2 Cedar Creek Parcels To Be Acquired
By Deborah Fitts
MIDDLETOWN, Va.
Two significant preservation purchases are under
way at Cedar Creek battlefield that will more than double the
amount of protected acreage.
In late April the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation (CCBF)
signed contracts to buy two parcels totaling 135 acres of battlefield,
bringing the group's holdings to 293 acres. And the National
Trust for Historic Preservation signed a contract to buy 178
acres adjoining its museum-home on the battlefield, Belle Grove,
nearly tripling the Trust's land.
CCBF's two purchases include 123 acres along the north side
of Cedar Creek, including nearly a mile of earthworks, and 12
acres adjoining the foundation's visitor center on Route 11.
The visible earthworks on the larger tract are what remain of
trenches occupied by the Union XIX Corps the morning of Oct.
19, 1864, when Federal forces of Philip Sheridan were routed
by Confederates under Gen. Jubal Early.
As for the 12-acre piece, it was crossed by troops under Confederate
Gen. John Gordon, who fell upon the rear of the sleeping Federals.
A Union counterattack later saved the day.
The property being purchased by the National Trust includes
the remnants of slave quarters associated with Belle Grove.
The land was originally part of the Belle Grove estate.
"We've been trying to buy this for 30 years," said Trust President
Richard Moe. "It's a pretty key part of the battlefield and
it's also important to the history of Belle Grove. I feel very
good about it."
The Trust buy is just under $1 million. Members of the Belle
Grove board anted up and have established a challenge for matching
funds, and Moe said other "public and private" dollars will
be sought. The property will eventually be open to the public
and interpreted, he said.
The cost of the purchases by CCBF, about $650,000, will be paid
with $250,000 from the federal Land & Water Conservation Fund
and a matching $250,000 from the state of Virginia, with the
rest to be raised by the foundation.
Howard Kittell, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley
Battlefields National Historic District Commission, said the
timing of the purchases by the two organizations was coincidental,
since the properties came available around the same time. The
new Belle Grove tract, immediately south of the driveway to
the home, adjoins the CCBF land.
Cedar Creek is being eyed by the Historic District Commission
for a major visitor center for the 10 key battlefields in the
Valley. Moe applauded the proposal, calling it "good for everybody."
"There is so much history in the Valley," Moe said.
