NPS Awards $1.1 Million To Preserve Battlefields In Four States

From National Parks Traveler

The National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program (NPS ABPP) today awarded $1,114,358 in Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants to the City of Parkers Crossroads in Tennessee, Kershaw County South Carolina, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, and Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The awards protect 70.2 acres of American Revolutionary War and Civil War battlefields and are made possible by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which reinvests revenue from offshore oil and natural gas leasing to help strengthen conservation and recreation opportunities across the nation.

“These grants to state and local governments represent an important investment in public-private conservation efforts across America,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “They ensure that future generations have access to green spaces and can reflect on our collective history.”

The award to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources supports their ongoing partnership with the American Battlefield Trust to preserve the Bentonville Battlefield. With this grant, the state of North Carolina will add 34 acres to the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site. ABPP’s Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants have supported the purchase of nearly 262 acres of the Bentonville Battlefield since 2017. The Battle of Bentonville was one of the last full-scale offensive actions by the Confederate army against Union forces during their 1865 march through the Carolinas. Today the site is part of North Carolina’s planned Mountains-to-Sea Trail that will connect cities and towns with historic sites, natural areas, and scenic districts across the state. This award reflects the NPS’s commitment to support the Biden-Harris administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, a nationwide effort to conserve and restore 30% of our nation’s lands, waters, and wildlife by 2030.

NPS ABPP’s Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants empower preservation partners nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened battlefields on American soil. In addition, the program administers three other grants: Preservation Planning, Battlefield Interpretation and Battlefield Restoration Grants. These grants generate community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, Tribal and local levels.

Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants are available on a rolling basis. To learn more about how to apply, head to NPS ABPP’s website. For questions about NPS ABPP’s grants, contact the program at e-mail us.

Needed road work begins at Vicksburg National Military Park 

From National Parks Traveler

Needed road work begins at Vicksburg National Military Park to repair segments that have been impacted by slides, encountered issues with culverts, or need new guardrails. 

The repairs scheduled to begin February 1 are scheduled to be finished by July. This project will repair road segments that are currently open to the public. These repairs will not address closed sections of road nor increase visitor access. This work will provide much needed repairs on already open sections of roads to prevent further closures, according to park staff. 

“This is significant step in addressing much needed emergency repairs and moving the park towards a more sustainable road system,” said Superintendent Carrie Mardorf. 

Repairs will be made at two locations on Confederate Ave, three locations along Union Ave between the Memorial Arch and Ransom’s Gun Path, and five locations along Union Ave in the South Loop. The majority of the work will only require limited temporary closures for short periods of time, often just a few minutes to allow for movement of equipment. Flaggers will be present for traffic control.  

To accommodate work on Union Ave south of Ransom’s Gun Path, a detour will be in effect from February 7 to late April. There will be full closure for vehicles and pedestrians of Union Ave from the Shirley House to Graveyard Road. The public will still have access to the Shirley House, Illinois Memorial, and Third Louisiana Redan. Cars and buses will be able to drive down the gravel section of Jackson Road to Confederate Avenue. Confederate Avenue will be made two-way during the project. Visitors can turn right and follow Confederate Ave to Connecting Ave to reach the National Cemetery and the USS Cairo. Visitors will also be able to turn onto Graveyard Road from Confederate Rd and then follow Union Avenue to Grant Avenue to access Sherman Circle and the African American Monument. Visitors can then the return to Confederate Avenue via Graveyard Rd. 

You can find more information and updates about the project at this site.

The following areas are closed indefinitely: 

  • Grant Avenue beyond the African America Monument including Grant Circle is closed to vehicles and pedestrians.

  • Union Avenue from Grant Avenue to the USS Cairo Museum is closed to vehicles and pedestrians.

  • Vicksburg National Cemetery is closed to vehicles and the area within the chain link fence is closed to vehicles and pedestrians.

The Civil War comes to Schuylkill County (WFMZ)

PA Governor Andrew G. Curtin

History's Headlines: The Civil War comes to Schuylkill County

It was 1862 and Andrew G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania, was not having a good year. Still retaining at 45 his tousled hair, strong gazing eyes, clean-shaven good looks, and slightly cleft chin, he appeared the picture of health and determination. In truth, however, Curtin was frustrated. Trying to organize his state for the massive task of coordinating its contribution to the Union cause in this second year of the Civil War, he, like his friend President Abraham Lincoln, had decided that the only way to defeat the South and save the Union was with a total war. Even the replacement as Secretary of War of Curtin’s political rival Simon Cameron with Edwin M. Stanton had led to only a momentary respite. And now the new conscription law drafting young men into the army, designed to provide the armed force what it needed to accomplish the goal, was being undermined by the restive Irish population in his own state, primarily in the coal regions of Schuylkill County.

On October 23rd, hearing that the draft enumerators were being assaulted, Curtin quickly telegraphed Stanton from Harrisburg:

“Notwithstanding the usual exaggerations, I think the organization to resist the draft in Schuylkill, Luzerne, and Carbon Counties is very formidable. There are several thousands in arms, and the people who will not join have been driven from the county. They will not permit the drafted men who are willing, to leave, and yesterday forced them to get out of the (railroad) cars. I wish to crush the resistance so effectually that the like will not occur again. One thousand regulars would be efficient, and I suggest that one regiment be ordered from the army…Let me hear immediately.”

Stanton’s reply was swift but not what Curtin wanted to hear. Yes, he certainly had the right to use federal troops, but alas there were none to give him. General Wood in Baltimore had none to spare. Unsatisfied with this response Curtin, over the next several days, bombarded Washington with telegrams. When Curtin heard back from Stanton he promised troops, but they would not amount to 1,000. Some cavalry and an additional regiment with some combat experience would have to do. When General Wood came up from Baltimore to Harrisburg, he took some action by ordering some artillery with ammunition. Some volunteer regiment on the North Central Railroad, “would be subject to his call at any moment.”

Looking back on them today these events in the Pennsylvania coal regions seem a very small part of the Civil War. But they reflect the social and economic changes in the country that sometimes led to violent political debate and bloodshed. Historian Grace Palladino’s book on the anthracite coal regions from 1840 to 1868, called it another Civil War. The question of Irish immigration was at the heart of the…

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY ON WFMZ.COM

Virginia Governor Calls for Creation of Culpepper Battlefields State Park

American Battlefield Trust applauds Governor’s request to create a historic and recreational park in the heart of Virginia’s Piedmont region
American Battlefield Trust

January 22, 2022

(Richmond, Va.) — The American Battlefield Trust applauds Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s announcement on Friday, requesting $4.93 million for land acquisition to create a Culpeper Battlefields State Park. The announcement was part of a package of legislative initiatives and budget amendments submitted by the Governor to the General Assembly on January 21, 2022. 

“Friday’s announcement marks an important step in the effort to create a Culpeper Battlefields State Park,” noted Trust President David Duncan. “Culpeper’s battlefields are among the most pristine and historic in the nation. Transforming this landscape into a state park will produce a heritage tourism destination in the heart of Virginia’s Piedmont, with educational, recreational, and economic opportunities that will benefit visitors and local residents alike.” 

The Culpeper Battlefields State Park initiative is a proposal to create a state park from a critical mass of more than 1,700-acres of preserved lands on the Brandy Station and Cedar Mountain Battlefields. While this landscape’s overarching national significance is associated with famous Civil War battles and events, the region is rich in history and culture. The pristine countryside visible today retains the imprint of its first native people and the generations that followed.  

State Senator Bryce Reeves, long a champion of a state park in Culpeper County, urged the Governor to make a Culpeper Battlefields State Park a priority for the new administration. He worked tirelessly with the Governor’s team to craft the budget amendment submitted to the General Assembly on Friday. According to Reeves, “Culpeper is the ideal location for Virginia’s next state park. I look forward to the day when Virginians and visitors from throughout the country can learn about our nation’s history by visiting these hallowed grounds.” 

Joining Senator Reeves in support of a Culpeper Battlefields State Park is a long-standing and bipartisan coalition of state legislators, national and local preservation organizations, and Culpeper government officials. In 2016, the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors and the Culpeper Town Council both passed resolutions endorsing a state battlefield park in Culpeper County. 

As submitted, the Governor’s budget amendment sets aside $4.93 million in FY2023 for the state park. The amendment indicates the funding “[p]rovides for the purchase of land to create a new state park in Culpeper County that will have multiple recreational and educational opportunities.” 

Nestled in the Virginia Piedmont, Culpeper County is widely recognized for its scenic character, natural beauty, and abundant history. Its pristine rivers, rolling landscape, recreational opportunities and unparalleled historic resources make it a desirable location for a state park. Its location between the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers made it an area of strategic importance during the Civil War, and thousands of enslaved peoples crossed its rivers, heading northward to Freedom; some returned as free men to fight for their country on this very soil.  

The American Battlefield Trust is dedicated to preserving America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educating the public about what happened there and why it matters today. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has protected more than 54,000 acres associated with the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War.  Learn more at www.battlefields.org. 

Gettysburg College's Annual Civil War Conference Set for June

From Gettysburg College:
CLICK HERE TO GO TO CONFERENCE PAGE

Join us, June 10-15, 2022, for an exciting lineup of CWI speakers! We are excited to feature leading Civil War scholars, Gary Gallagher, Joan Waugh, Jeffry Wert, Carol Reardon, Carrie Janney, Brooks Simpson, Scott Hartwig, and more within our line-up of over 35 distinguished speakers and tour guides.

For over 35 years, the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College has hosted a premiere annual summer conference bringing leading historians and public audiences together for lectures, battlefield tours, small group discussions, and roundtable conversations about the Civil War era. Sessions, lodging, and meals are held on the 200-acre college campus.

The 2022 CWI Conference will feature a wide range of topics, including Civil War battlefield & camp archaeology, the demobilization of Lee’s army, the memorialization of the Gettysburg centennial, U.S. Grant, race, and racial violence during Reconstruction, treasures from the Library of Congress and National Archives, a re-assessment of the 20th Maine and Little Round Top, slavery, war, and the transformation of medicine, Francis Barlow’s Civil War, and more.

In addition to touring the Gettysburg battlefield, participants will have the opportunity to visit a variety of other nearby battlefields and historic sites on tours that will explore 2nd Fredericksburg, South Mountain, North Anna, Spotsylvania, Bristoe Station, the 1864 Maryland Campaign battlefields, and more. Participants who may prefer a shorter, more physically active conference experience can also choose to sign up for our new “active track” package, featuring a combination of Friday and Saturday morning lectures and a day and a half of walking-intensive tours of the Gettysburg battlefield on Saturday and Sunday with historian Timothy Orr, exploring sharpshooting at Gettysburg.

This conference will also continue the recently added Saturday evening tours of the Gettysburg battlefield, half-day Tuesday tours following select regiments “from battlefield to field hospital,” as well as both “lunch-in” and “dine-in” discussions with CWI faculty.

The 2022 conference will offer something for everyone, from longtime students of the Civil War to those who are new to Civil War history.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO CONFERENCE PAGE

Adams County Historical Society Building Progress

New History Center Underway!

ACHS writes:

Dear Friends - what a start to 2022!

As you can see to the right, our 25,000-square-foot facility is rapidly taking shape. We're now projecting a February 2023 opening date for all three components of the history center. Here's more on what you can expect:

Beyond the Battle Museum, our core attraction, will take you on a journey through time, covering over 300 years of American history through the lens of our uniquely famous community. Here, you'll explore the inside of James Gettys' tavern, seek refuge in a home caught in the crossfire of the Battle of Gettysburg, and walk through a crowd of eyewitnesses to the Gettysburg Address. We want you to experience these critical moments in history like never before.

Along the way, you'll see hundreds of our rarest artifacts - fascinating treasures never before placed on exhibit.

The second floor of our new history center will feature a spacious event and education center. Here, we'll invite you to attend frequent programs and events, including seminars and workshops hosted by Gettysburg's top historians.

Finally, for those researching Gettysburg and Adams County history, our spacious library and archives will house millions of documents, images, and artifacts - safe, climate-controlled, and under one roof for the first time ever. Here, a cohort of expert volunteers and local historians will help you find what you're searching for and dig deeper into the history of Gettysburg and Adams County.

As we gear up for an exciting grand opening, I hope you'll become even more involved with ACHS. Here are a few things you can do right now to be part of this historic effort:

Become a Member - starting at $40 per year, you'll receive free admission to the new center and discounted rates on ACHS programs, tours, and classes.

Donate to our Building Fund - As of today, we have raised 82% of our goal in gifts and pledges. Let's get to 100%! Can you help us?

Follow us on Facebook - We post historic photos from the collection every day.

New book challenges Civil War’s old myths about Maryland

New book challenges Civil War’s old myths

Charles W. Mitchell, co-editor with historian Jean H. Baker of the new book, “The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered,” at his home in Parkton, Md., on Nov. 21. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

By Jonathan M. Pitts
January 17, 2022 at 6:06 p.m. EST
Washington Post

Regular folks and history buffs who believe Maryland leaned strongly toward the Confederacy during the Civil War era have never lacked evidence for the claim.

It was a Marylander, after all, on the U.S. Supreme Court who wrote the opinion in the infamous 1857 Dred Scott case, which found that Black people were not citizens — a ruling that helped spark the fighting. And Marylanders voted for a Southern sympathizer, not Abraham Lincoln, for president in the election of 1860. Then, some 20,000 Marylanders took up arms for the Confederacy.

But such facts can be deceiving if looked at in a vacuum — or so say the scholars behind a critically acclaimed new book that aims to explode long-standing myths about the period.

In “The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered,” a collection of 13 essays assembled and edited by Baltimore historians Charles W. Mitchell and Jean H. Baker, are independent thinkers from as far away as California and England and as close as Johns Hopkins University. They point out, among other things, that contrary to popular belief, Maryland judges refused to put the Dred Scott decision into effect; that more Marylanders voted, in total, for the three presidential candidates who backed the Union than they did for John C. Breckinridge, the Southern Democrat who carried the state in 1860, and that four times as many Old Line State men fought for the Union than for the South.

Maryland, in short, was less sympathetic to the Confederate cause, and more behind the Union, than generations of historians have implied, says Mitchell, a self-taught Civil War expert, author and editor who got the sprawling essay project rolling four years ago.

History, he says, is framed by the values of those who pass it along. In the case of Maryland’s antebellum and Civil War history, the men and women who shaped it first were people who held to the notion that the Southern cause — far from being a bloody campaign to preserve slavery — was a matter of states’ rights. They viewed it as a noble crusade that failed only because the Union side was better equipped and funded.

The earliest chroniclers, he says, were Confederate veterans. The generations of historians who succeeded them wrote at a time when powerful Democrats, North and South, were still working to deny African Americans full enjoyment of their freedoms.

“The same Confederate sympathizers who had lost the war worked hard to win it in the history books, and for many years, they succeeded,” Mitchell says, including in textbooks used in Maryland well into the 20th century.

It wasn’t until the last 20 years or so, Mitchell adds, that younger scholars began training their focus on the kinds of period documents their forebears ignored.

By diving into court and estate records, schedules of enslaved people, letters written by ordinary citizens, articles in the Black press and more, those scholars, including several represented in the book, began to put together a more comprehensive history — one that weakens Maryland’s “Lost Cause” narrative.

Mitchell and Baker, a former history professor at Goucher College and the author of multiple award-winning books, conceived “The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered” as an entry in that new vein. Early reviewers say they’ve struck a blow for a more accurate, fuller telling of the CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE STORTY

 

Ken Burns Speaks Out About Proposed Digital Data Center Near Manassas

By Kurt Repanshek - January 12th, 2022
National Parks Traveller

A digital data center being considered for more than 2,000 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia has been called the "greatest threat" in recent history to the battlefield and drawn opposition from filmmaker Ken Burns, who has urged Prince William County officials to oppose the project.

The "PW Digital Gateway" proposal requires the county to switch the zoning of the desired location from agricultural or estate and environmental resource to technology. 

In a letter (attached below) sent January 5 to Ann Wheeler, chair of the county supervisors, Burns wrote that the battlefield park's superintendent, in a letter to Wheeler, had said the project is the "single greatest threat to Manassas National Battlefield Park in nearly three decades."

"The warning of the superintendent should not be taken lightly," wrote Burns, one of the country's preeminent documentary filmmakers whose credits include The National  Parks: America's Best Idea. "As a student and chronicler of American history for more than 40 years, I can attest to how fragile our precious heritage is and how susceptible it can be to the ravages of 'progress.'

"I learned while making my documentary series The Civil War in the late 1980s—and again when I made my 2009 series on the history of the national parks—how crucial the preservation of our historic landscapes is, and I fear the devastating impact the development of up to 2,133 acres of data centers will have on this hallowed ground," he added.

Brandon Bies, the park's superintendent, wrote a lengthy letter to the county planner in December in which he pointed out that "a 10-acre portion of the application area falls within what the United States Congress has designated as part of Manassas National Battlefield Park -- lands which can and should be part of a National Park. In addition, not all areas where soldiers fought and died are within the park boundary. Over 100 acres of land under consideration have been designated by the congressionally authorized American Battlefield Protection Program as part of the battlefield 'core area.'"

"These are lands where battle action took place and are typically thought to be 'hallowed ground,'" continued Bies. "Changing the planned land use of these areas would inhibit the mission of the Park to preserve and honor the sacrifices of the 4,000 Americans who died at Manassas."

The First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) was fought near Manassas, Virginia, on July 21, 1861. The Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas) was fought over nearly the same ground during August 28-30, 1862. 

Back in 2008, Professor Emeritus Robert Janiskee wrote in the Traveler that concerns were growing over threats development posed to the battlefield.

The two battles commemorated at the 5,100-acre park, both Confederate victories, were fought less than 30 miles southwest of our nation’s capital in an area of northern Virginia that has experienced tremendous economic growth over the past few decades. Fast-growing Prince William and Fairfax counties are now so heavily developed that green space and large trees have become comparatively scarce in many areas. Locals fear that few mature trees will be left unless development is checked and strict tree protection ordinances are enforced. Another concern at Manassas and other Civil War battlefield parks is encroaching development that obscures historic sightlines. ... Some battlefield parks, such as Fredericksburg and & Spotsylvania National Military Park, are almost completely surrounded by development and exist as historic islands in a modern milieu. In such cases, historic sightlines extend only as far as the park boundary.

In reviewing the current proposal, Justin Patton, the Prince William County archaeologist, wrote that the project would "have a high potential to adversely affect cultural resources in the following forms: indirect effects such as Audio, and Visual; and direct effects in the destruction of the resource. Transportation improvements necessary to implement land use and zoning changes, will likely have an indirect and direct effects on our history as well."

Patton also noted that land within the proposal could hold significant archaeological artifacts from the Civil War:

The staff historian at the Manassas National Battlefield Park provided information on Civil War activity that occurred on or that may have occurred in the South Sector. That portion west of Pageland Land, Pageland farm, may contain Confederate encampments that were occupied during August and September 1861 and associated burials from soldier deaths in camp. There may also be soldier burials and camps as a result from the adjacent field hospital that was in use during and after the Second Battle of Manassas. Confederate artillery batteries were likely located in the area of the railroad bed, based on reports from relic hunters who found unexploded ordinance and dropped bullets. That portion east of Pageland Lane has potential for unmarked military graves and unexploded ordinance from a heated exchange of artillery fire on the morning of August 29, 1862.

The archaeologist also recommended that the proposed zoning redesignation be rejected for areas that the American Battlefield Protection Program identified as part of the battlefield 'core area.'"

A public meeting on the project is set for January 27 at the Beacon Hall Conference Center on the George Mason University SciTech Campus in Manassas.

Petersburg National Battlefield preparing for the preservation of two smokehouses

Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia is preparing for the preservation of the two smokehouses and dairy at the General Grant’s Headquarters Unit in Hopewell. The preservation of these buildings, which are part of historic Appomattox Plantation and listed as a part of the City Point National Register District, includes the removal of the three buildings from their foundations to perform wood framing and sheathing repairs, carpentry repairs, and interior and exterior painting.

Additionally, the project will attempt to restore the three buildings' foundations. The restoration of the foundations will follow an archaeological survey to investigate the integrity of resources underground and construction of the foundations. The results of the survey will inform the restoration of the foundations.

Petersburg National Battlefield invites comments on the Preservation of Outbuildings at City Point draft Programmatic Agreement as part of the public process outlined in the regulations for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Comments can be made via this website. The comment period runs through February 12. 

People have lived at City Point for thousands of years and the Park Service wants to ensure that the past is adequately recorded. 

Published in National Parks Traveller from NPS News Releases