CWPT To Buy Another Brandy Tract
By Deborah Fitts

BRANDY STATION, Va. — For the second time in three months the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) has purchased a sizable piece of ground on Fleetwood Hill, arguably the scene of most significant cavalry action of the Civil War.

In late March CWPT signed a contract to purchase a 26-acre tract on the eastern crest of Fleetwood. Here bloody hand-to-hand fighting on the afternoon of June 9, 1863, brought to a climax the battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry fight of the war.

The property, being sold by Whitney Pound, abuts a 23-acre parcel that the Trust bought in December from Whitney’s brother, Lewis Pound. CWPT spokesman Jim Campi said the closing on the new parcel was scheduled for September. “We feel pretty confident” that the deal will be concluded, he said. “We’ve got a solid contract.”

The price tag on the 26-acre property is $785,400. The Trust bought the 23-acre parcel for $697,000.

“Getting these two tracts was key,” said Campi. The Whitney Pound land is “another piece of the puzzle on Fleetwood Hill. We’ve obviously preserved a significant portion of the battlefield, but Fleetwood Hill has always been synonymous with the battle and we’d like to do as much there as possible.”

The new acquisition brings to 1,013 acres the amount of land CWPT has saved at Brandy Station.

Like the earlier parcel, the new tract is open farmland. It extends north from Route 29, a busy four-lane road, to the wartime Carolina Road.

 Campi said fundraising began in mid-March for the 23-acre property. An appeal to members is “going very well,” he said. A campaign to raise money for the 26-acre parcel could begin in June.

He said that in both cases the Trust hopes to obtain half the funding from the federal Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program. Further monies could come from a $5 million battlefield fund recently approved by the Virginia legislature, as well as from CWPT members.

The nonprofit Brandy Station Foundation earlier preserved 33 acres on the western slope of Fleetwood. Additional tracts continue to be privately owned.