Civil War Preservation Trust Lists Endangered Battlefields
By Deborah Fitts
April 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Morris Island near Fort Sumter, the battlefields of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia, Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia and Knoxville in Tennessee were among the top-10 "most endangered" battlefields named Feb. 24 by the Civil War Preservation Trust.

The listing represented the fifth annual release by the 70,000-member Trust of the most important pieces of Civil War battleground in the country that are under dire threat from development. "History Under Siege: A Guide to American's Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields" was distributed during a mid-morning press conference at the National Press Club.

Joining President James Lighthizer at the news conference was DreamWorks recording artist Darryl Worley, who grew up near Shiloh and has been helping the Trust promote battlefield preservation.

The endangered list also included 15 additional threatened battlefields, for a top-25 list overall. New Bern, N.C., Brandy Station, Va., and Glorieta, N.M., were among those making this year's list.

On the top-10 list, in alphabetical order:

Bermuda Hundred

Bermuda Hundred, Va., a peninsula in the James River, was the starting point for a federal initiative to march on Richmond. Instead, the Bermuda Hundred Campaign devolved into a series of bloody, inconclusive clashes and ultimately trench warfare.

Sprawl has claimed most of the battlefields and siege lines, although Chesterfield County has protected 122 acres of battlefield and the National Park Service has land at Parker's Battery and Drewry's Bluff. The battlefield of Ware Bottom Church, scene of fighting May 20, 1864, is the most threatened. Commercial development on Route 10 is moving on the remaining Bermuda Hundred battlefields, including Chester Station, Port Walthall Junction, Proctor's Creek and Swift Creek.

Franklin

Franklin, Tenn., appears on the list again this year. The Nov. 30, 1864, battle was one of the severest defeats suffered by the South, when forces under Gen. John B. Hood made a frontal assault against Union earthworks. The Confederate loss, 6,000 men, included six generals killed or mortally wounded.

"After years of neglect," said the Trust report, "the Franklin battlefield is becoming a hotbed of preservation activism." The city has pledged $2.5 million to buy an important piece of the battlefield near Carnton Plantation, and "Franklin's Charge," a coalition of preservation groups that includes the Trust, is working to raise the remaining $2.5 million.

Kennesaw Mountain

Kennesaw Mountain, Ga., came under attack in the early summer of 1864 by the army of Union Gen. William T. Sherman, but Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston beat back the federal forces in a bloody repulse that demonstrated the effectiveness of entrenched lines.

"Today," said the Trust report, "picturesque Kennesaw Mountain is surrounded by sprawl." In the last decade 1,200 homes have been built along the boundary of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, and another 80 homes are going up on historic Nodine's Hill. About 160,000 cars travel through the park daily, and commuters are pressuring for road widening.

Knoxville

Knoxville, Tenn., was the site of some of the most brutal fighting of the war, when Confederate Gen. James Longstreet moved on the strategically located city in late 1864 in an attempt to push Union forces out of East Tennessee.

Only 85 city-owned acres at Fort Dickerson and a handful of the earthworks around the city remain. The most important remaining site, Fort Higley, the scene of fighting and a key artillery position, is proposed for a 250-condominium project.

Manassas

Manassas, Va., was the site of two key battles outside Washington in the summers of 1861 and '62.

Today, according to the Trust report, "The battlefield is rapidly becoming a green island in a sea of sprawl," and commuter traffic inside the park could lead to widening the roads through the battlefield.

Mansfield

Mansfield, La., which on April 8, 1864, was the decisive battle in the two-month campaign for the Red River Valley, appears again on the Trust's list.

Today only 237 acres are preserved. A lignite mining operation is destroying large parts of the battlefield and the company is seeking approval to dig up another 58 acres. "Thus far," said the Trust report, "AEP-SWEPCO has been unwilling to seriously negotiate with preservationists."

Morris Island

Morris Island, S.C., just a few hundred yards from Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, was the scene in the summer of 1863 of brutal fighting in the siege of Charleston, including the famed assault by the black 54th Massachusetts Regiment that was celebrated in the movie "Glory." Beach erosion has destroyed many of the earthworks, but portions of Fort Wagner and the Union batteries remain.

"Sadly," said the Trust report, "plans are moving forward to develop the most historically sensitive part of the is-land." Last year a developer sought approval for 20 luxury homes on the little island, 10 times the allowed density. He recently placed Morris Island for sale on eBay for $12.5 million.

Spotsylvania County

Spotsylvania County, Va., nearly midway between the two wartime capitals, was the scene of four of the war's bloodiest battles, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg.

Today, as one of the fastest-growing counties in the country, the Trust said that Spotsylvania is "ground zero in the fight to save America's remaining Civil War battlegrounds."

Raymond

Raymond, Miss., May 12, 1863, was a landmark battle in the campaign against Vicksburg by Union Gen. U.S. Grant.

Development spreading from nearby Jackson poses a significant threat to the battlefield. The Mississippi Department of Transportation has called the widening of State Highway 18 an "immediate need."

Wilson's Creek

Wilson's Creek, Mo., on Aug. 10, 1861, was the first major battle west of the Mississippi River, and claimed 2,300 casualties and Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union general killed in combat in the war.

Wilson's Creek National Battlefield protects nearly 75 percent of the battlefield, but a developer is proposing to build 1,500 homes on 2,300 acres immediately adjacent to the park, "both destroying key parcels west of the battle-field as well as serving as a magnet for additional sprawl."

The Trust report also listed a "second tier" of 15 threatened battlefields. They are, listed alphabetically:

Belmont, Mo., where the battlefield of Nov. 7, 1861, is under threat of eroding into the nearby Mississippi River; Brandy Station, Va., where a developer is preparing to subdivide 20 acres on Fleetwood Hill, scene of the ultimate stage of the battle on June 9, 1863;

Buckland Mills, Va., where the Oct. 19, 1863, battlefield is threatened by heavy traffic on U.S. 29; and Cedar Creek, Va., where plans to widen I-81 and enlarge an interchange threaten a new national park unit commemorating the Oct. 19, 1864, battle.

Champion Hill, Mo., May 16, 1863, where the battlefield's location on the Raymond Road makes it extremely vulnerable and a subdivision is being built near the Tilghman monument; Circle Forts, Washing-ton, D.C., Union fortifications occupied throughout the war, suffer from "urban problems" such as waste dumping and "illicit activity";

Cross Keys and Port Republic, Va., June 8-9, 1862, are vulnerable to development due to quarry operations, a planned bypass around Harrisonburg and a proposed hospital complex; and Gaines' Mill and Cold Harbor, Va., "among the least protected battlefields in the national park system," with Gaines' Mill, June 27, 1862, besieged by development, and the upper half of Cold Harbor, May 31-June 12, 1864, already lost.

Glorieta, N.M., where Pigeon's Ranch, scene of fighting during the March 25-28, 1862, battle, could again be open to the public as a result of a federal traffic study; the "Hell Hole" in Georgia, where road construction and sprawl are "gradually devouring" the May 25-June 1, 1864, battlefields of New Hope Church, Pickett's Mill and Dallas; and New Bern, N.C., where only 27 acres of the March 14, 1862, battlefield are protected and the remainder is giving way to sprawl along U.S. 70.

Reed's Bridge, Ark., where only one-quarter of the Aug. 27, 1863, battlefield is protected and the rest is vulnerable to sprawl from Jacksonville and Little Rock; South Mountain, Md., Sept. 14, 1862, battlefield where the eastern side of the mountain "is becoming a bedroom community for commuters" from Washington; Spring Hill, Tenn., where development is quickly swallowing the battlefield of Nov. 29, 1864; and Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862, where development around Colonial Williamsburg has destroyed much of the battlefield, leaving "only a few redoubts and other battle-scarred properties."

Trust spokesman Jim Campi said the list "primarily acts in bringing attention to the national media to the plight of all Civil War battlefields. It has been a very useful tool to get our message out."

Campi said the battlefields were chosen based on geographic location, military significance, and "the immediacy of current threats." The Trust selects the battlefields from the 1993 congressionally chartered study of the top 384 battles in 26 states.

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