Civil War Preservation Trust Press Release
September 3, 2010
National Celebrities Appear in Second Film Opposing Gettysburg Casino Proposal
"The Gettysburg Address" underlines America's ongoing committment to this unique location
On the heels of the heels of the momentous two-day public hearing in Gettysburg, Penn., concerning a second attempt to bring a casino the doorstep of America’s most iconic battlefield, the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) has unveiled a second film underscoring the importance of protecting this hallowed ground.
Read more on CWPT Posts Second Video Against Gettysburg Casino…
Filed under CWPT, Gettysburg, Preservation by on Sep 4th, 2010. Comment.
Perryville ranks as one of my favorite battlefields. Given who well preserved it is and the terrain of the land, it gives a really great understanding of Civil War battlefields. It is good to see this acquisition.
Filed under Battlefields, CWPT, News by on Jun 8th, 2007. Comment.
I'm a little behind announcing this, but April 7th is the annual Civil War Park Day. Here is your chance to get out and help clean up a Civil War park. Below is a link to sites needing help and contact information if you want to help out.
Filed under CWPT, News by on Mar 28th, 2007. Comment.
To "finish" out my posts on the Civil War Preservation Trust's 2007 Top 10 Endangered Battlefields, below is pictorial of where these "at risk" battlefields fall.

Filed under CWPT, News, Preservation by on Mar 23rd, 2007. Comment.
Museum in Peril: Museum and White House of the Confederacy
During the Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis lived and worked in a gray neoclassical mansion on East Clay Street in Richmond. The structure survived the evacuation fires when the city fell in April 1865, and was occupied by Federal troops until 1870. The building was nearly torn down in 1889, but was saved by the Confederate Memorial Literary Society. The "Confederate White House" was the site of the Confederate Museum from 1896—1976, until a larger facility was opened on an adjacent lot. The White House was then renovated to its 1860s appearance, opening to the public in 1988.
Read more on CWPT Also Identifies Museum of the Confederacy As At Peril…
Filed under CWPT, Museums, News by on Mar 13th, 2007. Comment.
Accompanying today's release of the 2007 Top 10 Endangered Battlefields Report (see: Civil War Preservation Trust Releases 2007 Endangered Battlefields Report), the CWPT identified 15 additional at risk sites.
Read more on Additional Civil War Preservation Trust 2007 At Risk Sites…
Filed under CWPT, News, Preservation by on Mar 13th, 2007. Comment.
CIVIL WAR PRESERVATION TRUST UNVEILS REPORT ON MOST ENDANGERED BATTLEFIELDS
Former Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, descendant of Civil War soldier, and Former New York Congressman Bob Mrazek, noted Civil War novelist, join CWPT to announce report
Read more on Civil War Preservation Trust Releases 2007 Endangered Battlefields Report…
Filed under CWPT, News, Preservation by on Mar 13th, 2007. Comment.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ — The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) will release an investigative report on the status of the nation's battlefields at a news conference on Tuesday, March 13, 2007. The report, entitled History Under Siege: America's Endangered Civil War Battlefields, will identify the ten most threatened Civil War sites in the country and what is being done to rescue them.
Read more on Civil War Preservation Trust To Reveal Nation's Most Endangered Battlefields…
Filed under CWPT, News, Preservation by on Feb 23rd, 2007. Comment.
CIVIL WAR PRESERVATION TRUST RESCUES 1,300 ACRES OF HALLOWED GROUND IN 2006
Rescue of the Slaughter Pen Farm and First Day at Chancellorsville Battlefield top the list of CWPT accomplishments in 2006
(Washington, D.C) - The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), the nation’s largest nonprofit battlefield preservation group, announced today its land preservation accomplishments for 2006. The organization permanently protected 1,329 acres of hallowed ground at 16 different Civil War battlefields in nine states. Overall, CWPT has protected 23,652 acres of core battlefield at 96 sites in 18 states.
“Looking at the list of land that our generous members have helped us save in the past year, I can’t help but swell with pride,” remarked CWPT president Jim Lighthizer. “What we accomplished in 2006 is a perfect illustration of why we are in business – saving the most historically important ground at the Civil War’s most crucial battlefields. Last year we did just that, and in unprecedented fashion.”
Topping the list of 2006 accomplishments for CWPT is the 208-acre Slaughter Pen Farm in Spotsylvania County, Va. With a $12 million price tag, the property associated with the December 13, 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg is the single most expensive private battlefield preservation effort in American history. But according to Lighthizer, the nearly unspoiled land was worth every penny.
“Experts consider the Slaughter Pen Farm to be the spot where the Battle of Fredericksburg was won and lost. Five Medals of Honor were awarded for valor shown on this property; the veterans themselves dubbed it the ‘Slaughter Pen’ for the blood that was shed here. We simply could not sit by and allow land this important to the American story be bulldozed into oblivion,” he said.
Preservationists also celebrated the end of a four-year struggle to protect the First Day at Chancellorsville Battlefield. In 2002 a coalition of preservation groups announced its intention to defeat a major development proposed for the site of the May 1, 1863 fighting. In 2004, CWPT was able to acquire 140 acres of the First Day Battlefield east of historic Lick Run. A November vote by the county Board of Supervisors cleared the way for the sale of the remaining 74 acres of the battlefield to CWPT. The Trust will be asking its members to contribute toward the purchase of the property this spring. What had once been considered an impossible goal will soon be achieved.
Also at the top of CWPT’s 2006 accomplishments is the defeat of the proposed 5,000-slots casino near East Cavalry Field at Gettysburg. CWPT, along with No Casino Gettysburg and national and regional preservation groups, opposed the slots parlor from the very beginning, believing America’s most famous battlefield shrine to be the worst possible location for a gambling parlor. Moreover, a casino would have further exacerbated already intense development pressures in the Gettysburg region.
In addition, last year’s accomplishments are remarkable for how they contributed toward achieving critical mass at several battlefields where CWPT has already done significant preservation work. For example, CWPT has now helped protect 1,454 acres at Trevilian Station, Va., 780 acres at Bentonville, N.C., 697 acres at Gettysburg, Pa., and 495 acres at Champion Hill, Miss.
“We know the time we have left to save these hallowed grounds is short,” Lighthizer said. “In some places the time we have left can be measured in months; in other regions we are lucky if we have a few years. The development pressures facing many communities with Civil War battlefields are immense, but we will continue working with our many dedicated partners to protect these unique resources for future generations.”
The full roster of sites protected in 2006 includes: 6.5 acres at Mine Creek in Kansas; 1 acre at Munfordville and 54 acres at Perryville in Kentucky; 58 acres at Champion Hill in Mississippi; 70 acres at Wilson’s Creek in Missouri; 299 acres at Bentonville in North Carolina; 105 acres at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania; 8 acres at Fort Donelson in Tennessee; 8 acres at Brandy Station, 74 acres at Chancellorsville, 208 acres at Fredericksburg, 1 acre at the John Meigs death site in Rockingham County, 200 acres at Port Republic, 6 acres at Second Deep Bottom and 170 acres at Trevilian Station in Virginia; and 59 acres at Shepherdstown in West Virginia.
With a variety of preservation projects already on the table or under investigation, CWPT is looking forward to further success in 2007. The year also marks the organization’s 20th anniversary in the battlefield protection business.
With 70,000 members, CWPT is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States. Its mission is to preserve our country’s remaining Civil War battlefields. Since 1987, the organization has saved more than 23,500 acres of hallowed ground nationwide. CWPT’s website is located at www.civilwar.org.
Read more on Civil War Preservation Trust Preserves 1,300 Acres in 2006…
Filed under CWPT, News, Preservation by on Jan 20th, 2007. Comment.
Why have national parks, if we can run highways through them? Hopefully the board will think better of this proposal.
Road To Bisect Wilderness Battlefield? (Preservation Online)
A four-lane highway through a Civil War battlefield and national park? It sounds impossible, but next week Orange County's board of supervisors will consider a new road through Wilderness National Battlefield in Virginia.
"The road would bisect some of the most fought-over ground in America," says Jim Campi, spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust, which has formed an alliance with the National Trust's Southern Field Office and other groups to urge people to voice their opposition to the new road to the state department of transportation and the board of supervisors.
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The county doesn't have the authority to build a road through a national park, says Russ Smith, superintendent of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania County National Military Park, which includes Wilderness. "I couldn't say yes to [the road] even if I wanted to," Smith says. "It would take Congressional action."
Filed under CWPT, News, Preservation by on Jan 7th, 2007. Comment.











