Tweet
From Jim Campi at CWPTG:
Civil War News Roundup - 03/17/2004
Courtesy of the Civil War Preservation Trust
-------------------------------------------------------
(1) Setback for developer at Morris Island – Charleston Post and Courier
(2) NPS names superintendent for Cedar Creek – Winchester Star
(3) Volunteers to help clean up Arkansas sites – Associated Press
(4) History comes alive at Averasboro Battlefield – Dunn Daily Record
(5) Preservation effort at East Cavalry Field – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(6) Farmers preserve Cavalry site at Gettysburg – York Sunday News
(7) Sprawl threatens Kennesaw Mountain – Atlanta Journal-Constitution
(8) Jeff Davis capture site to be recognized – Macon Telegraph
(9) Development at Wilson’s Creek is back - Springfield News-Leader
(10) Battlefield conservation funds approved - Brunswick (MD) Gazette
-------------------------------------------------------
Septic tank issue muddies builder's plans for Morris Island
BY ROBERT BEHRE, The Post and Courier Staff
03/16/2004
Charleston Post and Courier
http://www.charleston.net/stories/031604/loc_16morris.shtml
A developer who sought permission for 20 septic tanks on Morris Island must get the land rezoned first, and more than 100 people wrote letters opposing his plans for new homes on the barrier island just south of Fort Sumter.
Developer Harry Huffman had asked the state Department of Health and Environmental Control for permission to build septic tanks on 62 acres of high land known as Cummings Point, the northern tip of Morris Island.
In response, Stuart Crosby, environmental health director for the Trident Health District, said that the island's current zoning, which would allow only two homes, conflicts with Huffman's plans and must be addressed first. Crosby sent Huffman a second letter saying that the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management also must approve his plans.
"The ball is kind of in his court, in the county's court and in OCRM's court at this point," Crosby said . "We'll just have to wait and see how it progresses from here. Septic tanks might become a moot point."
Huffman said Monday he wasn't discouraged by the news. "I don't think that will affect our plans at all," he said.
If Huffman gets the necessary zoning and coastal management approvals, then the state will hold a hearing on the septic tank issue. About 120 people wrote in about the septic tank issue, more than enough to trigger a public hearing, Crosby said, adding, "I don't recall seeing a single letter that supported the development."
Huffman joked, "I'm surprised there are just 100 people who are opposed to it. I think I've got 100 people who are in favor of it. ... If that's all they got, that's great. I'd like to meet with them all individually. I'll buy them lunch."
Those who oppose the island's development were pleased with Crosby's response.
Nancy Vinson of the Coastal Conservation League said that group is glad the state won't take a piecemeal approach to permitting development on the island.
"We feel confident that a comprehensive review will result in denial of the project," she said.
Blake Hallman, who heads a coalition of historical and environmental groups that wants to block development on the island and eventually see it placed in public hands, released a statement Monday, saying, "The sands of Morris Island cover the mortal remains of hundreds of patriots, from North and South, black and white. Allowing sewage flushed from multimillion-dollar luxury homes to cover their up-to-now hallowed resting place would be not just inappropriate, but a travesty."
The island is owned by Yaschik Development Co. of Charleston, which paid about $3 million during a foreclosure proceeding in the mid-1980s. It includes a 713-acre dredge disposal site on the south, near Folly Beach and the Morris Island Lighthouse offshore.
The Trust for Public Land had attempted to buy the property a few years ago, but its option expired before any deal was done. Some have suggested that if Charleston County voters approve raising the sales tax by a half-cent in November, then some of its proceeds could be used to buy the island.
Hallman said the coalition has been in touch with the S.C. Conservation Bank and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's office to inquire about money for buying the island. "We're making some preliminary moves," he said.
Huffman said he doesn't expect to approach Charleston County about rezoning the island for at least a few months more. He said his development would not include paved roads or cars but would recreate the island's mid-19th century appearance.
"We're just taking it a day at a time, offering to meet or talk with anybody that has any input or concerns," he said.
The site where Union forces attacked the Confederate-held Battery Wagner on July 18, 1863, is currently under water. The attack, led by Col. Robert Shaw and the all-black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, was the inspiration for the climactic battle of the 1989 movie "Glory."
Last month, the national Civil War Preservation Trust placed the island at the top of its list of endangered Civil War battlefields.
Robert Behre covers Charleston County. Contact him at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com.
-------------------------------------------------------
Park Expert Lands New Job
By Jeff Mellott, Byrd Newspapers
03/16/2004
Winchester Star
http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/040316/Area_PArk.asp
NEW MARKET — Though on the job for five days, Diann Jacox was still on her get-acquainted tour, which included an announcement Monday of her new job as the first superintendent of the new Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park at Middletown.
Jacox, 51, visited the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, which owns property in the authorized boundary stretching over three counties.
For now, Jacox is commuting from her home in Northern Virginia to park headquarters at Middletown. But she plans to move to the Valley.
With 3,500 acres, the park stretches across Frederick, Shenandoah and Warren counties and recognizes the SVBF, the Cedar Creek Foundation and Belle Grove Plantation, and a developing Shenandoah County park as independent organizations within the park’s boundaries.
While previous parks have been established with the idea that the federal government owns and manages the historical resources, this park will work with partners to develop and manage it.
Current residents and businesses still will be able to live and work within the park’s boundaries and make any changes or renovations to their properties. The annual Cedar Creek re-enactment, held each October, also will be allowed on park property. The federal government will only buy private land inside the authorized park boundary when owners willingly sell.
“The biggest challenge is getting the planning process started,” Jacox said. “Part of the process is understanding our relative roles.”
The vision for the park is largely laid out in the legislation that established it on Dec. 19, 2002. The legislation defines several interpretive themes, including preserving and interpreting the climatic Civil War battle of Cedar Creek. The battle, in October 1864, determined Union control of the Valley during the last six months of the conflict.
But preservation of Civil War history is only part of the park’s purpose.
“The entire expanse of Shenandoah Valley is part of the interpretive themes,” said Jacox, who has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Fordham University. The war’s impact on civilians, the people who live in the Valley and Belle Grove will all be interpreted, she said.
Belle Grove is an 18th-century grain and livestock farm, which, around 1815, encompassed about 7,500 acres of land. The limestone house was completed in 1797 for Major Isaac Hite and his wife, Nelly, sister of future President James Madison. During the Civil War, Belle Grove was at the center of the decisive Battle of Cedar Creek.
The house, which is open to the public, has remained virtually unchanged. Today, the plantation includes the main house and gardens, original outbuildings, a classic 1918 barn, an overseer’s house, slave cemetery, heritage apple orchard, fields and meadows.
A North Carolina native who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., Jacox is expected to bring her expertise developed during her career with the National Park Service to the development of Cedar Creek and Belle Grove.
Her career, which began in 1979 in Philadelphia, has included assignments as cultural compliance coordinator for five states, including Virginia, and chief historian of the Independence National Historical Park. Her latest job was manager of the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site in Washington, D.C.
Jacox received a graduate degree in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. She was trained to use the same approach anthropologists use when studying a foreign culture.
“You are trying to make a conscious attempt not to bring your own biases and your assumptions into it,” Jacox said.
-------------------------------------------------------
Volunteers to clean up Civil War sites
By AVA THOMAS BENSON, Associated Press Writer
03/16/2004
Associated Press Newswires
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Six Civil War sites in Arkansas are to receive a makeover this month when a preservation group works on them as part of a national project.
On March 27, volunteers with the Civil War Preservation Trust will blaze trails, rake leaves and tidy up as part of the eighth annual Park Day, just in time for tourist season.
"Civil War sites are often the victims of their own popularity," the Washington, D.C.-based group's president, James Lighthizer, said in a news release. "Without proper maintenance, battlefields can suffer from the ravages of both time and tourism."
The Arkansas Post National Memorial in Gillett is one of the sites slated for cleanup. Donna Evans, at the memorial, said they expected about 50 volunteers, primarily students and scout troops. She said volunteers would be asked to clean areas around the Fort Hindeman exhibit, a cannon on the property and to tidy up trails.
At Camp Nelson Confederate Cemetery in Austin and Camp White Sulphur Springs Confederate Cemetery in Sulphur Springs, volunteers are being asked to pick up garbage, trim shrubs and do some basic groundskeeping. Headquarters House Museum in Fayetteville is also on the list for some tidying up.
At the site of Arkansas' Confederate capital at Old Washington Historic State Park, the 1836 Courthouse is scheduled for a sprucing up, along with some nearby historical markers.
Prairie Grove Battlefield Historic State Park in Prairie Grove is slated for the most work, with volunteers planning to build a new trail along the battleground, connecting what Don Montgomery described as the old part of the park with some more recently acquired property.
Prairie Grove was the site of a one-day battle that was so brutal Montgomery said historians believe more than 600 soldiers were killed and about 1,500 were left missing or injured.
The Civil War Preservation Trust is a prominent battlefield preservation organization and has about 50,000 members.
------
On the Net: Civil War Preservation Trust www.civilwar.org
-------------------------------------------------------
Averasboro: History Comes Alive
By GREGORY PHILLIPS Of The Record Staff
03/15/2004
Dunn (NC) Daily Record
http://dunndailyrecord.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=54274&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1
The air in Averasboro was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the heavy thump of artillery over the weekend as thousands gathered to watch the Battle of Averasboro re-enacted on its 139th anniversary.
The re-enactments, one each held Saturday and Sunday, were the centerpiece of a two-day living history event. Among the thousands in attendance, the preservation of that history was cited time and again as being at the core of the event’s appeal. “It’s part of our ancestry,” said participant Keith Miles of Wake Forest, whose entire family were camped at the site in period costume. “I’ve always been interested in history.
“It’s something we can do as a whole family and it’s a chance to share the truth about history,” said Bob Miles, Keith’s father. “Lots of history has been rewritten — we’re looking for the truth.”
After rain at last year’s re-enactment that echoed conditions during the 1865 battle, the sun shined throughout this year’s event and Walt Smith, vice-president of the Averasboro Battlefield Commission, could scarcely have been happier.
“We had hoped for good weather and we had hoped for a large turnout,” he said. “We got both, and that certainly made a great deal of difference and we had a tremendous success.”
Mr. Smith estimated the crowd at 7,000 over the whole weekend, the largest the event has seen, with about two-thirds attending Saturday’s re-enactment.
The large crowd was a bonus for the battlefield commission, for which the re-enactment raises money.
“We should have certainly done well financially, as well as from the standpoint of being able to meet and greet a lot of folks and have a real fun time,” Mr. Smith said. “Sales were good, all of the vendors and sutlers were well pleased with the activities.” Sutlers were merchants who traveled with soldiers selling goods.
Around 250 participants were involved, including the living history displays, which included a blacksmith, haberdashery and sutlers, while Stan Clardy sang 19th century folk songs and played a guitar.
All proved popular, but what the people came to see was war, and at 1:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, that’s what they got.
Into Battle
Around 200 participants recreated the first tactical resistance to the Union forces’ march through the Carolinas. Mr. Smith provided incessant commentary, setting the scene adding historical background, tactical information and weapons specifications to the action unfolding. Saturday’s re-enactment featured action from the Confederates withdrawal to the third line of defense before advancing Union forces. On Sunday, the battle’s progression along that defensive line was recreated. Before Saturday’s battle, participants were fully in character.
“We need to delay these Federal troops for at least one day,” said George Hatcher to his small but mighty band of Confederate soldiers. “If we can make it through today, Johnson can have his forces on line by tomorrow.”
Cannons and rifles fired and there were even hand-to-hand skirmishes. Almost 400 soldiers were killed in the original battle, and the field of conflict was littered with bodies after the re-enactments were finished.
Julie Gillespie of Sampson County, whose husband Jay was a Union soldier in Saturday’s battle, said she enjoys the living history displays more than the re-enactments. “I think the guys get a bigger kick out of the battles, or ‘blowing powder,’ as they call it,” she said.
Cliff Turpin, commissioner in nearby Falcon, said he was fascinated by the proximity of the battle to his own home. “It happened here locally, that’s what appeals to me,” he said. “I’m trying to teach my kids history. ... I think it’s very important to know your heritage.”
Among the women in period costume was Cindy Pierce of Bunnlevel, dressed completely in black as a mourning widow for her third Averasboro re-enactment. Mrs. Pierce said almost every family in the Civil War era mourned the loss of someone close.
“It was a part of their lives they couldn’t get away from,” she said. Charles Willis of Fayetteville was one of a group he said represented a “true group of blacks” active in the Civil War. A history teacher in Cumberland County, Mr. Willis said he enjoyed “portraying events as they took place.”
Mr. Willis and his companions, some of whom he said were descended from Civil War participants, manned a light artillery cannon as Union soldiers in Saturday’s re-enactment.
“It gives us the opportunity to work off tension after the work week,” he said.
-------------------------------------------------------
PROTECTING THE FLANK, THEN AND NOW
GROUPS SUCCESSFUL IN PRESERVING PART OF THE SITE OF A KEY CAVALRY BATTLE AT GETTYSBURG
By Paula Reed Ward, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
03/14/2004
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A small, innocuous four-way intersection in Adams County tells a story not many know.
There, at the crossroads of Low Dutch and Hanover roads, about five miles from the main battlefield at Gettysburg, thousands of Union and Confederate troops met at the very same time as Pickett's Charge, the turning point of the three-day battle.
At this lesser known site, East Cavalry Field, it was the job of about 2,000 Union soldiers led by Brig. Gen. David Gregg to protect the Union flank from being broken by Confederate troops.
Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, who was leading some 4,000 soldiers of the South, hoped to get through the flank and force the Union soldiers to fight on two fronts, thus weakening both.
In the end, Stuart's troops, who were exhausted from eight days of travel and fighting, failed, and the Union soldiers, included among them newly appointed Brig. Gen. George Custer, were victorious.
It was July 3, 1863.
Now, 140 years later, with the exception of a small trailer park on the southeast corner of the intersection, the view of East Cavalry Field remains unchanged. And preservationists plan to keep it that way.
Last week, they secured an easement for the Shea Farm site on the northeast corner of the intersection. Though the 45-acre tract was not part of the battlefield, it was used as a staging area for Union troops. It also probably received some overshot artillery from the Confederates.
Five preservation groups worked together to get development rights to the property, contributing more than $38,000. That was then met with a $56,200 federal grant from the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program.
The easement guarantees no further development on the Shea Farm property, while the family will continue to own and maintain it.
"It's really a win-win for us," said Jim Campi, a spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust.
By protecting the land, the view from East Cavalry Field in that direction will essentially remain the same as it was during the battle.
The ultimate goal of the Trust and the Land Conservancy of Adams County, another group that worked on the easement, is to create a 14- stop driving tour encompassing important cavalry battlefields related to the Gettysburg campaign, including sites at Camp Hill, McConnellsburg, Wrightsville and York.
The Trust has gotten easements for two.
"We're just at the beginning of this process," Campi said.
In some instances, the land in question is already protected or marked by monuments. The driving tour would tie all those together and include historical interpretation and signs.
"I think it's certainly worth the effort," Campi said. "It's an important part to the story of Gettysburg. I think there's always sort of been a love affair with the cavalry."
Katie Lawhon, a spokeswoman with Gettysburg National Military Park, said a driving tour would be a good addition for visitors.
"When you're able to expand the options, it's just going to make it a more rich experience for people," she said. "That's all good for tourism and helps contribute to the public's knowledge of the battle."
There are 6,000 acres in the battlefield, and of those, 1,200 are not protected from development.
The Shea Farm site is outside the official battlefield park, but it is part of the larger, 11,000-acre Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District.
While many Civil War buffs know all about Pickett's Charge, not as much is known about the battle at Low Dutch and Hanover roads.
"East Cavalry Field has been the forgotten stepchild of the Gettysburg campaign," Campi said. The site is a few miles from the main battlefield and is a bit out of the way, which makes it far less visited than the other sites. Once there, though, there are signs, monuments and other historical interpretations.
"Not less important," Lawhon said, "just less visited."
About 1.9 million people visit Gettysburg National Military Park each year.
The Shea property was not up for sale, but the preservation groups, which also included the Conservation Fund, the Adams County Agricultural Land Preservation Board and Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg, felt making an offer on it would benefit everyone.
"We found that the best preservation is being proactive," Campi said.
In that vein, the organizations are seeking other historically significant pieces of land.
"There's so much more preservation needed, and we can't do it on our own," Lawhon said.
Dean Shultz, one of the founders and a past president of the Land Conservancy of Adams County, said credit also must go to the Shea family for its part in the preservation.
The family didn't have to sell the rights to it, he said, and did it for several thousand dollars under the market price.
"By doing so, they looked at the future and protected it," Shultz said.
Eric J. Wittenberg, who wrote a book about the battle at East Cavalry Field, "Protecting the Flank," says stopping development is imperative to the area's historical significance.
"Once the first spade of dirt is turned, it can't be undone."
Paula Reed Ward can be reached at pward@post-gazette.com or at 412- 263-1601.
PHOTO (2), MAP; Caption: PHOTO: Library of Congress (For Two Photos) A daring cavalry charge led by Union Brig. Gen. George Custer, top, helped to protect the Army of the Potomac's right flank from Confederate horsemen under the command of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart on July 3, 1863. MAP: By Post-Gazette; Civil War Preservation Trust: (PROPOSED CIVIL WAR DRIVING TOUR)
-------------------------------------------------------
Farmers preserve Gettysburg site
Location was used as field hospital for wounded Civil War soldiers
By JOHN BUGBEE Dispatch/Sunday News
03/14/2004
York Dispatch/Sunday News
http://www.yorksundaynews.com/Stories/0,1413,137~10048~2017213,00.html
Suzanne Shea says she often wonders what farm life was like on July 3, 1863, when Union and Confederate cavalry fought on East Cavalry Field, adjacent to the 45-acre farm she and her husband, David, own.
"I think I would have been hiding in the cellar," she said.
A cannon ball fired during the day's fighting may be embedded in the wall of their stone farm house near the front door, she said, and the house was used as a field hospital to treat the wounded soldiers.
"That part for me is very humbling," she said.
Protected: This proximity to battle and ultimately to history is a primary reason the Sheas decided to protect their farm from future development by placing it in a conservation easement.
The easement was purchased in a partnership with the Land Conservancy of Adams County, the Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg and the Civil War Preservation Trust.
Funds for the $92,000 easement purchase came from various sources, including the Friends, Adams County Land Preservation and a federal farm and ranch land preservation grant program.
"It was a property we definitely thought needed to be protected," said Jim Campi, spokesman for the Preservation Trust, based in Washington, D.C.
The Sheas initially sought to place their property, located along Route 116 at the intersection of Low Dutch Road, in the county's Agricultural Land Preservation program, but because of a lengthy waiting list it was suggested they turn to the Land Conservancy.
"We knew nothing about the conservancy at the time. But we said OK, we'll consider it, Shea said.
Rules: The easement allows the Sheas to continue farming while limiting them to putting up two additional buildings on the property.
Their property can't be subdivided or used for such installations as a signal tower.
Development would ruin not only the rural character of the area, but also the integrity of the property's place in history, said Dean Shultz of the county's Land Conservancy.
"If the Shea Farm was developed then people visiting the East Cavalry Field looking east would be looking at a housing development," Shultz said, rather than the rural vista that Civil War combatants would have seen.
The Land Conservancy's interest in acquiring the easement is in keeping with its mission to protect the county's rural character, Shultz said.
"The fact that it has a historical significance is the plum on the cake," he said.
Although there was no fighting on the Shea property, the farm was used by Union soldiers who camped along a creek flowing through the property and as a formation area for battle, Shultz said.
The Sheas named the farm they purchased in 1998 Old Sword Farm, a name inspired by the New Testament book of Ephesians, in which the apostle Paul writes, "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."
"We thought it tied to the Civil War, too," said Suzanne Shea.
-------------------------------------------------------
Growth crowds Georgia parks
U.S., county, state facilities under siege
By CHRISTOPHER QUINN
03/14/2004
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/business/horizon/0304/15park.html
John Cissell's hands begin to flutter as he explains the growing problem at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
Cissell, the park superintendent, stands at the foot of Pigeon Hill, one of the interpretive areas in the Civil War park.
"The battle went right through here," he says, pointing toward Burnt Hickory Road and a meadow. Several hundred yards up Pigeon Hill, at defensive positions where Confederate soldiers waited for U.S. Gen. William T. Sherman's invading army in June 1864, there is a copy of a photo taken shortly after the battle. The picture is the key to understanding Cissell's concerns.
"Right there in the photo, you see a large rock," he says. He pauses, then adds, "1864."
"It's 2004. You can look out and see the same rock. And then you look out at this," Cissell says, right arm flying out, pointing at something that was not there during Sherman's march — the first roofs of 19 large houses being built on an 11-acre split of private land. The new subdivision divides Pigeon Hill and the still-sunken rifle pits where the 63rd Georgia Volunteers ran from the first assault.
The new neighborhood, called the Retreat, is not the only new subdivision. All along the borders of the national park and in three sizable islands of private land inside it, property is being developed.
In the last decade, Cissell has counted nearly 1,200 houses, condos and apartment units that have been built on park borders.
The same scenario is being played out among national, state and even county parks across metro Atlanta.
Becky Kelley, the director of the Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites Division, doesn't like what she sees.
"We are certainly looking at parks and historic sites that are close to or are being consumed by urban development. They range from Panola Mountain to Sweetwater Creek to other areas of the state where counties are growing more and more quickly toward them."
In 2000, the National Park Trust in Washington said Georgia had more parkland threatened by urban encroachment than any other state in the country. Most of that pressure is from metro Atlanta.
That's because developers and home buyers love property that backs up to a park. It's a selling point, an amenity like a swimming pool and tennis courts, only more desirable because it's more rare.
Cissell understands the desire to live next door to Kennesaw Mountain. Who wouldn't want to have a 2,888-acre park and 16 miles of walking trails out the back door or live next to a paved bike and walking trail that eventually will connect to Marietta Square and two of the region's other best-loved recreation areas — the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area and the Silver Comet Trail?
Land around Kennesaw Mountain commands premium prices, more than $150,000 an acre. That's a lot of pressure to sell for landowning families. And at those prices, developers have to pack in a lot of houses to turn a profit. The city of Marietta approved last month yet another subdivision bordering the park that will place 32 houses — with $500,000 price tags — on about 10 acres.
But park lovers complain that encroaching residential development is affecting the pastoral nature of parkland. New homes crowding hiking trails alter the experience of getting away from subdivisions and strip centers. The new development sends silt into streams, brings new traffic and disrupts wild animal habitats.
Bill Cahill, president of Friends of Sweetwater Creek State Park, says, "I've had calls from [park] neighbors, saying they shot a raccoon that was eating food they put out for their cat. And they ask me if I want to come check the raccoon for rabies."
Sweetwater Creek's 2,549 acres 15 miles west of downtown Atlanta in Douglas County would seem big enough to soothe the soul of most traffic-harried nature lovers. But it is showing ragged fringes.
Cahill says Sweetwater is threatened by neighbors dumping construction waste and other garbage on park property and a potential high-rise development on the shore of the lake just outside the park boundary.
He would like to see the park's borders expanded to fully take in the lake and a historic graveyard and to run along common-sense boundaries, such as roads or highways that weave in and out of the park.
No formulas
Susan Kidd, the senior vice president at the Georgia Conservancy, an environmental education and lobbying group, says there is no formula for how much land is enough for any particular park. "But in my mind, when you are looking at priorities, one of those priorities is [obtaining] buffers of protected land around a park," she says.
The state and federal governments have identified areas around Georgia parks that should be purchased to preserve historic or sensitive sites, but unlike states such as Florida and North Carolina, Georgia does not have a fixed source of money for new acquisitions.
"The demand is great, the threats are real, and the needs for money are definite," says Kelley of the State Parks and Historic Sites Division.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has appointed a 19-member panel to develop a comprehensive state conservation plan, including identifying important historical and environmental properties that should be saved. He proposes using a combination of tax breaks, private funds and $20 million in bonds to purchase the properties.
Georgia leaders proposed a dedicated funding source for parks and green space in 1998. The Legislature approved a referendum to increase the real estate transfer tax from $1 per $1,000 of value to $3. It was estimated the increase would generate at least $30 million a year.
The referendum was heavily politicized and went down in defeat after the issue of raising taxes became hot in that year's governor's race. Former Gov. Roy Barnes then proposed his own funding plan for green space.
Holding off bulldozers
Without dedicated funding, expanding state parks is left to friends-of-parks groups, donations and gifts.
At the 24-acre Chief Vann House Historic Site near Dalton, for example, park supporters are trying to raise $1.5 million to buy an adjacent 85-acre tract. The tract lies 200 feet from the front of the 1805 mansion of the noted Cherokee leader and contains a portion of the historic Trail of Tears.
The tract's owner was planning to build a trailer park and strip mall on it.
"The bulldozers were literally there when we started the [fund-raising] project," says Jeff Stancil, the Vann site manager. Stancil and others persuaded the landowner to give them time to raise money and buy it.
"We have had schoolchildren in Murray County start the Change for the Chief fund. And they raised almost $6,000, literally pennies from schoolchildren," Stancil says.
The county kicked in its share of green space money, and with other gifts and grants, they have more than $1 million in hand. He hopes to finish raising the money this year.
Others have not been so lucky. At Kennesaw, Cissell has to depend almost solely on federal allocations to buy property that would preserve the last remaining earthworks and battle sites.
Getting sizable allocations can be a lengthy process, however, Cissell says. "And developers have money right now."
-------------------------------------------------------
Etched in history
Officials hope to note where Confederate president, captors camped
By Stephen Elkins, Telegraph Staff Writer
03/13/2004
Macon Telegraph
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/8175795.htm
WARNER ROBINS - Jefferson Davis spent one unhappy night in Houston County.
On May 12, 1865, the president of the defeated Confederacy camped near Sandy Run Creek along with his wife, Varina, and the Union soldiers who had captured them two days earlier in Irwinville, about 90 miles south of Warner Robins.
Local officials hope the state will approve placing a historical marker at the spot where Davis and his captors camped, just off what is now Ga. 247.
Marsha Buzzell, executive director of the Warner Robins Convention and Visitors Bureau, was able to verify the location of the Davis visit through a newspaper clipping from 1884. Now Buzzell is working to get the historical marker so the spot can be part of the Jefferson Davis Heritage Trail.
The trail is being developed by Georgia Civil War Heritage Trails, a nonprofit corporation that attempts to link history education with economic development.
"It's a good thing," Buzzell said. "One of the purposes of the trail is to get people off the interstate into communities that are suffering."
Davis, fleeing Union troops after the fall of the Confederacy, entered Georgia from South Carolina near Lincolnton. He made his way south to Irwinville, where he was captured May 10, 1865, according to Houston County historian Jim Miles, who researched Davis' trip for Buzzell.
The Davis group, headed by Union soldier Lt. Col. Benjamin Pritchard, spent that night at Abbeville, then camped the next night south of Hawkinsville.
On May 12, the group stopped in Houston County near Sandy Run Creek on the property of Judge George Feagin. The property, site of Sandy Run Church in 1865, is just west of Ga. 247.
"Several women slept in Feagin's house, but President and Mrs. Davis spent the night in a tent," Miles told Buzzell in his summary of Davis' trip. "After receiving permission from Pritchard, Feagin brought refreshments to the captives."
Davis was taken to Macon the next day, and the Union soldiers almost took Feagin to prison with him. It seems that Davis' silver-mounted saddle disappeared during the visit.
According to Miles, Davis gave the saddle to Adam O'Pry, who visited him at Sandy Run.
"Knowing that federal soldiers would steal the saddle, Davis entrusted it to O'Pry, who stuck it in a sack and carried it past guards, who believed it was a bag of corn," wrote Miles.
Attempts to reach Miles for additional comment were unsuccessful.
When the Federals found the saddle missing, they arrested Feagin, but he eventually convinced them that he was not the culprit.
"The Federals departed, having stolen Feagin's corn and shooting and butchering all his hogs," Miles wrote.
Davis eventually got the saddle back in the 1880s. Before that, the saddle was briefly on display at the Fort Valley library.
Davis was indicted for treason and spent two years in prison before he was released on bond in 1867. He was never tried on the treason charge. Davis, who was not particularly popular in the South during the Civil War, became a symbol of the Confederacy after the war and was revered by many. He died in 1889.
Buzzell was able to validate Davis' visit to Sandy Run through a letter to the editor by Feagin that appeared in the Houston Home Journal in 1884. Feagin recounted the saddle incident, including his brief arrest. He also produced a letter from Davis concerning the saddle.
Feagin later deeded the property to a black church, now named Warner Robins Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and located off Russell Parkway. The Sandy Run property includes a cemetery that dates back to the 19th century.
Buzzell expects to hear from the state in the spring about whether a marker can be placed at the site. She hopes a marker and publicity would help draw tourists to the city as part of a trail that would include other places of history concerning Jefferson Davis.
To contact Stephen Elkins, call 923-3109, extension 402, or e-mail selkins@macontel.com.
-------------------------------------------------------
Terrell Creek revived, revised
New plan adds 900 homes on Republic sewer system.
By Jenny Fillmer
03/12/2004
Springfield News-Leader
http://www.news-leader.com/today/0312-TerrellCre-37288.html
Terrell Creek is back.
One week after Missouri Partners Inc. withdrew plans for the largest housing development ever proposed for Christian County, the Hollister-based company has announced new plans for the same piece of property that include 900 more living units.
The revised proposal, shared with the News-Leader late Thursday afternoon, also calls for connecting the entire 2,300-acre development to Republic city sewer, eliminating the need for the 266 septic tanks that had alarmed water-quality groups because of the proximity to a cold-water creek.
Republic city officials familiar with the project could not be reached Thursday, but the city previously had been receptive to the idea of annexing part of the property.
The project must be approved by the city of Republic and Christian County Planning and Zoning Commission before proceeding.
Missouri Partners representative Rick Billington credited the persuasive powers of the property owner, Charles Blount, with his company's change of plans.
The landowner agreed to give Missouri Partners more time before the deal closes, Billington said. The original closing date was Thursday.
"The reason we backed off was that we were out of time," he said.
In a March 3 interview with the News-Leader, Missouri Partners President Steve Redford had pointed to pressure from government agencies as his reason for withdrawal.
"Until we find out emphatically that there will not be any potential involvement with a governmental agency, we won't pursue it," Redford said at the time.
A March 3 company press release cited similar concerns, adding, "MPI has decided to turn its developmental interest elsewhere."
Redford was not available for comment Thursday, and Billington said he could not answer questions about the March 3 press release or Redford's comments.
The due diligence period has now been pushed back to Jan. 5, "so we could work all these things out with the county and city," Billington said.
Adding sewers, homes
The biggest difference between the old proposal and the new one is the sewer, which means more homes can be added, Billington said.
Missouri Partners' first proposal called for about 1,500 homes — most of them on 560 acres the company had hoped Republic would annex. Another 266 home lots had been laid out for a county subdivision on 1,773 acres.
The new proposal calls for 2,400 living units, including some multifamily. Billington said all the multifamily units would be in the Republic annexation portion of the development, but he did not know how many units there would be, nor whether they would be apartments or townhouses. "The bulk of it will be single-family residences," he said.
Density will also increase in the county subdivision, where original plans called for an average lot size of 5.5 acres. Billington said the new plans reduce those lots to 1-3 acres.
Gary Haddock, Christian County's planning and zoning administrator, said the extension of sewer into the county subdivision would allow lots as small as a quarter-acre.
"If you don't have to worry about septic issues, it's just like a lot in town," Haddock said.
Sewer service also eliminates the need for a review from the Missouri Department of Natural of Resources. A DNR report from the old proposal, released earlier this month, had required all lots to be at least 4.9 acres to legally accommodate septic systems.
Governmental agencies, as well as neighbors, had previously voiced concerns that such a big development would seriously impact the area's roads, schools, wells and the rural quality of life.
Christian County Associate Commissioner Tom Chudomelka said the proposed higher density in the county subdivision would strain county resources, like law enforcement, road maintenance and fire protection, even more than the original proposal.
Christian County supports those services with sales taxes, not property taxes. Chudomelka said he believed most of Terrell Creek's residents would do their shopping in Republic.
Chudomelka's solution?
"I would hope everything would be within the city of Republic," he said.
Worries remain
Billington said he did not know whether the new plans called for extension of Republic municipal water lines into the county subdivision, or if it would be supplied by a community well.
Regardless of sewers and wells, Terrell Creek neighbor David Stokely is dubious of new plans for a high-density housing development.
"As from the beginning, there's still more questions than answers," Stokely said, adding that he was concerned about the impact 2,400 living units would have on roads."If they add 2,400 units and families, we're talking thousands of cars on these back roads," he said.
The changes also don't address concerns of officials with Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, located across Christian County ZZ from the proposed development. Terrell Creek includes an area they had hoped to protect: a former Confederate campground.
A press release issued Thursday by Missouri Partners stated meetings are being scheduled with battlefield officials.
Battlefield Superintendent Ted Hillmer said that was news to him but added he looked forward to working with Missouri Partners and other interested parties.
"It'll be a pleasure to work with all the other 'rogue' agencies that are working on the project," Hillmer said, using a word Redford had used March 3 to describe environmental and governmental agencies he viewed as a risk to pursuing the development.
Hillmer added he was surprised Missouri Partners had changed plans. "Honesty and integrity are very important to me," the superintendent said. "I was taking people for what they said. They said they were pulling off, and they were pulling back in."
Contact Jenny Fillmer at jfillmer @News-Leader.com.
-------------------------------------------------------
Battlefield conservation funds approved
03/11/2004
Brunswick (MD) Gazette
http://www.gazette.net/200411/brunswick/news/206550-1.html
On the heels of a report listing South Mountain State Battlefield as among the most endangered in the nation, the Maryland Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved $237,207 in state, federal and private funds to purchase conservation easements for two crucial parcels on the battlefield.
The board approved the easements for 36.6 acres on the battlefield that was listed last month on the national Civil War Preservation Trust's 10 most endangered battlefields.
The trust named the battlefield as endangered because of development pressures in the area.
The easement purchases means private citizens still own the land yet the state holds the rights to subdivide and develop the properties.
Of the total, about 25.6 acres known as the Wilson property was the headquarters of Union Gen. George McClellan and the Army of the Potomac's reserves artillery and supply wagons during the Battle of South Mountain in Sept. 1862, according to a statement from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The property may also be habitat for grassland breeding birds such as upland sandpiper, eastern meadowlark, grasshopper sparrow, verper sparrow, Savannah sparrow and American kestrel, the department said.
The second property, known as the Devine property, comprises about 11 acres that was the staging area of Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Corps during the battle at Turner's Gap, as well as a historic home that was used as a hospital during the war.
The state owns 2,500 acres on the battlefield and another 6,000 acres are under conservation easements owned by the state.
The Civil War Preservation Trust, the department's Program Open Space and the Maryland State Highway Administration's Transportation Enhancement Program supply funds for the easement purchases.
-------------------------------------------------------
TO REMOVE YOUR NAME from the Civil War News Roundup e-list, click on the reply button and type "remove" in the subject line of the message.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Campi, Policy and Communications Director
Civil War Preservation Trust
1331 H Street NW, Suite 1001
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 367-1861 ext. 205
Fax: (202) 367-1865
http://www.civilwar.org
http://www.chancellorsville.org
Civil War News Roundup - 03/17/2004
Courtesy of the Civil War Preservation Trust
-------------------------------------------------------
(1) Setback for developer at Morris Island – Charleston Post and Courier
(2) NPS names superintendent for Cedar Creek – Winchester Star
(3) Volunteers to help clean up Arkansas sites – Associated Press
(4) History comes alive at Averasboro Battlefield – Dunn Daily Record
(5) Preservation effort at East Cavalry Field – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(6) Farmers preserve Cavalry site at Gettysburg – York Sunday News
(7) Sprawl threatens Kennesaw Mountain – Atlanta Journal-Constitution
(8) Jeff Davis capture site to be recognized – Macon Telegraph
(9) Development at Wilson’s Creek is back - Springfield News-Leader
(10) Battlefield conservation funds approved - Brunswick (MD) Gazette
-------------------------------------------------------
Septic tank issue muddies builder's plans for Morris Island
BY ROBERT BEHRE, The Post and Courier Staff
03/16/2004
Charleston Post and Courier
http://www.charleston.net/stories/031604/loc_16morris.shtml
A developer who sought permission for 20 septic tanks on Morris Island must get the land rezoned first, and more than 100 people wrote letters opposing his plans for new homes on the barrier island just south of Fort Sumter.
Developer Harry Huffman had asked the state Department of Health and Environmental Control for permission to build septic tanks on 62 acres of high land known as Cummings Point, the northern tip of Morris Island.
In response, Stuart Crosby, environmental health director for the Trident Health District, said that the island's current zoning, which would allow only two homes, conflicts with Huffman's plans and must be addressed first. Crosby sent Huffman a second letter saying that the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management also must approve his plans.
"The ball is kind of in his court, in the county's court and in OCRM's court at this point," Crosby said . "We'll just have to wait and see how it progresses from here. Septic tanks might become a moot point."
Huffman said Monday he wasn't discouraged by the news. "I don't think that will affect our plans at all," he said.
If Huffman gets the necessary zoning and coastal management approvals, then the state will hold a hearing on the septic tank issue. About 120 people wrote in about the septic tank issue, more than enough to trigger a public hearing, Crosby said, adding, "I don't recall seeing a single letter that supported the development."
Huffman joked, "I'm surprised there are just 100 people who are opposed to it. I think I've got 100 people who are in favor of it. ... If that's all they got, that's great. I'd like to meet with them all individually. I'll buy them lunch."
Those who oppose the island's development were pleased with Crosby's response.
Nancy Vinson of the Coastal Conservation League said that group is glad the state won't take a piecemeal approach to permitting development on the island.
"We feel confident that a comprehensive review will result in denial of the project," she said.
Blake Hallman, who heads a coalition of historical and environmental groups that wants to block development on the island and eventually see it placed in public hands, released a statement Monday, saying, "The sands of Morris Island cover the mortal remains of hundreds of patriots, from North and South, black and white. Allowing sewage flushed from multimillion-dollar luxury homes to cover their up-to-now hallowed resting place would be not just inappropriate, but a travesty."
The island is owned by Yaschik Development Co. of Charleston, which paid about $3 million during a foreclosure proceeding in the mid-1980s. It includes a 713-acre dredge disposal site on the south, near Folly Beach and the Morris Island Lighthouse offshore.
The Trust for Public Land had attempted to buy the property a few years ago, but its option expired before any deal was done. Some have suggested that if Charleston County voters approve raising the sales tax by a half-cent in November, then some of its proceeds could be used to buy the island.
Hallman said the coalition has been in touch with the S.C. Conservation Bank and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's office to inquire about money for buying the island. "We're making some preliminary moves," he said.
Huffman said he doesn't expect to approach Charleston County about rezoning the island for at least a few months more. He said his development would not include paved roads or cars but would recreate the island's mid-19th century appearance.
"We're just taking it a day at a time, offering to meet or talk with anybody that has any input or concerns," he said.
The site where Union forces attacked the Confederate-held Battery Wagner on July 18, 1863, is currently under water. The attack, led by Col. Robert Shaw and the all-black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, was the inspiration for the climactic battle of the 1989 movie "Glory."
Last month, the national Civil War Preservation Trust placed the island at the top of its list of endangered Civil War battlefields.
Robert Behre covers Charleston County. Contact him at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com.
-------------------------------------------------------
Park Expert Lands New Job
By Jeff Mellott, Byrd Newspapers
03/16/2004
Winchester Star
http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/040316/Area_PArk.asp
NEW MARKET — Though on the job for five days, Diann Jacox was still on her get-acquainted tour, which included an announcement Monday of her new job as the first superintendent of the new Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park at Middletown.
Jacox, 51, visited the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, which owns property in the authorized boundary stretching over three counties.
For now, Jacox is commuting from her home in Northern Virginia to park headquarters at Middletown. But she plans to move to the Valley.
With 3,500 acres, the park stretches across Frederick, Shenandoah and Warren counties and recognizes the SVBF, the Cedar Creek Foundation and Belle Grove Plantation, and a developing Shenandoah County park as independent organizations within the park’s boundaries.
While previous parks have been established with the idea that the federal government owns and manages the historical resources, this park will work with partners to develop and manage it.
Current residents and businesses still will be able to live and work within the park’s boundaries and make any changes or renovations to their properties. The annual Cedar Creek re-enactment, held each October, also will be allowed on park property. The federal government will only buy private land inside the authorized park boundary when owners willingly sell.
“The biggest challenge is getting the planning process started,” Jacox said. “Part of the process is understanding our relative roles.”
The vision for the park is largely laid out in the legislation that established it on Dec. 19, 2002. The legislation defines several interpretive themes, including preserving and interpreting the climatic Civil War battle of Cedar Creek. The battle, in October 1864, determined Union control of the Valley during the last six months of the conflict.
But preservation of Civil War history is only part of the park’s purpose.
“The entire expanse of Shenandoah Valley is part of the interpretive themes,” said Jacox, who has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Fordham University. The war’s impact on civilians, the people who live in the Valley and Belle Grove will all be interpreted, she said.
Belle Grove is an 18th-century grain and livestock farm, which, around 1815, encompassed about 7,500 acres of land. The limestone house was completed in 1797 for Major Isaac Hite and his wife, Nelly, sister of future President James Madison. During the Civil War, Belle Grove was at the center of the decisive Battle of Cedar Creek.
The house, which is open to the public, has remained virtually unchanged. Today, the plantation includes the main house and gardens, original outbuildings, a classic 1918 barn, an overseer’s house, slave cemetery, heritage apple orchard, fields and meadows.
A North Carolina native who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., Jacox is expected to bring her expertise developed during her career with the National Park Service to the development of Cedar Creek and Belle Grove.
Her career, which began in 1979 in Philadelphia, has included assignments as cultural compliance coordinator for five states, including Virginia, and chief historian of the Independence National Historical Park. Her latest job was manager of the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site in Washington, D.C.
Jacox received a graduate degree in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. She was trained to use the same approach anthropologists use when studying a foreign culture.
“You are trying to make a conscious attempt not to bring your own biases and your assumptions into it,” Jacox said.
-------------------------------------------------------
Volunteers to clean up Civil War sites
By AVA THOMAS BENSON, Associated Press Writer
03/16/2004
Associated Press Newswires
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Six Civil War sites in Arkansas are to receive a makeover this month when a preservation group works on them as part of a national project.
On March 27, volunteers with the Civil War Preservation Trust will blaze trails, rake leaves and tidy up as part of the eighth annual Park Day, just in time for tourist season.
"Civil War sites are often the victims of their own popularity," the Washington, D.C.-based group's president, James Lighthizer, said in a news release. "Without proper maintenance, battlefields can suffer from the ravages of both time and tourism."
The Arkansas Post National Memorial in Gillett is one of the sites slated for cleanup. Donna Evans, at the memorial, said they expected about 50 volunteers, primarily students and scout troops. She said volunteers would be asked to clean areas around the Fort Hindeman exhibit, a cannon on the property and to tidy up trails.
At Camp Nelson Confederate Cemetery in Austin and Camp White Sulphur Springs Confederate Cemetery in Sulphur Springs, volunteers are being asked to pick up garbage, trim shrubs and do some basic groundskeeping. Headquarters House Museum in Fayetteville is also on the list for some tidying up.
At the site of Arkansas' Confederate capital at Old Washington Historic State Park, the 1836 Courthouse is scheduled for a sprucing up, along with some nearby historical markers.
Prairie Grove Battlefield Historic State Park in Prairie Grove is slated for the most work, with volunteers planning to build a new trail along the battleground, connecting what Don Montgomery described as the old part of the park with some more recently acquired property.
Prairie Grove was the site of a one-day battle that was so brutal Montgomery said historians believe more than 600 soldiers were killed and about 1,500 were left missing or injured.
The Civil War Preservation Trust is a prominent battlefield preservation organization and has about 50,000 members.
------
On the Net: Civil War Preservation Trust www.civilwar.org
-------------------------------------------------------
Averasboro: History Comes Alive
By GREGORY PHILLIPS Of The Record Staff
03/15/2004
Dunn (NC) Daily Record
http://dunndailyrecord.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=54274&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1
The air in Averasboro was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the heavy thump of artillery over the weekend as thousands gathered to watch the Battle of Averasboro re-enacted on its 139th anniversary.
The re-enactments, one each held Saturday and Sunday, were the centerpiece of a two-day living history event. Among the thousands in attendance, the preservation of that history was cited time and again as being at the core of the event’s appeal. “It’s part of our ancestry,” said participant Keith Miles of Wake Forest, whose entire family were camped at the site in period costume. “I’ve always been interested in history.
“It’s something we can do as a whole family and it’s a chance to share the truth about history,” said Bob Miles, Keith’s father. “Lots of history has been rewritten — we’re looking for the truth.”
After rain at last year’s re-enactment that echoed conditions during the 1865 battle, the sun shined throughout this year’s event and Walt Smith, vice-president of the Averasboro Battlefield Commission, could scarcely have been happier.
“We had hoped for good weather and we had hoped for a large turnout,” he said. “We got both, and that certainly made a great deal of difference and we had a tremendous success.”
Mr. Smith estimated the crowd at 7,000 over the whole weekend, the largest the event has seen, with about two-thirds attending Saturday’s re-enactment.
The large crowd was a bonus for the battlefield commission, for which the re-enactment raises money.
“We should have certainly done well financially, as well as from the standpoint of being able to meet and greet a lot of folks and have a real fun time,” Mr. Smith said. “Sales were good, all of the vendors and sutlers were well pleased with the activities.” Sutlers were merchants who traveled with soldiers selling goods.
Around 250 participants were involved, including the living history displays, which included a blacksmith, haberdashery and sutlers, while Stan Clardy sang 19th century folk songs and played a guitar.
All proved popular, but what the people came to see was war, and at 1:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, that’s what they got.
Into Battle
Around 200 participants recreated the first tactical resistance to the Union forces’ march through the Carolinas. Mr. Smith provided incessant commentary, setting the scene adding historical background, tactical information and weapons specifications to the action unfolding. Saturday’s re-enactment featured action from the Confederates withdrawal to the third line of defense before advancing Union forces. On Sunday, the battle’s progression along that defensive line was recreated. Before Saturday’s battle, participants were fully in character.
“We need to delay these Federal troops for at least one day,” said George Hatcher to his small but mighty band of Confederate soldiers. “If we can make it through today, Johnson can have his forces on line by tomorrow.”
Cannons and rifles fired and there were even hand-to-hand skirmishes. Almost 400 soldiers were killed in the original battle, and the field of conflict was littered with bodies after the re-enactments were finished.
Julie Gillespie of Sampson County, whose husband Jay was a Union soldier in Saturday’s battle, said she enjoys the living history displays more than the re-enactments. “I think the guys get a bigger kick out of the battles, or ‘blowing powder,’ as they call it,” she said.
Cliff Turpin, commissioner in nearby Falcon, said he was fascinated by the proximity of the battle to his own home. “It happened here locally, that’s what appeals to me,” he said. “I’m trying to teach my kids history. ... I think it’s very important to know your heritage.”
Among the women in period costume was Cindy Pierce of Bunnlevel, dressed completely in black as a mourning widow for her third Averasboro re-enactment. Mrs. Pierce said almost every family in the Civil War era mourned the loss of someone close.
“It was a part of their lives they couldn’t get away from,” she said. Charles Willis of Fayetteville was one of a group he said represented a “true group of blacks” active in the Civil War. A history teacher in Cumberland County, Mr. Willis said he enjoyed “portraying events as they took place.”
Mr. Willis and his companions, some of whom he said were descended from Civil War participants, manned a light artillery cannon as Union soldiers in Saturday’s re-enactment.
“It gives us the opportunity to work off tension after the work week,” he said.
-------------------------------------------------------
PROTECTING THE FLANK, THEN AND NOW
GROUPS SUCCESSFUL IN PRESERVING PART OF THE SITE OF A KEY CAVALRY BATTLE AT GETTYSBURG
By Paula Reed Ward, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
03/14/2004
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A small, innocuous four-way intersection in Adams County tells a story not many know.
There, at the crossroads of Low Dutch and Hanover roads, about five miles from the main battlefield at Gettysburg, thousands of Union and Confederate troops met at the very same time as Pickett's Charge, the turning point of the three-day battle.
At this lesser known site, East Cavalry Field, it was the job of about 2,000 Union soldiers led by Brig. Gen. David Gregg to protect the Union flank from being broken by Confederate troops.
Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, who was leading some 4,000 soldiers of the South, hoped to get through the flank and force the Union soldiers to fight on two fronts, thus weakening both.
In the end, Stuart's troops, who were exhausted from eight days of travel and fighting, failed, and the Union soldiers, included among them newly appointed Brig. Gen. George Custer, were victorious.
It was July 3, 1863.
Now, 140 years later, with the exception of a small trailer park on the southeast corner of the intersection, the view of East Cavalry Field remains unchanged. And preservationists plan to keep it that way.
Last week, they secured an easement for the Shea Farm site on the northeast corner of the intersection. Though the 45-acre tract was not part of the battlefield, it was used as a staging area for Union troops. It also probably received some overshot artillery from the Confederates.
Five preservation groups worked together to get development rights to the property, contributing more than $38,000. That was then met with a $56,200 federal grant from the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program.
The easement guarantees no further development on the Shea Farm property, while the family will continue to own and maintain it.
"It's really a win-win for us," said Jim Campi, a spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust.
By protecting the land, the view from East Cavalry Field in that direction will essentially remain the same as it was during the battle.
The ultimate goal of the Trust and the Land Conservancy of Adams County, another group that worked on the easement, is to create a 14- stop driving tour encompassing important cavalry battlefields related to the Gettysburg campaign, including sites at Camp Hill, McConnellsburg, Wrightsville and York.
The Trust has gotten easements for two.
"We're just at the beginning of this process," Campi said.
In some instances, the land in question is already protected or marked by monuments. The driving tour would tie all those together and include historical interpretation and signs.
"I think it's certainly worth the effort," Campi said. "It's an important part to the story of Gettysburg. I think there's always sort of been a love affair with the cavalry."
Katie Lawhon, a spokeswoman with Gettysburg National Military Park, said a driving tour would be a good addition for visitors.
"When you're able to expand the options, it's just going to make it a more rich experience for people," she said. "That's all good for tourism and helps contribute to the public's knowledge of the battle."
There are 6,000 acres in the battlefield, and of those, 1,200 are not protected from development.
The Shea Farm site is outside the official battlefield park, but it is part of the larger, 11,000-acre Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District.
While many Civil War buffs know all about Pickett's Charge, not as much is known about the battle at Low Dutch and Hanover roads.
"East Cavalry Field has been the forgotten stepchild of the Gettysburg campaign," Campi said. The site is a few miles from the main battlefield and is a bit out of the way, which makes it far less visited than the other sites. Once there, though, there are signs, monuments and other historical interpretations.
"Not less important," Lawhon said, "just less visited."
About 1.9 million people visit Gettysburg National Military Park each year.
The Shea property was not up for sale, but the preservation groups, which also included the Conservation Fund, the Adams County Agricultural Land Preservation Board and Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg, felt making an offer on it would benefit everyone.
"We found that the best preservation is being proactive," Campi said.
In that vein, the organizations are seeking other historically significant pieces of land.
"There's so much more preservation needed, and we can't do it on our own," Lawhon said.
Dean Shultz, one of the founders and a past president of the Land Conservancy of Adams County, said credit also must go to the Shea family for its part in the preservation.
The family didn't have to sell the rights to it, he said, and did it for several thousand dollars under the market price.
"By doing so, they looked at the future and protected it," Shultz said.
Eric J. Wittenberg, who wrote a book about the battle at East Cavalry Field, "Protecting the Flank," says stopping development is imperative to the area's historical significance.
"Once the first spade of dirt is turned, it can't be undone."
Paula Reed Ward can be reached at pward@post-gazette.com or at 412- 263-1601.
PHOTO (2), MAP; Caption: PHOTO: Library of Congress (For Two Photos) A daring cavalry charge led by Union Brig. Gen. George Custer, top, helped to protect the Army of the Potomac's right flank from Confederate horsemen under the command of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart on July 3, 1863. MAP: By Post-Gazette; Civil War Preservation Trust: (PROPOSED CIVIL WAR DRIVING TOUR)
-------------------------------------------------------
Farmers preserve Gettysburg site
Location was used as field hospital for wounded Civil War soldiers
By JOHN BUGBEE Dispatch/Sunday News
03/14/2004
York Dispatch/Sunday News
http://www.yorksundaynews.com/Stories/0,1413,137~10048~2017213,00.html
Suzanne Shea says she often wonders what farm life was like on July 3, 1863, when Union and Confederate cavalry fought on East Cavalry Field, adjacent to the 45-acre farm she and her husband, David, own.
"I think I would have been hiding in the cellar," she said.
A cannon ball fired during the day's fighting may be embedded in the wall of their stone farm house near the front door, she said, and the house was used as a field hospital to treat the wounded soldiers.
"That part for me is very humbling," she said.
Protected: This proximity to battle and ultimately to history is a primary reason the Sheas decided to protect their farm from future development by placing it in a conservation easement.
The easement was purchased in a partnership with the Land Conservancy of Adams County, the Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg and the Civil War Preservation Trust.
Funds for the $92,000 easement purchase came from various sources, including the Friends, Adams County Land Preservation and a federal farm and ranch land preservation grant program.
"It was a property we definitely thought needed to be protected," said Jim Campi, spokesman for the Preservation Trust, based in Washington, D.C.
The Sheas initially sought to place their property, located along Route 116 at the intersection of Low Dutch Road, in the county's Agricultural Land Preservation program, but because of a lengthy waiting list it was suggested they turn to the Land Conservancy.
"We knew nothing about the conservancy at the time. But we said OK, we'll consider it, Shea said.
Rules: The easement allows the Sheas to continue farming while limiting them to putting up two additional buildings on the property.
Their property can't be subdivided or used for such installations as a signal tower.
Development would ruin not only the rural character of the area, but also the integrity of the property's place in history, said Dean Shultz of the county's Land Conservancy.
"If the Shea Farm was developed then people visiting the East Cavalry Field looking east would be looking at a housing development," Shultz said, rather than the rural vista that Civil War combatants would have seen.
The Land Conservancy's interest in acquiring the easement is in keeping with its mission to protect the county's rural character, Shultz said.
"The fact that it has a historical significance is the plum on the cake," he said.
Although there was no fighting on the Shea property, the farm was used by Union soldiers who camped along a creek flowing through the property and as a formation area for battle, Shultz said.
The Sheas named the farm they purchased in 1998 Old Sword Farm, a name inspired by the New Testament book of Ephesians, in which the apostle Paul writes, "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."
"We thought it tied to the Civil War, too," said Suzanne Shea.
-------------------------------------------------------
Growth crowds Georgia parks
U.S., county, state facilities under siege
By CHRISTOPHER QUINN
03/14/2004
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/business/horizon/0304/15park.html
John Cissell's hands begin to flutter as he explains the growing problem at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
Cissell, the park superintendent, stands at the foot of Pigeon Hill, one of the interpretive areas in the Civil War park.
"The battle went right through here," he says, pointing toward Burnt Hickory Road and a meadow. Several hundred yards up Pigeon Hill, at defensive positions where Confederate soldiers waited for U.S. Gen. William T. Sherman's invading army in June 1864, there is a copy of a photo taken shortly after the battle. The picture is the key to understanding Cissell's concerns.
"Right there in the photo, you see a large rock," he says. He pauses, then adds, "1864."
"It's 2004. You can look out and see the same rock. And then you look out at this," Cissell says, right arm flying out, pointing at something that was not there during Sherman's march — the first roofs of 19 large houses being built on an 11-acre split of private land. The new subdivision divides Pigeon Hill and the still-sunken rifle pits where the 63rd Georgia Volunteers ran from the first assault.
The new neighborhood, called the Retreat, is not the only new subdivision. All along the borders of the national park and in three sizable islands of private land inside it, property is being developed.
In the last decade, Cissell has counted nearly 1,200 houses, condos and apartment units that have been built on park borders.
The same scenario is being played out among national, state and even county parks across metro Atlanta.
Becky Kelley, the director of the Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites Division, doesn't like what she sees.
"We are certainly looking at parks and historic sites that are close to or are being consumed by urban development. They range from Panola Mountain to Sweetwater Creek to other areas of the state where counties are growing more and more quickly toward them."
In 2000, the National Park Trust in Washington said Georgia had more parkland threatened by urban encroachment than any other state in the country. Most of that pressure is from metro Atlanta.
That's because developers and home buyers love property that backs up to a park. It's a selling point, an amenity like a swimming pool and tennis courts, only more desirable because it's more rare.
Cissell understands the desire to live next door to Kennesaw Mountain. Who wouldn't want to have a 2,888-acre park and 16 miles of walking trails out the back door or live next to a paved bike and walking trail that eventually will connect to Marietta Square and two of the region's other best-loved recreation areas — the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area and the Silver Comet Trail?
Land around Kennesaw Mountain commands premium prices, more than $150,000 an acre. That's a lot of pressure to sell for landowning families. And at those prices, developers have to pack in a lot of houses to turn a profit. The city of Marietta approved last month yet another subdivision bordering the park that will place 32 houses — with $500,000 price tags — on about 10 acres.
But park lovers complain that encroaching residential development is affecting the pastoral nature of parkland. New homes crowding hiking trails alter the experience of getting away from subdivisions and strip centers. The new development sends silt into streams, brings new traffic and disrupts wild animal habitats.
Bill Cahill, president of Friends of Sweetwater Creek State Park, says, "I've had calls from [park] neighbors, saying they shot a raccoon that was eating food they put out for their cat. And they ask me if I want to come check the raccoon for rabies."
Sweetwater Creek's 2,549 acres 15 miles west of downtown Atlanta in Douglas County would seem big enough to soothe the soul of most traffic-harried nature lovers. But it is showing ragged fringes.
Cahill says Sweetwater is threatened by neighbors dumping construction waste and other garbage on park property and a potential high-rise development on the shore of the lake just outside the park boundary.
He would like to see the park's borders expanded to fully take in the lake and a historic graveyard and to run along common-sense boundaries, such as roads or highways that weave in and out of the park.
No formulas
Susan Kidd, the senior vice president at the Georgia Conservancy, an environmental education and lobbying group, says there is no formula for how much land is enough for any particular park. "But in my mind, when you are looking at priorities, one of those priorities is [obtaining] buffers of protected land around a park," she says.
The state and federal governments have identified areas around Georgia parks that should be purchased to preserve historic or sensitive sites, but unlike states such as Florida and North Carolina, Georgia does not have a fixed source of money for new acquisitions.
"The demand is great, the threats are real, and the needs for money are definite," says Kelley of the State Parks and Historic Sites Division.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has appointed a 19-member panel to develop a comprehensive state conservation plan, including identifying important historical and environmental properties that should be saved. He proposes using a combination of tax breaks, private funds and $20 million in bonds to purchase the properties.
Georgia leaders proposed a dedicated funding source for parks and green space in 1998. The Legislature approved a referendum to increase the real estate transfer tax from $1 per $1,000 of value to $3. It was estimated the increase would generate at least $30 million a year.
The referendum was heavily politicized and went down in defeat after the issue of raising taxes became hot in that year's governor's race. Former Gov. Roy Barnes then proposed his own funding plan for green space.
Holding off bulldozers
Without dedicated funding, expanding state parks is left to friends-of-parks groups, donations and gifts.
At the 24-acre Chief Vann House Historic Site near Dalton, for example, park supporters are trying to raise $1.5 million to buy an adjacent 85-acre tract. The tract lies 200 feet from the front of the 1805 mansion of the noted Cherokee leader and contains a portion of the historic Trail of Tears.
The tract's owner was planning to build a trailer park and strip mall on it.
"The bulldozers were literally there when we started the [fund-raising] project," says Jeff Stancil, the Vann site manager. Stancil and others persuaded the landowner to give them time to raise money and buy it.
"We have had schoolchildren in Murray County start the Change for the Chief fund. And they raised almost $6,000, literally pennies from schoolchildren," Stancil says.
The county kicked in its share of green space money, and with other gifts and grants, they have more than $1 million in hand. He hopes to finish raising the money this year.
Others have not been so lucky. At Kennesaw, Cissell has to depend almost solely on federal allocations to buy property that would preserve the last remaining earthworks and battle sites.
Getting sizable allocations can be a lengthy process, however, Cissell says. "And developers have money right now."
-------------------------------------------------------
Etched in history
Officials hope to note where Confederate president, captors camped
By Stephen Elkins, Telegraph Staff Writer
03/13/2004
Macon Telegraph
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/8175795.htm
WARNER ROBINS - Jefferson Davis spent one unhappy night in Houston County.
On May 12, 1865, the president of the defeated Confederacy camped near Sandy Run Creek along with his wife, Varina, and the Union soldiers who had captured them two days earlier in Irwinville, about 90 miles south of Warner Robins.
Local officials hope the state will approve placing a historical marker at the spot where Davis and his captors camped, just off what is now Ga. 247.
Marsha Buzzell, executive director of the Warner Robins Convention and Visitors Bureau, was able to verify the location of the Davis visit through a newspaper clipping from 1884. Now Buzzell is working to get the historical marker so the spot can be part of the Jefferson Davis Heritage Trail.
The trail is being developed by Georgia Civil War Heritage Trails, a nonprofit corporation that attempts to link history education with economic development.
"It's a good thing," Buzzell said. "One of the purposes of the trail is to get people off the interstate into communities that are suffering."
Davis, fleeing Union troops after the fall of the Confederacy, entered Georgia from South Carolina near Lincolnton. He made his way south to Irwinville, where he was captured May 10, 1865, according to Houston County historian Jim Miles, who researched Davis' trip for Buzzell.
The Davis group, headed by Union soldier Lt. Col. Benjamin Pritchard, spent that night at Abbeville, then camped the next night south of Hawkinsville.
On May 12, the group stopped in Houston County near Sandy Run Creek on the property of Judge George Feagin. The property, site of Sandy Run Church in 1865, is just west of Ga. 247.
"Several women slept in Feagin's house, but President and Mrs. Davis spent the night in a tent," Miles told Buzzell in his summary of Davis' trip. "After receiving permission from Pritchard, Feagin brought refreshments to the captives."
Davis was taken to Macon the next day, and the Union soldiers almost took Feagin to prison with him. It seems that Davis' silver-mounted saddle disappeared during the visit.
According to Miles, Davis gave the saddle to Adam O'Pry, who visited him at Sandy Run.
"Knowing that federal soldiers would steal the saddle, Davis entrusted it to O'Pry, who stuck it in a sack and carried it past guards, who believed it was a bag of corn," wrote Miles.
Attempts to reach Miles for additional comment were unsuccessful.
When the Federals found the saddle missing, they arrested Feagin, but he eventually convinced them that he was not the culprit.
"The Federals departed, having stolen Feagin's corn and shooting and butchering all his hogs," Miles wrote.
Davis eventually got the saddle back in the 1880s. Before that, the saddle was briefly on display at the Fort Valley library.
Davis was indicted for treason and spent two years in prison before he was released on bond in 1867. He was never tried on the treason charge. Davis, who was not particularly popular in the South during the Civil War, became a symbol of the Confederacy after the war and was revered by many. He died in 1889.
Buzzell was able to validate Davis' visit to Sandy Run through a letter to the editor by Feagin that appeared in the Houston Home Journal in 1884. Feagin recounted the saddle incident, including his brief arrest. He also produced a letter from Davis concerning the saddle.
Feagin later deeded the property to a black church, now named Warner Robins Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and located off Russell Parkway. The Sandy Run property includes a cemetery that dates back to the 19th century.
Buzzell expects to hear from the state in the spring about whether a marker can be placed at the site. She hopes a marker and publicity would help draw tourists to the city as part of a trail that would include other places of history concerning Jefferson Davis.
To contact Stephen Elkins, call 923-3109, extension 402, or e-mail selkins@macontel.com.
-------------------------------------------------------
Terrell Creek revived, revised
New plan adds 900 homes on Republic sewer system.
By Jenny Fillmer
03/12/2004
Springfield News-Leader
http://www.news-leader.com/today/0312-TerrellCre-37288.html
Terrell Creek is back.
One week after Missouri Partners Inc. withdrew plans for the largest housing development ever proposed for Christian County, the Hollister-based company has announced new plans for the same piece of property that include 900 more living units.
The revised proposal, shared with the News-Leader late Thursday afternoon, also calls for connecting the entire 2,300-acre development to Republic city sewer, eliminating the need for the 266 septic tanks that had alarmed water-quality groups because of the proximity to a cold-water creek.
Republic city officials familiar with the project could not be reached Thursday, but the city previously had been receptive to the idea of annexing part of the property.
The project must be approved by the city of Republic and Christian County Planning and Zoning Commission before proceeding.
Missouri Partners representative Rick Billington credited the persuasive powers of the property owner, Charles Blount, with his company's change of plans.
The landowner agreed to give Missouri Partners more time before the deal closes, Billington said. The original closing date was Thursday.
"The reason we backed off was that we were out of time," he said.
In a March 3 interview with the News-Leader, Missouri Partners President Steve Redford had pointed to pressure from government agencies as his reason for withdrawal.
"Until we find out emphatically that there will not be any potential involvement with a governmental agency, we won't pursue it," Redford said at the time.
A March 3 company press release cited similar concerns, adding, "MPI has decided to turn its developmental interest elsewhere."
Redford was not available for comment Thursday, and Billington said he could not answer questions about the March 3 press release or Redford's comments.
The due diligence period has now been pushed back to Jan. 5, "so we could work all these things out with the county and city," Billington said.
Adding sewers, homes
The biggest difference between the old proposal and the new one is the sewer, which means more homes can be added, Billington said.
Missouri Partners' first proposal called for about 1,500 homes — most of them on 560 acres the company had hoped Republic would annex. Another 266 home lots had been laid out for a county subdivision on 1,773 acres.
The new proposal calls for 2,400 living units, including some multifamily. Billington said all the multifamily units would be in the Republic annexation portion of the development, but he did not know how many units there would be, nor whether they would be apartments or townhouses. "The bulk of it will be single-family residences," he said.
Density will also increase in the county subdivision, where original plans called for an average lot size of 5.5 acres. Billington said the new plans reduce those lots to 1-3 acres.
Gary Haddock, Christian County's planning and zoning administrator, said the extension of sewer into the county subdivision would allow lots as small as a quarter-acre.
"If you don't have to worry about septic issues, it's just like a lot in town," Haddock said.
Sewer service also eliminates the need for a review from the Missouri Department of Natural of Resources. A DNR report from the old proposal, released earlier this month, had required all lots to be at least 4.9 acres to legally accommodate septic systems.
Governmental agencies, as well as neighbors, had previously voiced concerns that such a big development would seriously impact the area's roads, schools, wells and the rural quality of life.
Christian County Associate Commissioner Tom Chudomelka said the proposed higher density in the county subdivision would strain county resources, like law enforcement, road maintenance and fire protection, even more than the original proposal.
Christian County supports those services with sales taxes, not property taxes. Chudomelka said he believed most of Terrell Creek's residents would do their shopping in Republic.
Chudomelka's solution?
"I would hope everything would be within the city of Republic," he said.
Worries remain
Billington said he did not know whether the new plans called for extension of Republic municipal water lines into the county subdivision, or if it would be supplied by a community well.
Regardless of sewers and wells, Terrell Creek neighbor David Stokely is dubious of new plans for a high-density housing development.
"As from the beginning, there's still more questions than answers," Stokely said, adding that he was concerned about the impact 2,400 living units would have on roads."If they add 2,400 units and families, we're talking thousands of cars on these back roads," he said.
The changes also don't address concerns of officials with Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, located across Christian County ZZ from the proposed development. Terrell Creek includes an area they had hoped to protect: a former Confederate campground.
A press release issued Thursday by Missouri Partners stated meetings are being scheduled with battlefield officials.
Battlefield Superintendent Ted Hillmer said that was news to him but added he looked forward to working with Missouri Partners and other interested parties.
"It'll be a pleasure to work with all the other 'rogue' agencies that are working on the project," Hillmer said, using a word Redford had used March 3 to describe environmental and governmental agencies he viewed as a risk to pursuing the development.
Hillmer added he was surprised Missouri Partners had changed plans. "Honesty and integrity are very important to me," the superintendent said. "I was taking people for what they said. They said they were pulling off, and they were pulling back in."
Contact Jenny Fillmer at jfillmer @News-Leader.com.
-------------------------------------------------------
Battlefield conservation funds approved
03/11/2004
Brunswick (MD) Gazette
http://www.gazette.net/200411/brunswick/news/206550-1.html
On the heels of a report listing South Mountain State Battlefield as among the most endangered in the nation, the Maryland Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved $237,207 in state, federal and private funds to purchase conservation easements for two crucial parcels on the battlefield.
The board approved the easements for 36.6 acres on the battlefield that was listed last month on the national Civil War Preservation Trust's 10 most endangered battlefields.
The trust named the battlefield as endangered because of development pressures in the area.
The easement purchases means private citizens still own the land yet the state holds the rights to subdivide and develop the properties.
Of the total, about 25.6 acres known as the Wilson property was the headquarters of Union Gen. George McClellan and the Army of the Potomac's reserves artillery and supply wagons during the Battle of South Mountain in Sept. 1862, according to a statement from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The property may also be habitat for grassland breeding birds such as upland sandpiper, eastern meadowlark, grasshopper sparrow, verper sparrow, Savannah sparrow and American kestrel, the department said.
The second property, known as the Devine property, comprises about 11 acres that was the staging area of Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Corps during the battle at Turner's Gap, as well as a historic home that was used as a hospital during the war.
The state owns 2,500 acres on the battlefield and another 6,000 acres are under conservation easements owned by the state.
The Civil War Preservation Trust, the department's Program Open Space and the Maryland State Highway Administration's Transportation Enhancement Program supply funds for the easement purchases.
-------------------------------------------------------
TO REMOVE YOUR NAME from the Civil War News Roundup e-list, click on the reply button and type "remove" in the subject line of the message.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Campi, Policy and Communications Director
Civil War Preservation Trust
1331 H Street NW, Suite 1001
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 367-1861 ext. 205
Fax: (202) 367-1865
http://www.civilwar.org
http://www.chancellorsville.org