Selected Stories from the
December Issue of Civil War News

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Updated 12/04/2009

Feb. 3 Court Date Set On Wal-mart Approval
By Scott C. Boyd
ORANGE, Va. — Feb. 3, 2010, is the first court date set for the lawsuit to stop construction of a 138,000-square-foot Wal-mart Supercenter at the entrance to the Wilderness battlefield in Orange County.

Gettysburg Park Loses Superintendent; NPS Names Mel Poole Interim Leader
By Kathryn Jorgensen
GETTYSBURG, Pa. — National Park Service (NPS) officials reassigned Gettysburg National Military Park superintendent John A. Latschar to a desk job that started Oct. 26, named an interim superintendent for a month and then another interim superintendent until a new person is hired.

Monitor’s Carriages Are Right-side Up For First Time Since 1862
By Scott C. Boyd
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The USS Monitor’s two gun carriages were recently turned right-side up for the first time since the ship sank on Dec. 31, 1862.

Gettysburg Donor Group Questions Use Of Funds
By Kathryn Jorgensen
GETTYSBURG, Pa. — “Where has the money gone?” is Kathi Schue’s question. She is the president of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association (GBPA) and a founder of the Pennsylvania Gettysburg Monuments Project.

CWPT In Year-End Push To Raise $2 Million For Jackson’s Flank Land
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) hopes to raise $2.125 million in order to buy 85 acres at Chancellorsville by the end of the year.

Federal Dollars Headed For Battlefields & Park Service
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The recently signed $32.2 billion Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010 included generous appropriations for battlefield preservation and the National Park Service (NPS), among others.

SMU Library Puts 2 Photo Collections Of Civil War, Texas Online
DALLAS, Texas — Southern Methodist University’s DeGolyer Library has put two new collections of digitized photographs depicting the Civil War and Texas online. They collections are part of Central University Libraries Digital Collections.

Valley Foundation Begins Campaign For 3rd Winchester Mortgage Funds
By Kathryn Jorgensen
WINCHESTER, Va. — Now that the 209-acre Huntsberry Farm at Third Winchester (Opequon) Battlefield has been saved (see November issue page 1), the serious business of fundraising is under way.

Brandy Station Foundation Preserves The Historic Graffiti House
By Scott C. Boyd
BRANDY STATION, Va. - The house cost $100,000 but has a repair bill of $1.2 million. That’s a losing proposition, unless there’s something very special about the house — and there is. The upstairs walls are covered with 130 identified pieces of graffiti from Union and Confederate soldiers, with plenty more yet to be discovered.

Updated 12/04/2009