederate President Jefferson
Davis spent months in captivity after his capture at the end of
the Civil War.
Another facet of the fort's history is its role in the crumbling
of slavery. The Union general in charge during the Civil War decreed
that escaped slaves be considered contraband of war, and granted
them freedom inside the fort.
As part of the agreement, the Army would do more archaeological
testing in search of the Freedmen's Cemetery rumored to have existed
on base.
H.O. Malone, a retired Army historian who heads Citizens for a
Fort Monroe National Park , doesn't disagree that finding revenue
to support it is crucial to the fort's future.
But he doesn't like how fast the agreement is coming together.
He thinks the Army and state officials should focus instead on
exactly who gets jurisdiction after the Army leaves.
"They're putting the cart before the horse," he said.
--(8) Civil War's 'Valley Forge' ----------------------------------------------------
Park Proposed for Civil War's 'Valley Forge'
By Clint Schemmer
3/26/2008
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star (VA)
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/032008/03262008/366225
Central Stafford County needs a public park, historians and preservationists
say, but not of the usual kind.
This one, set atop ridges overlooking Accokeek Creek, would feature
the most significant remaining set of unprotected Civil War forts
and camps in the northern part of Virginia .
That's what they recommended yesterday to area officials meeting
at the University of Mary Washington 's graduate-studies center
in Hartwood.
County Administrator Anthony Romanello convened the ad-hoc group,
which included Stafford supervisors, archaeologists, historians,
planners, private citizens, and officials from the public utility
that runs the regional landfill where the historic sites are located.
To protect the sites as the landfill grows, the R-Board--or Rappahannock
Regional Solid Waste Management Board--intends to preserve 14
to 20 acres of the 760-acre facility.
"The important thing is to convey this land unimpaired for
our children--that's the first priority," said John Hennessy,
chief historian of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military
Park . "The R-Board has done a great thing by setting this
property aside."
In January, R-Board members voted unanimously to reshape an 80-acre
landfill expansion, giving up 3 to 5 acres, to preserve one of
the forts, R-Board Superintendent Andrew J. Mikel said. The other
forts and winter camps sit on land nearer the creek, where environmental
rules preclude landfill development.
Many participants in yesterday's meeting favored creating a park
on the property so the public can see and appreciate the Civil
War and 18th-century sites, which include four Union Army forts
and two camps where soldiers spent the winter of 1862-63. Supervisor
Paul Milde, who's Aquia District includes the tract, strongly
supports the park concept.
QUICK ACTION URGED
The idea was first proposed two years ago by Friends of Stafford
Civil War Sites, a private group that has worked with builders
and county officials to protect and memorialize other Union sites
in eastern Stafford .
FSCWS made supervisors and planning commissioners aware of the
Civil War sites in 2006, presenting a 100-page report on them
and urging that they be preserved as a park with a one-lane, one-way
road to provide access for visitors. Officials were asked to keep
the information confidential to help save the sites, which are
little known to the general public but have been dug by relic
hunters since the 1950s.
Having waited two years for officials to act, FSCWS is now "impatient"
to see the sites made into a park, said Glenn Trimmer, the group's
director.
Trimmer said the tract is the best surviving piece of the "Valley
Forge of the Civil War," the winter camps where the Union
Army recovered from its defeats at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville
and in the humiliating "Mud March," and gained the strength
to fight again.
"You've got to remember," he said, "soldiers left
these camps and went straight to Gettysburg . If they hadn't kept
this army intact, and gotten it well trained and well drilled
here, Gettysburg would have been a defeat."
Author and University of Richmond instructor John W. Mountcastle
and Stafford historian Al Conner urged Stafford, Fredericksburg
and the R-Board officials to work quickly so the public can enjoy
the sites during the Civil War's 150th anniversary, which begins
in 2011.
Mountcastle said the park could be a boon to regional tourism,
much like two Civil War redoubts that Williamsburg saved and opened
as a park last year during Jamestown 's 400th anniversary.
DIGGING UP THE DETAILS
Kerry K. Schamel-Gonzalez, research supervisor with Dovetail Cultural
Resource Group, described two archaeological studies the Fredericksburg
firm has done of the tract for the R-Board.
Dovetail surveyed 12 sites, including four Civil War forts, two
winter camps, a "corduroy" road built by Union troops,
an 18th-century road trace and bridge site, two sandstone quarries,
and 18th- and 19th-century home sites.
The forts were built to defend against a feared attack by Confederate
cavalry, Schamel-Gonzalez said. A network of such earthworks protected
the Union encampments in Stafford, home to at least 120,000 troops,
and the army's bustling supply depot at Aquia Landing on the Potomac
River .
Hennessy and others urged that the sites be put on the National
Register of Historic Places, to attest to their importance and
help preserve them.
Romanello, county Historical Commission Chairwoman Anita Dodd
and others said it's imperative to do more archaeology on the
whole tract to make sure officials know what historic sites--including
Indian and Colonial ones--might be there.
At Romanello's suggestion, the principals agreed to form a small
study group to hammer out the details of archaeology, preservation
and park development.
In the meantime, Mikel warned that the historic area, which is
posted, is being patrolled by the county Sheriff 's Office. Trespassers
will be arrested, he said.
The proposed park tract in central Stafford features 12 archaeological
sites, including:
FORT 1: This two-faced, 248-foot-long Union Army battery has two
gun platforms that may have held 3-inch ordnance rifles or 12-pound
Napoleons. At its center is a square, 9-foot-deep supply pit or
blockhouse. The fort area includes a zigzag trench and rifle pits.
FORT 2: This three-faced, 210-foot-long battery would have had
four or five cannon.
FORT 3: This three-faced battery, which may have held six guns,
included a heavily built blockhouse with below-ground storage
for powder and shell.
FORT 4: Originally about 200 feet long, this earthwork has been
damaged by logging.
WINTER CAMPS: A picket post and two dug-in winter camps, which
had log shelters with fireplaces for the soldiers, neighbor the
forts. One camp has what is believed to be an officers' quarters
made of sandstone.
CORDUROY ROAD: Part of the area's wartime road network included
a corduroy road built of logs so the Army of the Potomac could
move wagons and heavy guns through boggy areas. Part of one such
road, built of pine logs, is perfectly preserved in one swampy
site.
BRIDGE ABUTMENTS: Sandstone abutments survive from a bridge that
crossed a creek for a well-preserved 18th-century road that was
a major route for the Union Army's 11th Corps.
QUARRIES: Two late 18th-century sandstone quarries, one of which
appears to have later become a mill, speak to Stafford 's role
as a provider of building stone. Cut stone was put on skids and
pulled by oxen or horse, or loaded onto shallow scows and taken
downstream on Accokeek Creek. (The quarry at Government Island
, on Aquia Creek, provided sandstone for the White House and the
U.S. Capitol.)
--From reports by Dovetail Cultural Resource Group and the Friends
of Stafford Civil War Sites
--(9) Effort to Find Civil War Gunship-----------------------------------------------------
Marine Archaeologist to Discuss Effort to Find Civil War
Gunship
Sunk in 1864, the Water Witch flew both Northern and Confederate
flags.
By Chuck Mobley
3/25/2008
Savannah Morning News (GA)
http://savannahnow.com/node/468167
Marine archaeologist Gordon Watts will be in Savannah on Thursday
to speak about the search for the Water Witch, a Civil War gunship
that served both the Union and Confederate navies.
Watts , a veteran diver and the founder of Tidewater Atlantic
Research, found the wreckage of the gunboat last fall. The 2007
effort to find the Water Witch, which was built in 1851 by the
U.S. Navy, was funded by the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The DOT was surveying the route for the next phase of the Truman
Parkway , which will bridge the Vernon River , when archaeologists
requested an extension to look for the wreckage.
"We had a fair idea of where it was," said deputy state
archaeologist Christopher P. McCabe.
The Water Witch sank into the waters of the Vernon River in late
1864, ending a "story that even Hollywood couldn't have written,"
McCabe said.
The ship was part of the Union naval force that was blockading
Savannah and was captured by Confederate forces after a daring
night-time attack on May 3, 1864. About 130 southern sailors,
including African-American pilot Moses Dallas, rowed out to the
Water Witch with muffled oars and gained control after a short,
but bloody, struggle.
The Confederates thus had possession of the Water Witch but were
never able to sail it into Savannah . Several months later, as
Union forces approached, Confederate sailors burned and then sank
it.
A state historical marker commemorating its capture was erected
in Vernonburg in 1957.
--(10) Study of Morris Is., Folly's Tip Finished -----------------------------------------------------
Study of Morris Is., Folly's Tip Finished
By Robert Behre
3/25/2008
Post and Courier (SC)
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/mar/13/study_morris_is_follys_tip_finished33698/
An in-depth study into the history and wildlife of oceanfront
parcels on Morris Island and the northern tip of Folly Beach is
finished, and now it's the public's turn to say how this information
should guide what is built there.
The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission paid for
the study as it weighs what sort of development and public access
should be allowed on the northern tip of Morris Island , also
known as Cummings Point, and the northern end of Folly Beach ,
an abandoned Coast Guard site.
The county already owns the Coast Guard site and is working with
the Trust for Public Land and developer Bobby Ginn to manage Cummings
Point, 62 acres on the island's undeveloped northern end just
south of Fort Sumter .
Landscape architect Dale Jaeger and scientist Lee Allen of Allen
& Associates presented the studies Wednesday downtown and
at Folly Beach .
Both Cummings Point and the northern tip of Folly are visited
regularly by the public, but neither has clear signs or paths.
Jaeger said some visitors who bring their dogs or off-road vehicles
to Cummings Point are causing the most damage.
Allen said he talked with one visitor who told him he didn't know
threatened birds stopped there. "I said, 'Yes, your dog is
chasing some federally protected plovers right now,' " he
said.
The study shows which parts of the island are most sensitive,
mostly because of the habitat they offer. They also suggest options
for providing access.
On Cummings Point, the two options are: Doing practically nothing
except for a kiosk with a list of rules and an interpretive sign
near Fort Sumter, or building a dock, a moldering toilet facility
(one with no running water) and a boardwalk linking the dock with
the beach. The boardwalk would follow the route of an old road
bed.
On Folly, the options include combinations of a trail system,
signs, a large interpretive center with air conditioning and restrooms,
a parking area and an overlook to the Morris Island Lighthouse
across the inlet.
Dale said Cummings Point has eroded away and re-formed since Union
and Confederate troops clashed there more than 140 years ago.
While very few artifacts remain there from that time, the site
still has historic value because of its spatial relationship with
Forts Sumter and Moultrie.
Once the consultants receive the final public comments, they will
rework the plan and unveil a final version June 26. After that,
the county will decide what to do next.
The amount of public access to Cummings Point has been a sticking
point as the Trust for Public Land, Ginn, the county and other
groups have tried to formalize a deal to place it in public hands.
The study could help break that jam.
"We'll look at what the public has to say and weigh the pros
and cons," Hensley said.
--(11) At Gettysburg , Family History Also At Stake-----------------------------------------------------
At Battlefield, Family History Also At Stake
By Julie Scharper
3/24/2008
Baltimore Sun (MD)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.map24mar24,0,3712506.story
GETTYSBURG, PA - Two days after the last shots of the bloodiest
battle of the Civil War were fired here, a 16-year-old neighborhood
boy named John H. Rosensteel walked onto the battlefield to help
bury the dead.
There he found the body of a Confederate soldier, a boy about
his own age, and picked up a rifle lying near him. The rifle was
the first item in what would become the largest private collection
of Gettysburg relics, as well as a family legacy.
Since that day in July 1863, Rosensteel's descendants have acquired
and preserved tens of thousands of battle artifacts and shared
them with the public. One family member built a museum along the
Union battle line in 1921 to house them. Another created the building's
famous electric map, which has educated generations of visitors
about the Gettysburg battle by using colored lights to depict
troop movements.
Now the museum - which the family sold to the National Park Service
decades ago - is about to be razed. A new $103 million museum
and visitor's center will open nearly a mile away on the edge
of the Union battle lines next month. The old site will be restored
to the way it looked in 1863 - a quiet spot amid rolling fields.
While the thousands of Rosensteel artifacts will provide the historical
core of the exhibits at the new center, the electric map might
be headed for the scrap heap - a blow to family members and some
loyal Gettysburg visitors.
Kathi Schue, president of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation
Association, says she first saw the map when she was in fifth
grade and later returned there with her own child.
"The electric map is a national treasure," she says.
"Do you know how many thousands of school kids have seen
that map in the past 40 years? The things that they will be most
likely to take away from their experience are the monuments and
the map."
John Latschar, superintendent of the Gettysburg National Military
Park , agrees that the map is "an icon of its age,"
but adds that it is "one hundred percent antiquated."
"From an architectural standpoint, it takes up an immense
amount of space and we have consistent problems with school kids
falling asleep," he said.
The new museum and visitor center, which will include two movie
theaters, 12 galleries, a museum shop and "refreshment saloon,"
will explain the battle through exhibits designed to appeal to
youth accustomed to the Internet and video games, Latschar says.
"The electric map concept, which is to orient people to
the movement of troops on the battlefield, will be done much better
in the new museum," he says.
Emily Rosensteel O'Neil, the great-niece of the boy who collected
that first rifle, doesn't object to demolition of the old museum,
but she is fighting to preserve the map, which her father, Joseph
Rosensteel, completed in 1963, about a year before he died of
cancer. Park officials plan to cut the map -- a sloped cement
slab about the size of a backyard swimming pool -- into pieces,
wrap it in plastic and store it in a barn with no definite plans
to display it again.
O'Neil argues that the map remains a valuable educational tool.
"It is just an incredible way to visualize those three days"
of the battle, she says. "The actual intent that my father
had remains viable and extremely important to so many people."
For years, the Rosensteels made their home in part of the museum
building, and as a little girl, O'Neil slept above rooms that
held cannon balls as big as grapefruits, tattered uniforms and
bibles found in the pockets of dead soldiers. She and her siblings
roamed the battlefields, ducking behind monuments for games of
hide-and-seek and startling flocks of vultures.
She was in charge of keeping her younger siblings quiet while
her father lectured to museum guests. All the children learned
his words by heart - particularly the text that accompanied the
electric map, which one brother liked to recite at the dinner
table.
"As a child, I grew up knowing that the most important thing
in our family was the museum," says O'Neil, 66, a retired
schoolteacher from Guilford , Conn. "Our family life revolved
around it. This is our history."
The family sold the map, the museum and the land on which it sits
to the National Park Service for $2.6 million in 1972. They donated
the trove of artifacts -- which by then numbered more than 38,000.
O'Neil says that few improvements have been made to the museum
since her family sold it and much has been allowed to deteriorate.
Outside the brick building, birds have built a nest in the final
letter "r" in "Visitor's Center.
Inside, black spots of chewing gum dot the dingy carpet, foam
rubber pokes from ripped bench cushions and dim lighting makes
it difficult to view the exhibits.
The map room itself appears frozen in time. After paying $4 admission,
visitors settle into slate gray folding chairs overlooking the
concrete relief map. A portrait of O'Neil's father, captioned
"Originator of the Map," hangs under the podium where
he used to lecture. A spotlight hung above the painting has burned
out.
As the overhead lights dim, a sonorous male voice announces "You
are located in the center of one of the most famous battlefields
in the world." Orange and blue lights flicker on and off,
representing the movements of Union and Confederate troops.
For decades after Rosensteel's death, a recording of his voice
accompanied the presentation, but it was replaced in the 1980s.
Most of the script still follows his wording, though, and O'Neil,
sitting beside her husband Tom in the darkened auditorium, recites
passages along with the narrator.
Rosensteel made an early version of the map in 1939, when he was
25, but wanted to create a bigger and better one for the battle's
centennial. O'Neil recalls seeing her father crouched on his hands
and knees, plotting dimensions on the map. He labored over recording
the voiceover, she says, because he had already been weakened
by the cancer that would claim his life.
Visitors to the historic Gettysburg site, which includes acres
of bucolic fields, hundreds of monuments, the visitor center and
a circular painting of the battle known as the Cyclorama, have
varied opinions on the map.
Nathan Dapper, an American history teacher from Prior Lake , Minn.
brought 45 of his students from Twin Lakes Middle School to see
the map.
"It does a really good job of giving the kids an overall
view of a huge battlefield. When they go out to the battlefield
they have a point of reference," he says. "If you have
some historical context, it's not a field, it's sacred ground."
Visitors J.D. Rymoff Jr. of Lebanon City , Pa. and Leslie Palmer,
of Dover , Ohio , say that the map helped them understand the
military strategy behind the battle. "It puts it in perspective,"
Rymoff says.
But other visitors to the battlefield said they skipped the map
because it seems outdated.
Bente Dalsgaard of Denmark toured the battlefield with her husband
and school age son on a misty afternoon. "Our son had already
downloaded a video game of Gettysburg before we left Denmark .
So you visualize it in a different way," she said.
Jim Campi, a spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust praises
plans for the new museum and visitor center, which he calls "one
of the most exciting Civil War projects on the books right now,"
but says that he hopes a new home can be found for the map.
Campi, who recalls seeing the map for the first time when he was
a teenager suggests that the map could be displayed at an event
commemorating the 150th anniversary of the battle in 2013. "It's
antiquated, yes, but it's
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Campi, Policy and Communications Director
Civil War Preservation Trust
1331 H Street NW
Suite 1001
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 367-1861
http://www.civilwar.org <http://www.civilwar.org/>