Friends,
October 19th marks the 159th anniversary of the Battle of Cedar Creek and we're within reach of preserving the heart of the historic Hite Farm – 74 acres of core battlefield – the exact point where the center of Kershaw’s Confederate infantry division came screaming out of the early morning darkness and crashed into the Union defenses. This property was unobtainable 10 years ago, but thanks to the generosity of the Brill family (who agreed to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars of the property’s value), grant funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia and the help of many of you – of the total purchase price of $1.4 million, only $152,000 remains to be raised! When we raise these funds, the property will be forever protected, and we will be able to immediately open it to the public. These 74 acres connect two previously preserved tracts, and once preserved, will link all the properties on this end of the battlefield into one visitor experience with a connecting trail that will provide access.
The natural beauty of this site alone would make it worthy of protection, but it’s the significance of the property as it relates to the battle that makes this tract so critical to preserve. This is the place where one of the greatest surprise attacks in military history was made. It is the location of the center of Kershaw’s attacking lines. It was here that the men of Barksdale’s old Mississippi Brigade surged up the slopes above the creek and over the Federal works. The brigade had been commanded by General Humphries (pronounced in Mississippi without the H) until about six weeks before the Battle of Cedar Creek when Humphries was severely wounded at the Battle of Berryville. On the morning of October 19th, 1864, the brigade marched through the Town of Strasburg in absolute silence. They forded the creek sometime after 4 a.m. and as quietly as possible got into position at the base of the slope. Just before 5 a.m., and before first light, the order to advance was given. These soldiers were hundreds of miles from home and before them in the pre-dawn darkness waited victory or death.
As they reached the Federal trenches, they let out the rebel yell – breaking the stillness of the morning and opening the battle that was to be the last best hope for the Confederates in the Valley. The Federal defenders were caught completely unaware. Those who manned the trenches feebly attempted to respond; many were roused from their slumber to scenes of pure terror as their comrades came running for their lives through the camps, followed closely by the Confederate attackers.
I’m sure that you can picture it. It’s the scene that most of us think of when we hear the words, Cedar Creek. The battle will rage on for another twelve hours or more, but it is this first attack that has defined the battle in most of our minds. That stirring, terrible, desperate, heroic, and electrifying scene was played out on this 74-acre tract. That first attack surged across many other parcels of ground as well, but the place where the center of Kershaw’s Division, the division first to attack, hit the unsuspecting Union boys from Ohio is here, on the parcel of ground that you and I have the opportunity to save.
We are almost there. Just like those Mississippi men in October of ’64, we have come so far and now it’s time to make the final attack. Victory is within our grasp and if we come together now and give it everything we’ve got, this ground can be forever protected. We need to raise the final $152,000. Please join this fight to save 74 acres at Cedar Creek. Whether you give a lot or a little, please do all that you can to make the fight successful.
I really can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for all that you do to save our battlefields and I know that because of you, these 74 acres at Cedar Creek are on the cusp of being saved forever.
See you at the Front,
Keven Walker, Chief Executive Officer
