From Shenandoah Valley Battlefield…
Friends,
It’s 5:00am. A dense fog blankets the Shenandoah Valley as it slumbers ahead of a cool October day in 1864. Just south of Middletown, Union soldiers of the Army of West Virginia under Colonel Thoburn from Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania rest after having dug in above Cedar Creek. All is quiet in the crisp pre-dawn. Without warning, a bone-chilling Rebel yell pierces the fog as ghostly lines of Confederates come racing up to the trenches. They’d been stealthily marching since 1:00am, crossed Cedar Creek, and had their dander up. Among these men of Kershaw’s Divisions were Humphrey’s Mississippians, boys raised from the heart of their native state in 1861, men who had been in hard service in Virginia since First Manassas – veterans of Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and even Chickamauga.
As these soldiers advanced from Cedar Creek towards Thorburn’s trenches, they crossed the Hite Farm. This ground has yet to be permanently saved… until now. An opportunity presents itself to us here at the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation to save nearly 74 acres that was part of the Hite Farm in 1864. This ground was marked by the intrepid drive of Humphrey’s Mississippians against the valiant defense of Wildes’ Brigade and Munk’s Battery. The blood of Mississippi permeates this ground, which ought to be preserved to ensure Mississippi’s story can be told to future generations.
That is why I am asking you today to support our noble mission and forever save these 74 acres of the Hite Farm at Cedar Creek. This is our chance to provide a more encompassing understanding of what happened at the greater Cedar Creek Battlefield – from its early start to chaotic finish. Doing so will also honor the tenacity of men from Kershaw’s Division and shine a light on a state whose boys were just as committed to the thick of the fight as their counterparts from Georgia and South Carolina. Our goal is $100,000 and if every one of our supporters made a gift of $100 today, we’d secure victory tomorrow.
Saving the land itself isn’t where this effort stops. Just as Humphrey’s Brigade pressed on and drove the remnants of Thoburn’s Division towards Middletown, our campaign has another opportunity to keep pressing and erect a monument to Mississippi near this property. Our team is in dialogue with artists to devise a tasteful marker to commemorate the advance of Humphrey’s Brigade and tell Mississippi’s story for generations to come.
Join the ranks as we boldly advance with steadfast determination to save this hallowed ground. Add your name to the annals of history as we fight to save it. Those of tomorrow will thank you for your commitment to the memory of those who have come before us. The future of our past depends on you.
Forward to Victory,
Franklin Van Valkenburg, Development Officer