Today, the Civil War Preservation Trust announced a new campaign to save 179 acres of endangered battlefield at The Wilderness and Chancellorsville battlefields. As you have previously read, on This Mighty Scourge, The Wilderness Battlefield has continued to be lost to development – including Wal-Mart receiving a special use permit to build a Supercenter adjacent to the hallowed ground that was covered with the blood of our countrymen. Using generous matching funds, the CWPT has committed over $1 million to save 85 acres of Chancellorsville battlefield and 94 acres of The Wilderness. Following are the details as provided in their email earlier today.
“You Can Go Forward, Then”
A Historic Opportunity to Save Land at Both Chancellorsville and the Wilderness
“You can go forward, then” — With those very words, Stonewall Jackson unleashed his 30,000 hardened soldiers upon an unsuspecting Federal Eleventh Corps deep in the woods around Chancellorsville.
It has to be one of the most exciting and historically important preservation opportunities that we’ve ever presented. CWPT is now in a position to save a critical section of the Chancellorsville battlefield – the very ground where Stonewall Jackson’s forces crashed into the Union Buschbeck Line during his famous Flank Attack on May 2, 1863.
In addition to this remarkable Chancellorsville opportunity, we are also partnering with the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust to save 94 acres of the Wilderness battlefield.
As you well know, this great 1864 battlefield, where Grant first met Lee in battle, continues to be threatened by nearby development efforts. Now we can step forward and snatch back a portion of the battlefield before it’s too late.
View our Chancellorsville-Wilderness Appeal Online:
civilwar.org/chancellorsvillewilderness
Battle maps, history articles, photos, videos, and more
Chancellorsville
* Acreage: 85 Acres
* Location: Spotsylvania County, Virginia
* Total Cost: $2,125,000
* CWPT Commitment: $916,667
* CWPT Donation Match: $2.3 to $1
Wilderness
* Acreage: 94 Acres
* Location: Spotsylvania County, Virginia
* Total Cost: $950,000
* CWPT Commitment: $95,000
* CWPT Donation Match: $10 to $1
My friend, I will be the first one “over the top,” so to speak. I have already written a personal check, made payable to CWPT, for $1,000. I could not, in good conscience, ask you to contribute to an effort I was not willing to put my hard-earned cash into as well.
For your gift of $100 or more, I will do something that CWPT has done with great success at several other battlefields around the nation, such as The Slaughter Pen at Fredericksburg, the First Day of Chancellorsville, Harpers Ferry, Parker’s Crossroads and more:
For your donation of just $100 or more today, I will include your name on a permanent display that will stand on this hallowed ground.
You read that right; this offer is not just for those “heavy hitters” among us; everyone who gives $100 or more to this appeal will have his or her name included on this commemorative display!
CWPT is going to recognize – at Chancellorsville, on this ground – the thousands of CWPT members who will now make this historic victory possible.
Most Sincerely Yours,
Jim Lighthizer
President
Civil War Preservation Trust
1156 15th Street N.W., Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20005 | Phone (202) 367-1861
www.civilwar.org
Please take some time today to learn more about this great opportunity to save this hallowed ground. I will be making my donation this evening – I hope you will as well.
Click here to listen to my June 2009 interview with CWPT president, Jim Lighthizer
