(3) Town unveils Civil War Monument - York Daily Record
--(1) Renowned GA preservationist dies -----------------------------------------------------
JASPER
Charlie Geiger, 82, helped preserve Civil War memorials
By KAY POWELL
07/11/2008
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/obits/stories/2008/07/10/charles_geiger_obituary.html
Civil War history lured Charlie Geiger beyond blue highways and
back roads onto Georgia 's dirt roads and remote trails.
The Illinois native and retired engineer spent thousands of hours
and his own money to develop a record of the state's historic
markers and battlegrounds. He seized every opportunity to buttonhole
politicians and bureaucrats to sell them on the economic, educational
and historic value of preserving and expanding the state's marker
program.
"He was a feisty guy," said Ed Jackson of the Carl Vinson
Institute of Government at the University of Georgia .
Mr. Geiger, when presented the Governor's Award in the Humanities
in 2006, even then used the occasion to say something to the governor
about funding the program, said Mr. Jackson of Athens.
"He has kept this issue alive," said Steve Longcrier
of Evans, executive director of the Georgia Civil War Heritage
Trails, which is documenting Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's fiery
270-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah in 1864.
"He was passionate about driving dirt roads," Mr. Longcrier
said. "If you know anything about Sherman 's march, they
didn't take it along interstate highways."
The memorial service for Charles Henry Geiger, 82, of Jasper will
be 2 p.m. Sunday at Big Canoe Chapel. He died of complications
from a hematoma on the brain June 22 at Peachtree Christian Hospice.
The body was cremated. Flanigan Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Geiger's work brought him to Georgia in 1985, and that's when
the passion began. He set about convincing state officials of
the tourism money they were letting escape by neglecting the program.
"He was more interested in the tactical side of the Late
Unpleasantness, while I'm more interested in the person's side,"
said his wife, Linda Geiger, a genealogist. She was his able photographer,
too, snapping more than 1,000 photographs of Georgia historical
markers and sites.
He donated more than 300 marker photographs to the Carl Vinson
Institute, and Mr. Jackson is transcribing and preserving each
marker's text.
A trustee and former president of the Georgia Battlefields Association,
he assisted the state in researching and buying historic sites.
He didn't learn to use a computer until eight years ago and never
trusted it to preserve his records, his wife said. His backup
system was to print everything on his computer and store a copy
in one of his four file cabinets.
Mr. Geiger traced and traveled Sherman 's march through Georgia
from Chattanooga to Savannah . As chairman of the Georgia Civil
War Heritage Trails historical committee, he worked on the installation
under way of 130 markers, Mr. Longcrier said.
As for older markers, he said, Mr. Geiger is responsible for saving
or having repaired several dozen more. The state budget has been
cut to $50,000 to preserve, repair and restore more than 2,000
markers statewide and to erect new markers, Mr. Longcrier said.
The Sherman 's march marker program is a separate budget.
In his early exploration of Georgia , Mr. Geiger was saddened
to see the deplorable shape of historic markers from lack of maintenance,
theft, vandalism and road construction projects. "He took
it upon himself to be their advocate," Mr. Longcrier said.
"Without Charlie's constant efforts for nearly two decades,
there is little doubt that the state's historic marker maintenance
program would not exist at all today."
"The state in the long run will reap the benefits from his
having been here," Mr. Jackson said.
Survivors other than his wife include a daughter, Barbara Karen
Cook of Newburyport , Mass. ; a son, Jeffrey Howard Geiger of
Minneapolis ; and a sister, Mary Gray, of Ottawa , Ill.
--(2) Civil War Sites Secure Grants -----------------------------------------------------
Civil War Sites Secure Grants
By Robin Knepper
7/8/2008
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star (VA)
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/072008/07082008/393361
Four area historic sites, two in Orange County and two in Spotsylvania
County , will receive grants for exhibits on the Civil War.
The Montpelier Foundation will receive $35,000 to continue an
archeological survey and cultural resource management study on
the grounds of the home of President James Madison in Orange .
The work done as a result of a $25,000 grant awarded in 2003 by
the National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program
has already resulted in the location of seven ma-jor regimental
camps on the property. This latest grant will fund the surveying
for support camps.
According to Montpelier's Director of Archeology Matt Reeves,
in the winter of 1863-64, three brigades under the command of
Confederate General Cadmus Wilcox were encamped on the grounds
of Montpelier. Troops were deployed from the area into the Battle
of the Wilderness in 1864.
And the Civil War Preservation Trust received a $50,000 battlefield
protection grant to develop an interpretive plan for the Mine
Run Battlefield, which the park service describes as the "first
major offensive of the Union Army of the Potomac after the Gettysburg
Campaign."
However, Russ Smith, superintendent of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania
National Military Park , has called the Mine Run fighting "the
biggest battle in the Civil War that never was."
The battle in eastern Orange lasted a few days in late 1863, but
the Union Army of the Potomac so outnumbered the Confederate forces
that they withdrew.
"It could have been a huge battle," said Smith. "One
of the bravest things done was to withdraw. The men could have
been slaughtered."
The grant will be used to explore options for trails and signs
and the protection of battlefield resources.
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville battlefields will get some
new exhibits, thanks to a private grant from a Chicago-based preservation
foundation.
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military park received
$10,600 grant from the Tawani Foundation, in cooperation with
the Civil War Preservation Trust, for exhibits at the Fredericksburg
and Chancellorsville visitor centers.
Part of the money will be used for two "traveling trunks"
containing replicas of Civil War-era clothing, and items used
during the period. Those will be used in school classrooms and
in the visitor centers.
And the money will cover the reproduction of a painting of the
Chancellor house by artist Frederick A. Chapman. The house was
set on fire by artillery shelling.
The grant was given in honor of George P. McClelland, an infantry
sergeant in the 155th Pennsylvania Regiment, whose unit fought
in Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862, at Chancellorsville in May
1863 and at the Wilderness in May 1864.
Staff reporter Rusty Dennen contributed to this story.
--(3) Town Unveils Civil War Monument -----------------------------------------------------
Town Unveils Civil War Monument; Norvell Churchill’s Significance
to History Was Saluted in Hunterstown
By Erin James
7/6/2008
York Daily Record (PA)
http://ydr.inyork.com/ydr/newsfull/ci_9797594
Glen Churchill and Jane Churchill Webb never knew their grandfather,
a Civil War soldier who died nearly 20 years before either of
them was born.
They grew up with tales of Norvell Churchill as a talented horseman
and an enthusiastic performer during Fourth of July events in
Michigan , where much of the family still resides.
Their grandfather's storied service as a Union cavalryman in the
Civil War was only part of those tales, the two said.
It's only been in the last few decades that Glen Churchill, now
85, said he has realized his grandfather's true significance to
American history.
"I read it in history books," he said.
But now, for both historians and the Churchill family, Norvell
Churchill's place in history will always be reserved as the man
who saved Union Gen. George Custer from almost certain death on
the Hunterstown battlefield northeast of Gettysburg on July 2,
1863.
As the story goes, 23-year-old Norvell Churchill rescued Custer
-- also 23 at the time -- after his horse was shot out from under
him and Confederate soldiers were closing in to attack. Churchill
killed one of Custer's attackers and hoisted the general off the
ground and onto his horse.
Now 85 and 82 respectively, Glen and Jane represent Norvell Churchill's
closest living relatives. Their fathers were brothers, each the
son of Norvell Churchill.
They were two of about 60 descendants who recently witnessed the
unveiling of Gettysburg 's newest Civil War monument, which describes
both the significance of the Hunterstown battle and Norvell Churchill's
role in saving Custer's life.
"I just wish our fathers were here," Jane Churchill
Webb said.
The event marked the first time any monument has been erected
in Hunterstown, also known as North Cavalry Field, to commemorate
the battle between Custer's 1st Michigan Cavalry brigade -- famously
known as the Wolverines -- and the larger numbers of a Confederate
cavalry brigade commanded by Gen. Wade Hampton.
Historians say the battle between opposing cavalries was significant
because it kept the attention of both units on the battlefield's
northern end while crucial struggles were taking place to the
south on Little Round Top and at the Peach Orchard.
The Hunterstown battle also marks the first time Custer made a
name for himself as a gutsy commander. The Boy General led a seemingly
suicidal charge of a few dozen men down Hunterstown Road against
an enemy who was behind cover and outnumbered him.
Casualties on both sides, however, were relatively light.
Until recently, the battle was unknown to all but the Civil War's
most ardent students. That began to change around 2002, when Roger
and Laurie Harding purchased Hunterstown's Historic Tate Farm,
a property where George Washington stopped on the way back from
the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.
The Hardings established a historic preservation group, The Friends
of Hunterstown, when two buildings on Route 394 that dated back
to the 1800s were at risk of being torn down and replaced with
apartment buildings.
Preserving and promoting Hunterstown has been a goal of the couple
ever since.
The event symbolized the accomplishment of another objective:
to erect a permanent monument dedicated specifically to the battle
at Hunterstown. After the monument's unveiling, the fourth annual
walking tour of the battlefield was offered to visitors.
"It's a very moving day for us," Laurie Harding told
the dozens who attended the unveiling, held on the battle's 145th
anniversary.
That significance of both the battle and of the event was not
lost on at least some members of Norvell Churchill's family.
"I think Norvell is looking down now, in disbelief maybe,"
said Pat Stephens, a great-granddaughter.
Though Norvell Churchill's connection to the famous Boy General
was never the focus of his family's tales, Glen Churchill said
he now knows that his grandfather played an even greater role
in history.
"I think it's wonderful that he saved (Custer's) life,"
he said. "This battle started the end of the war."
MONUMENT
Designed by Codori Memorials of Gettysburg, the new Civil War
monument includes a bust of Gen. Custer and a written description
of Hunterstown's significance in history. It is located on the
Harding's farm at the corner of Shrivers Corner and Hunterstown
roads in Adams County.
--(4) Monocacy Site Unlikely for Incinerator -----------------------------------------------------
Monocacy Site Unlikely for Incinerator
By Meg Tully
7/5/2008
Frederick News-Post (MD)
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=77158
"Very unlikely."
That's how Frederick County Commissioners President Jan Gardner
characterizes the chances that an electricity-producing trash
incinerator will be built near the Monocacy National Battlefield.
Gardner wrote that in an e-mail this week to dozens of county
residents and officials who have been following the incinerator
debate.
Contacted by phone Wednesday, Gardner said the commissioners haven't
officially discussed a location for the plant.
"I think that the majority of the commissioners aren't going
to want to have an impact on the Monocacy battlefield," she
said.
The commissioners have requested construction bids for a waste-to-energy
plant on land in the McKinney Industrial Park off Buckeystown
Pike, near the battlefield.
But they always planned to consider other sites, and named McKinney
because they needed a specific site for bid pricing, Gardner said.
At a public hearing last year, battlefield superintendent Susan
Trail said the roughly 150-foot-high incinerator smokestack would
be visually intrusive.
The Civil War Preservation Trust named the battlefield one of
the most endangered Civil War sites this year because of the incinerator
threat.
Known as the "battle that saved Washington ," the one-day
conflict at Monocacy delayed Confederate troops as they marched
unsuccessfully on the capital in 1864.
The county is looking at other sites, but until they have reached
an agreement with a property owner, the commissioners will not
discuss those options publicly.
The county already owns the McKinney site.
Several commissioners said they weren't willing to discount that
location because it could add as much as $40 million to the cost
to build the plant elsewhere.
If the county builds on the McKinney site, it could use the incinerator
to dispose of biowaste, or sludge, from the existing wastewater
treatment plant there.
With the incinerator at another site, the county might have to
construct another disposal facility at the McKinney site specifically
to dispose of the sludge. Such a plant is estimated to cost $40
million.
That would only happen if the county can't find a way to transport
the sludge to another incinerator site.
Commissioner Charles Jenkins said he would consider costs when
making a decision, though he will also keep in mind the battlefield
concerns.
"I'm not married to one particular site, but I just know
if you're looking at it from the dollar and cents perspective,
it doesn't get much better than (the McKinney site)," Jenkins
said.
Commissioner David Gray said the $40 million savings is "no
small consideration."
But he would like to consider other sites, particularly one with
enough land to set up a resource recovery park with recycling
and composting that would sort out reusable trash before sending
the rest to be burned.
"I understand the park's concern about the viewshed and if
there's a better site, that's fine with me," he said.
Land for the plant would be paid for through the same bond the
county will use to build it. Compared to the several hundred million
dollar construction cost, land acquisition would be a relatively
minor expense, Gardner said.
A spokeswoman from the Civil War Preservation Trust said the trust
is monitoring the situation and is glad the commissioners are
not jumping to a decision.
"That location would have such a visual impact on a huge
part of the battlefield," spokeswoman Mary Koik said of the
McKinney site.
The commissioners expect to receive final bids in August. They
will then decide whether to proceed with building a waste-to-energy
plant.
--(5) First Donation Made to Falling Waters Group -----------------------------------------------------
First Donation Made to Falling Waters Battlefield Preservation
By Matthew Umstead
7/3/2008
Hagerstown Herald Mail (MD)
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=197799&format=html
MARTINSBURG, W.VA. — Advocates of preserving land where
the Battle of Falling Waters was fought 147 years ago in northern
Berkeley County announced the first donation to the cause Wednesday,
the anniversary of the Civil War engagement.
The donation of less than a half acre (0.43 acres) along Hammonds
Mill Road near St. Andrew's Drive near Spring Mills, W.Va. , was
finalized in February, said Gary Gimbel, president of the Falling
Waters Battlefield Association.
Allen Henry made the donation on behalf of Panhandle Builders
& Excavating Inc., the company he leads.
"Mr. Henry has always been a strong supporter of the community
and we are extremely grateful for his company's generosity in
donating this important piece of the battlefield to the association,"
Gimbel said in a press release.
advertisement
The land donated is known as Stumpy's Hollow, according to Gimbel,
and was where the battle began and where Confederate Col. J.E.B.
Stuart and members of the 1st Virginia Cavalry were able to surprise
and capture almost an entire company of Union infantry.
The Battle of Falling Waters was the first Civil War engagement
in the Shenandoah Valley , and helped start building the "mystique"
that would surround Stuart, Gimbel said.
The developer's land donation came just before the Civil War Preservation
Trust in March placed the battlefield site, also known as Hoke's
Run, on its list of threatened battlefields for the first time,
Gimbel said.
An interpretive Civil War Trails marker has been approved by state
officials for the battle site, which Gimbel said many Falling
Waters area residents have admitted not knowing anything about.
"We hear that all the time," Gimbel said.
Stumpy's Hollow is less than a half-mile west of Interstate 81
at Exit 20. It is the low spot where St. Andrew's Drive splits
as it intersects Hammonds Mill Road (W.Va. 901), creating a triangle
containing a number of large oak trees.
Gimbel said the battlefield association still hopes to preserve
the Porterfield house, a historic home built, in part, by Davy
Crockett's grandfather in the 1700s. The home is part of the battlefield
area not far from the intersection of U.S. 11 and W.Va. 901.
"We haven't given up," Gimbel said.
--(6) Coalition Acquires Acre in Battle Hot Zone -----------------------------------------------------
Coalition Acquires Acre in Battle Hot Zone
By Bonnie Burch
7/2/2008
Nashville Tennessean (TN)
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/COUNTY0902/807020305/1352/COUNTY
FRANKLIN, TN - A one-acre tract of Columbia Avenue property has
been through many changes since 1864, when it was covered with
injured and dying Civil War soldiers.
Now, plans are to turn the spot at 1219 Columbia Ave. once again
into open space as a memorial to the men who fought and died there
more than 140 years ago.
Franklin's Charge Inc., a coalition of 11 nonprofit historical
and preservation organizations, has bought this core piece of
battlefield property for $950,000 in private funds with the intention
of creating a park. The newly acquired property is adjacent to
4 Star Market & Beauty Supply and La Villa Market and diagonally
across the street from the Carter House.
Already, the city owns a small park area at Columbia Avenue and
Cleburne Street where a Pizza Hut restaurant once stood until
2005. The Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County
also owns the adjacent Carter Cotton Gin property to the south
of the new Franklin 's Charge acquisition, while the Carter House
has the land to the property's north side. Both organizations
are in the coalition.
"This is a significant puzzle piece which will bring us closer
to having a Civil War battlefield park," said Ernie Bacon,
Franklin 's Charge president.
A two-story beige house on the property — formerly the offices
of Kenneth Holt Construction Co. — will be moved. The land
the 1904 farmhouse sits on is more significant than the structure,
which was not around for the bloody battle, Bacon said.
"We hope to attract a homebuyer," he said. "You
can have the house as long as you take it with you."
But a portion of the current house will stay behind and become
a centerpiece of the new park. Originally, a cenotaph memorializing
Confederate Gen. Patrick Cleburne, who was killed on the spot,
was erected. But when the lot was sold and subdivided long ago,
the new owner took down the monument and used it as the rock in
the house's foundation, said Robert Hicks, an author and Franklin
's Charge board member.
The group hopes that enough of that cenotaph remains that it'll
be re-erected once the house is gone. The park setting should
be set up by 2011.
"It's not simply acquiring this and other land," Hicks
said. "I firmly believe we'll all live to see the rebuilding
of the cotton gin and the trench in front, and the rebuilding
of the cenotaph."
In 2007, Franklin 's Charge raised more than $5 million, including
a dollar-for-dollar match of $2.5 million from the city, to purchase
the old Country Club of Franklin in front of Carnton Plantation
in what is now the Eastern Flank Battlefield Park .
But if all goes as planned, the Holt property will not be the
last bought by the coalition. The group hopes to purchase additional
land important to the Civil War battle with money received through
individuals, private companies and other donations and various
fundraisers.
--(7) Editorial: Morris Island Safeguards -----------------------------------------------------
Editorial: Morris Island Safeguards
6/30/2008
Charleston Post and Courier (SC)
http://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&tab=wm&shva=1&ui=1
Morris Island passed into the public domain just before completion
of the master plan calling for virtually no development on the
island. The city of Charleston , which now owns the island's Cummings
Point, should follow the guidelines set forth in the study released
Thursday by the Charleston Park and Recreation Commission.
Initially, the PRC was expected to have a stake in the ownership
of the island, since it planned to use $1.5 million in half-cent
sales tax funds to help with its purchase.
But owner Bobby Ginn decided to sell the 62-acre tract at the
island's northern tip at a reduced price, and PRC's allocation
wasn't required. Cummings Point provides the primary point of
access to the island and was its last large privately owned tract.
The beach and island's dredge spoil disposal area are owned by
the state.
Apparently, the city will now take the lead in planning for the
island's future. But Matt Compton, director of operations for
the city Parks Department, told our reporter that the PRC master
plan will be "a very important part" of the process.
Indeed, the plan should guide what happens — and what doesn't
happen — on Morris Island . Respondents to a consultants'
survey and a subsequent online citizens petition were insistent
that the island be kept free of development.
There is concern by members of the Morris Island Coalition, a
citizens group that has worked for its preservation for many years,
that the deed for the Cummings Point property sold by Mr. Ginn
allows docks and restrooms on the island. Both were eliminated
from the PRC plan as intrusive to the pristine island. But Mayor
Joseph P. Riley Jr. tells us that the deed's allowance for docks
or restrooms on the island doesn't mean they will be provided.
Nor does it give Mr. Ginn any right to insist on either, he said.
Further, Mr. Ginn has said: "I'm not going to try to dictate
what happens out there."
The deed also allows the use of flat-bottom tour boats to bring
visitors to the uninhabited island. Those boats have restrooms
on board, and can access the island without docks that critics
say will require dredging and encourage visitation. It's clear
that those boats should serve as the vessel of choice for tour
groups, since their use has generated no apparent controversy.
Of course, there will continue to be access by private boats,
though it is to be hoped that a higher level of protection will
be provided from the off-leash dogs and all-terrain vehicles that
the PRC's consultants documented.
Morris Island is a nationally important historic site where black
U.S. troops fought for the first time in the nation's history.
Many soldiers were buried where they fell, beneath its sands.
The island provides valuable habitat for wildlife in an area where
habitat has rapidly diminished in recent years.
Greater protection from current abuse should be one of the major
benefits of public ownership. Keeping the island in a pristine
state should continue to be the goal.
--(8) NPS Status Said Unlikely for Franklin -----------------------------------------------------
National Park Status Said Unlikely for Battle of Franklin
By Bonnie Burch
6/30/2008
Nashville Tennessean (TN)
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080630/COUNTY09/80630046
FRANKLIN, TN - Although he cautioned that a feasibility study
is still out on the matter, National Park Service official Tim
Bemisderfer told attendees of a Civil War symposium that it’s
unlikely there will be a new national park in Williamson County.
The main reason: Those organizations that currently own and operate
historical sites such as the city with Fort Granger , a nonprofit
organization at Carnton Plantation and the state with the Carter
House, are doing a good job on their own.
“We have had many discussions with these partners, both
publicly and in a private setting, and what we’ve heard
is that a lot of these organizations would like to continue managing
the properties themselves,” Bemisderfer said. “For
the National Park Service to have a management presence, you’ve
got to have something to manage, first off.”
Development had gobbled up some of the sites related to the 1864
Battle of Franklin, in which thousands of men in the Union and
Confederate armies were wounded or killed, as late as the 1980s.
But that trend has reversed in recent years, especially with the
city’s plan to turn the old Country Club of Franklin golf
course into a memorial park and purchases by local preservation
groups of assorted sites.
"Sometimes we are asked to assess resources for inclusion
in the system because no one else can take care of them and they
are under great threat of being lost,” Bemisderfer said.
“The resources in Franklin are being exceptionally cared
for by wonderful, qualified groups from across the spectrum, so
we don’t necessarily feel the need to step in to save a
resource.”
That doesn’t mean the National Park Service might not have
a role in preserving historical Franklin landmarks in the future.
Scenarios could include entering Williamson County Civil War sites
into a congressionally mandated Partnership Park program or providing
technical support and grants through National Park Service programs.
“But it is unlikely that the ownership and management of
historic properties here would fit into a traditional National
Park Service unit,” the official said.
--(9) Shenandoah Valley ’s Battlefields Gain Protection ----------------------------------------------------
Shenandoah Valley’s Battlefields to Gain Protection
Associated Press
6/30/2008
Associated Press (NAT)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/30/shenandoah-valleys-battlefields-to-gain-protection/
RICHMOND, VA - Preservationists are expected to announce Tuesday
a state and federal initiative to protect more land in the Virginia's
Shenandoah Valley, where nearly a third of roughly 50,000 acres
of Civil War battlefields are unprotected.
The effort follows the recent announcement by the National Trust
for Historic Preservation that a quarry expansion threatens the
Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Park battlefield, which is
in the valley.
Kathleen S. Kilpatrick, director of Virginia 's Department of
Historic Resources, said that the announcement will be made at
a news conference in Middletown and that the initiative involves
a state-federal partnership to preserve additional acres within
the core area of the battlefield.
"Broadly speaking, we see any battlefield that is not protected
as threatened," she said.
Miss Kilpatrick declined to give further details until the formal
announcement, sponsored by the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields
Foundation.
Every year, the Cedar Creek battlefield attracts thousands of
Civil War history buffs for one of the largest battle re-enactments
in the country. Congress designated 3,700 acres as the boundary
of the park, but much of the land is in "partnership park"
owned by the nonprofits, the National Park Service and local governments.
The park service and its partners protect a total of 1,339 acres.
The remaining acres are in private hands.
Earlier this month, the National Trust warned that an expansion
of a limestone quarry mine will threaten Belle Grove, a historic
plantation house, and the battlefield's vista.
Spencer Stinson, a representative of Carmeuse Lime & Stone,
disputed the National Trust's contention that the mining threatens
the battlefield or the estate.
Miss Kilpatrick said the partnership was long in developing and
was not in response to the quarry dispute.
The Oct. 19, 1864, battle of Cedar Creek played a key role in
the Civil War.
Union Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's counterattack on Lt. Jubal A.
Early's Confederate troops broke the back of the South's forces
in the Shenandoah Valley and was critical to other Northern victories.
Nearly 53,000 troops were engaged in the battle, which resulted
in 8,575 casualties.
"It was a key focal point for Union valley campaigns,"
Miss Kilpatrick said.
The battlefield, she said, has the "power of place"
that links the past with the present.
"It connects with people in a way that cannot be found in
classrooms or textbooks," Miss Kilpatrick said.
--(10) Trail to Preserve, Highlight History -----------------------------------------------------
Trail to Preserve, Highlight History
By Glenn Smith
6/29/2008
Charleston Post and Courier
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jun/29/trail_preserve_highlight_history46024/
From the grounds of old plantation homes to the spot where the
first shots of the Civil War were fired, James Island is a community
steeped in colorful history.
A history trail inaugurated Saturday is an effort to preserve
that rich heritage by highlighting the people, places and events
of James Island 's past.
More than three dozen people gathered at Septima P. Clark Academy
to launch the history trail as part of the Island Heritage Festival.
Among those attending were members of the Wassamassaw Native American
Tribe.
Each year, organizers of the trail plan to mark a different site
on the island to commemorate its historical contribution. There
are many to choose from, said Eleanor Kinlaw-Ross, founder and
executive director of the Island Heritage Foundation.
One marker already in place marks the site of the 1863 Battle
of Sol Legare fought by the Massachusetts 54th Regiment. James
Island also is home to Fort Johnson , where the first shots of
the Civil War were fired at Federal forces at Fort Sumter . Sammie
Smalls, a disabled beggar immortalized as "Porgy" in
the American folk opera "Porgy and Bess," is buried
on the island. There are other sites as well, including the slave
cemetery at McLeod Plantation.
The foundation plans to work with a community advisory board to
identify and interpret potential sites. Nominations for additions
to the trail will be solicited from the community, Kinlaw-Ross
said.
"With the addition of each new marker, the trail becomes
further established and the journey to history comes alive,"
she said.
Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-James Island , read a proclamation
from Gov. Mark Sanford and applauded efforts to preserve the island
where he was born. Retired lawman Eugene Frazier, author of "
James Island : Stories From Slave Descendants," told the
crowd gathered for the inauguration about the island's abundant
plantations and how slaves contributed to its history.
Blake Hallman, treasurer of the South Carolina Battleground Preservation
Trust, said that amid its urban sprawl, James Island is littered
with important evidence of the Civil War that must be remembered.
"You are the custodians," he told the crowd. "You
are the ones who will decide whether these pieces of our history
will remain or be bulldozed for further expansion.”
--(11) Board Seeks to Preserve Star Fort -----------------------------------------------------
Board Seeks to Preserve Star Fort
By Robert Igoe
6/26/2008
Winchester Star (VA)
http://www.winchesterstar.com/article_details.php?ArticleID=7642
WINCHESTER - Frederick County officials are prepared to take over
management of one of the county’s historic landmarks.
At its regular meeting on Wednesday, the county Board of Supervisors
approved a resolution to ask the Frederick County Circuit Court
to find that the Star Fort site on U.S. 522 (North Frederick Pike)
near Winchester is of significant public interest, and that the
county has the authorization and means to collect assessments
from property owners in the Star Fort development to preserve
the Civil War stronghold.
The resolution came following a report by attorney Robert Mitchell
detailing the results of his examination of the terms of the master
development plan for the Star Fort residential development.
In his findings, Mitchell said the plan includes specific language
requiring that a homeowners’ association was created with
the purpose of collecting mandatory annual payments from the developed
properties to fund the preservation and operation of Star Fort
as a public education and historic site.
However, Mitchell said the assessments were not collected properly.
While the homeowners’ association was later dissolved by
the state Department of Corporations, Mitchell said that each
deed of dedication for the Star Fort development continues to
state the purpose of the association, and that the master plan
agreement calls for the assessment funds to be turned over to
an agency that would continue to do the assessments.
Mitchell said the site’s preservation is "of significant
public interest" and recommended that the county take over
the assessments of the subdivision.
The 7-acre fort was first used during the Civil War as cannon
placements ordered by Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall"
Jackson, and served to protect the area from Union advances.
The fort changed hands on at least two occasions, and was finally
taken over by Union Gen. Philip Sheridan in 1864 during the Third
Battle of Winchester.
The site soon fell into disrepair and was often used as a site
for recreational vehicles until it was taken over by the Confederate
re-enactment group Middlesex Artillery Fleet’s Battery in
1980.
The property has since been conveyed to the Shenandoah Valley
Battlefields Foundation, which has approved funding to put a fence
around the site to prevent its further deterioration.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard C. Shickle Sr. said he hopes
Wednesday’s resolution is a first step toward preserving
the site’s history.
"I’m glad we have the opportunity to deal with the
issue," he said. "I hope to see Star Fort restored to
a fine condition, and I feel we can count on cooperation from
the homeowners."
In another action, the supervisors scheduled a public hearing
for their Aug. 13 meeting to discuss proposed amendments to the
Rural Areas zoning district ordinance.
The amendments would limit the density of buildings in these zones
to one unit per 10 acres, rather than one unit per 5 acres, and
set the minimum lot size at 10 acres.
Attending the meeting in the Frederick County Office Complex were
Shickle, Gene E. Fisher, Philip Lemieux, Gary W. Dove, Bill M.
Ewing, and Charles S. DeHaven Jr. Gary A. Lofton was absent.
--(12) Lincoln Collection may come to Washington -----------------------------------------------------
Group Hopes to Bring Lincoln Collection to Washington
By Jacqueline Trescott
6/25/2008
Washington Post (DC)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/24/AR2008062401472.html
Four major Washington institutions are jointly pursuing an extensive
collection of materials related to Abraham Lincoln and his times
with hopes of bringing it to the capital.
The Library of Congress, the National Museum of American History,
Ford's Theatre and President Lincoln's Cottage have formed a partnership
to obtain the collection of the privately owned Lincoln Museum
in Fort Wayne , Ind. The museum is closing next week after 77
years of operation.
The Fort Wayne museum was suffering from a lack of visibility
and attendance, said Annette Moser, a spokeswoman for Lincoln
Financial Group, the company that runs the foundation that owns
the museum.
"The Lincoln Financial board decided they really wanted to
make the collection more visible to a greater number of people.
With the bicentennial of [ Lincoln 's birth] next year, it would
be a great way of celebrating by gifting the collection,"
Moser said.
The foundation decided to donate the artifacts to public-spirited
organizations and has received proposals from about 40 parties.
The decision will be made by January.
Washington "is a natural place" for the museum's collection,
said John Sellers, a Lincoln specialist at the Library of Congress.
"It is where Lincoln became famous and made his mark. It
is a natural place because the assassination happened here. It
is a natural place because of the wealth of material related to
Lincoln and the assassination."
"There really isn't any group that can match the visitorship
and financial stability of the Washington group," Sellers
said.
The foundation board plans to narrow the proposals in the fall,
invite the finalists to meet with the curators in Fort Wayne ,
and then make site visits to the competing groups. Moser declined
to talk about the applicants. "They ranged from the small,
not-for-profit institutions who are interested in one or two items
to the nationally known institutions," she said.
The museum's collection includes a signed copy of the Emancipation
Proclamation and a signed copy of the 13th Amendment, which abolished
slavery in the United States . The museum has a mock office, with
an original desk, reading glasses and inkwell. The furniture includes
a Gardner Gallery chair, seen in some of the familiar photographs
of the president. The museum also owns Lincoln 's leather portfolio
wallet, a bronze life mask, campaign medals, his shawl and a lock
of his hair.
The artifacts include 350 documents signed by Lincoln , as well
as thousands of 19th-century prints and photographs, and 18,000
rare books and pamphlets. The collection's value has been estimated
at $20 million.
"The collection is a wonderful resource that has gathered
information and files on Abraham Lincoln that will be useful for
researchers in generations to come," said Harry R. Rubenstein,
the chairman of the division of politics and reform at the American
History museum.
For example, "They have copies of every single sermon given
in churches the Sunday after Lincoln 's assassination," said
Paul R. Tetreault, Ford's Theatre's producing director.
The collection is becoming available at a time when both Ford's
and the American History Museum are undergoing extensive renovations.
The museum is expected to reopen in November. The work at the
theater is expected to be complete by February.
The cottage, on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home,
recently was restored and opened to the public for the first time
in February.
The Library of Congress has taken the lead in forming the local
partnership. After the Lincoln foundation held an informational
meeting in Philadelphia for prospective bidders, the Washington
representatives held an impromptu summit on Amtrak. "Everyone
saw the advantages of working together. So on the way back we
plotted our strategy," Sellers said.
"We believe we would be hard to beat, given the foundation's
criteria of visitation, financial ability and the ability to maintain
the collection," said Ford's Tetreault.
The manuscript division of the Library of Congress has a vast
collection of Lincoln material, including his presidential papers.
Other artifacts at the library include the items found in his
pockets at the time of his death.
Ford's Theatre, operated by the National Park Service, has preserved
the box where Lincoln and his guests were sitting the night of
the assassination. It has John Wilkes Booth's derringer pistol,
the clothing worn by Lincoln that night and the hoods placed over
the co-conspirators at their hanging.
Artifacts at the history museum include the top hat Lincoln was
wearing the night of his assassination, his patent model of a
device for raising boats off sandbars, the brass inkstand used
to draft the Emancipation Proclamation, and the cup he used just
before going to Ford's Theatre. "They have the inkwell used
at the signing of the Emancipation," Rubenstein said. "Some
of these items will be reunited for the first time since the 1860s."
--(13) Project Aims to Fix Leaks at Fort -----------------------------------------------------
Project Aims to Fix Leaks at Fort
By Guy Busby
6/23/2008
Birmingham Press-Register ( AL )
http://www.al.com/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/1214212527252990.xml&coll=3
FORT MORGAN, AL - Preservation, not archaeological excavation,
is the main intention of crews digging up sand and bricks on the
top of the east wall of Fort Morgan .
Work stopped June 13 for the afternoon after crews found a rare
Union cannon shell unseen since around the time of the Battle
of Mobile Bay.
The real prize, however, in the work is a chance to stop some
of the leaks and cracking that have plagued the fort since the
structure was completed in the 1830s, said Mark Driscoll, historic
sites manager for the Alabama Historical Commission, the agency
that operates the fort.
Using a $500,000 federal grant, officials are trying to slow some
of the deterioration in the fort caused by water leaking down
from the wall tops through the casemates, the vaulted rooms beneath.
Driscol said workers are going to remove all the soil and bricks
at one point on the east wall to get an idea of the state of the
structure.
"We're digging all the way down to try to find out what the
conditions are," he said. "As part of that, we're digging
across the width of the casemate at that point."
Driscoll said archaeologists and architects are studying the condition
of the wall and any items found. He said the fact that a shell
from a Union 100-pound Parrott gun fired during the Civil War
was found during the work indicates that no one has done such
extensive work since the fort was built.
"The Army did a lot of work here, but obviously they never
dug down that far," he said.
Mike Bailey, Fort Morgan curator, said leaks have long been a
problem at the site. White shapes that look like icicles hanging
from the curved ceilings of the casemates often intrigue visitors.
The figures are formed by mortar leeched from the bricks overhead
by water that has leaked through the roof and is weakening the
structure, he said.
Lead sheeting was placed over the brickwork during construction
to protect the masonry from leaks. As part of the current work,
soil contaminated by the lead is being removed by Alabama Department
of Corrections crews certified in cleaning areas with unacceptable
levels of lead contamination, according to a statement from the
Alabama Historical Commission.
Over the years, cracks have been found in the bricks along the
fort walls. Fort officials checking damage after Hurricane Katrina,
found that the storm had worsened many of the cracks. The $500,000
grant is from federal programs set up to repair damage from the
2005 hurricane, Driscoll said.
--(14) Councilman Spurs Cedar Creek Reenactment Boycott ----------------------------------------------------
Councilman Spurs Battlefield Boycott
By Robert Igoe
6/21/2008
Winchester Star (VA)
http://www.winchesterstar.com/article_details.php?ArticleID=7537
MIDDLETOWN, VA - As the celebration of an important local Civil
War battle approaches, a civil war of sorts involving historic
preservation groups and elected officials continues to escalate.
Middletown Town Councilman Marshall J. "Mark" Brown
said he is asking Middletown business owners to boycott the Cedar
Creek Battlefield Foundation’s Oct. 18-19 re-enactment of
the Battle of Cedar Creek.
Brown’s call for the boycott stems from an agreement the
foundation reached with Chemstone during the company’s efforts
to rezone 394 acres to the north and south of its Middletown quarry
from Rural Areas to Extractive Manufacturing.
The Frederick County Board of Supervisors approved the request
on May 28, despite the Frederick County Planning Commission’s
recommendation that the request be turned down in 2006.
Chemstone sought the new zoning to allow the company to mine high-grade
limestone from this property.
Several organizations, including the CCBF, were part of an effort
to oppose the rezoning out of fears that it would mean increased
truck traffic and threaten historical landmarks such as the battlefield
and the Belle Grove Plantation.
To address these concerns, the company changed its application
and proffer statements to reduce the rezoning area from 639 acres
to 394 acres, eliminating 245 acres along the perimeter of the
property.
The company also agreed to a general limit of 86 truck trips per
day.
But in addition to the proffer changes, the company reached an
agreement with the CCBF to provide vegetation on the 30-foot-high
berms between the battlefield and the quarry, to turn over an
eight-acre tract of property as a historic preserve and to pay
for an architect and historian of the CCBF’s choice to examine
the company’s property for artifacts and other historical
significance.
All artifacts found will be turned over to the CCBF and property
deemed of great historic importance could be added to the preserve.
"We’re extremely dissatisfied with the foundation’s
actions," he said. "There’s an old story about
30 pieces of silver and I think it applies well here."
Foundation officials say their actions compromised no one’s
position, and was vital in protecting the battlefield’s
historic resources.
"Sooner or later, we felt that this rezoning would be approved
due to the amount of high-grade limestone on this piece of land,"
said CCBF Executive Director Suzanne Chilson. "We saw (the
agreement) as a win-win situation and something that was not against
anyone else’s interests."
Chilson said that many of the foundation’s critics do not
have all the facts and she is preparing a statement on the agreement
that she hopes will resolve their concerns.
In a letter to the Board of Supervisors, Chilson said "the
mission of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation is to acquire,
preserve, and interpret the land upon which the Battle of Cedar
Creek was fought, and to collect and preserve documents and artifacts
related to the battlefield. In that respect, the concerns of the
Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation were satisfied."
Brown said the boycott is not only because of the agreement, but
because the festival has been the source of safety concerns.
"We’ve asked them for many years to offer shuttle buses
for the fans and re-enactors," he said. "The festival
creates increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic and we’ve
asked them in the past to help address this."
Aside from the boycott, two of the groups involved in opposing
the rezoning, The National Trust for Historic Preservation and
Belle Grove Inc., announced Thursday they were severing ties with
the CCBF over their agreement.
Another CCBF official, Vice President L.A. "Butch" Fravel,
declined to comment on Brown’s allegations, saying that
"our aim is not to escalate any bad blood," but said
that the foundation has no issue with any other organization involved.
---------------------------------------------------------
Jim Campi
Policy and Communications Director
Civil War Preservation Trust
1331 H Street NW, Suite 1001
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-367-1861
Fax: 202-367-1865
http://www.civilwar.org