Civil War Trust - Battlefield Preservation Achievements

Battlefield Preservation Achievements

The Civil War Trust has helped to save more than 29,000 acres (120 km2) of Civil War battlefields at more than 110 Civil War battlefields within 20 different states within the United States.

Key battlefield preservation achievements include:

• 222 acres (0.90 km2) at Fredericksburg, Virginia

The campaign to preserve the 208-acre (0.84 km2) Slaughter Pen Farm is the most expensive private battlefield preservation effort in American history. the Civil War Trust, working in partnership with Tricord, Inc., SunTrust Bank, and the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust, was able to purchase the property for $12 million in 2006. To support the preservation efforts at the Slaughter Pen Farm the Department of the Interior awarded a $2 million CWBPP grant based on the significance of the land and the availability of non-federal matching funds. The Slaughter Pen Farm was the largest remaining unprotected part of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. It is also the only place on the battlefield where a visitor can still follow the Union assault on that bloody day from beginning to end.

• 49 acres (0.20 km2) at The Wilderness, Virginia

In October 2010, the Civil War Trust announced a new and ambitious campaign to save 49-acre (0.20 km2)of the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County, Virginia. This Middlebrook Tract includes the eastern edge of Saunders Field and land associated with the May 6, 1864 flank attack by Confederate forces under John B. Gordon. Historian and author Gordon Rhea stated that this land "witnessed some of the Wilderness' most brutal combat". In January 2011, the Civil War Trust announced that it had reached its $1,085,000 fundraising goal for this historic property.

• 578 acres (2.34 km2) at Glendale, Virginia

While the Richmond, Virginia suburbs remain a hotbed for development, the Civil War Trust has made significant strides at the Glendale battlefield, preserving 319 acres (1.29 km2) in 2007 and 578 acres (2.34 km2) overall. Fully 75 percent of the battlefield is now preserved. When combined with previous efforts at nearby Malvern Hill, the Civil War Trust has now created a three mile (5 km)-long continuous corridor of protected battlefield.

• 406 acres (1.64 km2) at Champion Hill, Mississippi

Unique preservation strategies allowed the Civil War Trust to protect 144 acres (0.58 km2) at the heart of the Champion Hill battlefield in 2007. This key portion of the field is still owned by the Champion family, for whom the area and the battle were named, but now is also under conservation easement. As a result the Champion family will maintain ownership of their historic land, while ensuring that their intentions of seeing it protected are realized in perpetuity.

• 316 acres (1.28 km2) at Chancellorsville, Virginia

The Civil War Trust has a record of working with preservation-friendly developers to protect battlefield land. In 2004, the Civil War Trust worked with Spotsylvania County officials and family-owned Tricord, Inc., to protect 134 acres (0.54 km2) of land associated with the First Day at Chancellorsville Battlefield. Two years later, a similar deal was worked out with Spotsylvania County and Toll Brothers, Inc. to protect another 74 acres (0.30 km2) of this historic battleground. Thanks to these efforts, more than 2 miles (3.2 km) of contiguous battlefield land along the historic Orange Turnpike have been preserved. The Civil War Trust is currently working with Virginia Civil War Trails to install an interpretive trail on the property.

In addition to its efforts at the First Day at Chancellorsville site, the Civil War Trust has helped protect an additional 108 acres (0.44 km2) at Chancellorsville, including 85 acres (0.34 km2) on the site of Stonewall Jackson's famous flank attack.

• 1,229 acres (4.97 km2) at Bentonville, North Carolina
• 307 acres (1.24 km2) at Fort Donelson, Tennessee
• 117 acres (0.47 km2) at Morris Island, South Carolina
• 952 acres (3.85 km2) at Malvern Hill, Virginia
• 325 acres (1.32 km2) at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
• 1,798 acres (7.28 km2) at Brandy Station, Virginia
• 1,713 acres (6.93 km2) at Trevilian Station, Virginia

As of January 2011 the Civil War Trust has preserved battlefield land at the following sites:

• Alabama: Fort Blakely, McGee Farm
• Arkansas: Prairie Grove, Devil's Backbone, Helena
• Florida: Natural Bridge
• Georgia: Griswoldville, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, New Hope Church, Resaca
• Kansas: Mine Creek
• Kentucky: Camp Wildcat, Mill Springs, Munfordville, Perryville, Richmond
• Louisiana: Fort De Russy, Mansfield, Port Hudson
• Maryland: Antietam, Monocacy, South Mountain
• Minnesota: Wood Lake
• Mississippi: Big Black River Bridge, Brice's Cross Roads, Champion Hill, Corinth, Iuka, Okolona, Port Gibson, Raymond, Tupelo
• Missouri: Byram's Ford, Fort Davidson, Newtonia, Wilson's Creek
• New Mexico: Glorieta Pass
• North Carolina: Averasboro, Bentonville, New Bern, Wyse Fork
• Oklahoma: Honey Springs
• Pennsylvania: Gettysburg
• South Carolina: Fort Moultrie, Morris Island
• Tennessee: Chattanooga, Davis Bridge, Fort Donelson, Franklin, Parker's Cross Roads, Shiloh, Spring Hill, Stones River
• Texas: Palmito Ranch
• Virginia: Aldie, Appomattox Courthouse, Appomattox Station, Brandy Station, Bristoe Station, Cedar Creek, Cedar Mountain, Chancellorsville, Cross Keys, Five Forks, First Deep Bottom, Fisher's Hill, Fort Harrison, Fredericksburg, Glendale, Hatcher's Run, High Bridge, Five Forks, Kernstown, Lee's Mill, Malvern Hill, Manassas, McDowell, Mine Run, New Market, New Market Heights, Petersburg (A.P. Hill death site), Petersburg (Peebles' Farm), Petersburg (The Breakthrough), Port Republic, Reams Station, Sailor's Creek, Saltville, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Third Winchester, Tom's Brook, Totopotomoy, Trevilian Station, Upperville, Ware Bottom Church, White Oak Road
• West Virginia: Corrick's Ford, Fort Mulligan, Harpers Ferry, Rich Mountain, Shepherdstown, Summit Point