From the American Battlefield Trust….
In 2006, the farmer who owned this 208-acre property had recently passed away, and his heir put the farm up for sale on the open real estate market. Even though it was still farmland and mostly unchanged since the battle, the property had been rezoned and was advertised as the “prime light industrial development site in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
The purchase price: $12 million.
This wasn’t just any Virginia farm. This land, on December 13, 1862, was turned into something known forever after as “the Slaughter Pen Farm.” On that fateful day, Union forces led by General Ambrose Burnside attempted to make a frontal assault over an open plain against the Confederate line commanded by General Robert E. Lee.
Robert E. Lee, scanning the carnage and chaos of the battlefield through his field glasses from his command post, was looking at the Slaughter Pen Farm sector of the battlefield, deeply moved by the thousands of dead and wounded soldiers of both sides falling, their lifeblood pouring out onto that ground, when he uttered his famous quote: “It is well that war is so terrible; we should grow too fond of it.”
This hallowed ground where 9,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured, could have become an industrial nightmare.
In 2006, we looked at this crisis and said “No! We cannot lose those stories or these critical pieces of our country’s history!” We took the calculated risk and decided that together, we must do whatever it takes to save this battlefield!
We’re making progress, but until the remaining debt is paid off completely, this battlefield is not truly “saved.” It's like a mortgage on a house; if we don’t make the payments, we lose the property!
This $12 million transaction remains to this day the biggest transaction the Trust has ever attempted and we still have $2.7 million to go.
It will take several more years to fully pay off the loan and our annual payment is currently scheduled to go up to $400,000 per year beginning in 2022, until it is fully paid off.
Luckily, a group of very generous donors is looking to help accelerate payments to the debt and this year, several members stepped up with a dedicated dollar-for-dollar match, up to $150,000.
This means that your gift to save this hallowed ground will be doubled!
We've come so far together on this worthy endeavor. I hope that you will continue to build on your legacy at the Slaughter Pen Farm in Fredericksburg by making your most generous gift today.
Please know that you have my deepest thanks for all you are doing to save our nation’s history. You will always be a hero in my book.
'Til the battle is won,
David N. Duncan
President
P.S. I truly have no substitute for your generosity and hope that you will continue to build upon your personal legacy at the Slaughter Pen Farm in Fredericksburg by making your generous gift today. If you and 1,499 members answer my call for help today with a gift of $100, we will raise enough to assure the $150,000 match we need to make this year’s payment!