The Fredericksburg Area
By Tom Van Winkle
(April 2009 Civil War News - Preservation Column)

It may seem odd to begin a historic preservation editorial with a date referencing the future, but the year 2012 is a very important one, and very much so to the Fredericksburg, Va., area. This date marks the 150th anniversary of the battle fought here in the then small town of Fredericksburg. In fact, the upcoming years of 2011 through 2015 mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

Winding the clock hands back to our present year also brings several important milestones and challenges to the forefront. February of this year celebrated the 82nd anniversary of the Fredericksburg Spotsylvania National Military Park, founded in 1927.

Encompassing over 8,000 acres, including the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, the park attracts over 200,000 visitors a year all who spend their dollars in our community, bolster our economy, and create local jobs.

Turning the clock hands back a little further to 1996 another important chapter began in the Fredericksburg area, the forming of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. The Trust was formed to purchase endangered significant Civil War battlefields and landmarks, to preserve them for all to visit, study, to understand the history and human sacrifices made here that shaped our country.

Thirteen years later, yes we are now back to present day, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust has saved over 700 acres of endangered Civil War battlefields.

Getting confused with the time travel in this article? Don’t be. History is not just what has happened, but what is happening and that dictates what will happen. This brings me to the challenges here in this area of Virginia.

The Fredericksburg area was one of the most repeatedly fought over geographic regions during the Civil War. Why? Take a look at a present-day or period map; we are dead center between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, then capital of the Confederacy.

In all, more than 100,000 casualties would be realized in this region. Until the 1864 Wilderness campaign when Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant decided the war would be about following General Lee, wherever he goes, the Federal army was focused on capturing the Confederate capital.

This same geographic placement has also caused our present-day challenge — trying to manage, and at times hold back, the ramped development of this once quiet area.

The pace of this present-day scourge on the landscape seems to be relentless. Yes, we require many of the stores and amenities built here, but how many of each and why so close to hallowed ground?

In this particular area much of the ground can be classified as hallowed, but some developers seem to be indifferent to the human sacrifice and historical value to the land, such as with the present story playing out in the Wilderness battlefield with an un-named super store. OK, I’ll name it, Wal-Mart, as if you didn’t already know.

It is safe to say that any preservation of the identified hallowed ground in the Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania and Orange county area needs to take place within the next three years, prior to the 2012 date, or it may be lost forever.

The cost to save these critically important pieces of our nation’s history is not cheap. Take, for instance, the recently purchased 200-plus acres of Fredericksburg’s Slaughter Pen farm — the price tag, $12 million.

The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust pledged $1 million to that amount paid by the Civil War Preservation Trust. The price tag that has been affixed to the remaining identified area sites needing preservation, approximately $7 million.

The price of not being able to accomplish preserving these sites, not saving our history, or being able to tell the stories of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, incalculable.

In this time of great economic strife it is obviously harder for us all to contribute our hard-earned dollars. Those developers who have the cash are taking advantage of these times. Land is easier to purchase with sellers eager to take the money and run.

The fact remains, we are running out of time. The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and the Fredericksburg Civil War Roundtable have joined forces in creating a DVD promoting the preservation challenges in this area as well as focusing on the battle of Fredericksburg.

This is an all volunteer project with proceeds going to Central Virginia Battlefields Trust to help secure the task ahead. Organizations may well take this idea of combining forces with other worthy groups, especially today. We need to do what ever it takes and do it quickly.

In the words of Dr. Mike Stevens, board member of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, “By preserving the hallowed ground of a Civil War battlefield we don’t just preserve land; we also preserve the memories and the meaning, the sacrifices and the stories, of the men who fought and fell there, men whose bond to cause and comrade and country was so strong that they were willing to die rather than to deny it."

The clock is ticking and ticking loudly here in the Fredericksburg area. Let’s do what ever it takes.

For more information on the Civil War battles in the area, preservation efforts and how you can help, log on to www.cvbt.org.

Tom Van Winkle lives in Spotsylvania and has been involved in Civil War battlefield preservation for the past 15 years. He is a past five-term president of the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield and a board member of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust.