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Shenandoah County Entrusts Fisher’s Hill Property to SVBF
Transfer represents strong public-private partnership effort
For immediate release—August 23, 2007
Contact: Howard J. Kittell/SVBF Executive Director (540-740-4545)
NEW MARKET, Va.—Today the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and Shenandoah County announced the final transfer of 194 acres of county-owned battlefield land to the Foundation. The land—dubbed “Ramseur’s Hill”—lies at the western end of the Fisher’s Hill battlefield and is the site of the battle’s turning point, where Union troops overwhelmed Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur’s entrenched Confederate units, ultimately forcing the Southerners from nearby Fisher’s Hill. The transfer was completed in late July.
The project is the latest in an ongoing partnership between the Battlefields Foundation and Shenandoah County . In 2004 and 2005, the two entities collaborated along with local landowners on a preservation plan for the Fisher’s Hill and Tom’s Brook battlefields, which was endorsed by the Board of Supervisors in 2005. In 2001 the county and the Battlefields Foundation partnered in the Foundation’s first acquisition of battlefield land, also at Fisher’s Hill.
In March, the supervisors voted to convey the property to the Battlefields Foundation. During the board’s meeting, Supervisor Dennis Morris (Toms Brook) commented on the county’s partnership with the Battlefields Foundation.
“We have had a very close and good relationship with the Battlefields Foundation,” he said.
This week, county Board Chairman Dick Neese said, “The Board of Supervisors feels that the Battlefields Foundation can manage and use this property better than they can. The board wishes to preserve this as open space and not see it developed.”
Battlefields Foundation Board Chairman Irvin Hess thanked the county, saying, “We are grateful to Shenandoah County for its confidence in our ability to be conscientious stewards of this important property. Added to the three other properties the Foundation has acquired at Fisher’s Hill, this will enable us to further and better interpret this battlefield.”
Endorsing the transfer, Shenandoah County Historical Society President Barbara Adamson said, “The society is pleased that the county has transferred ownership of its property at Fisher’s Hill to the Battlefields Foundation. We want to see Shenandoah County do whatever is in its power to preserve historic properties and battlefield sites as envisioned in the county’s comprehensive plan and the Fisher’s Hill & Tom’s Brook Battlefields Preservation Plan.”
The Battle of Fisher’s Hill (22 September 1864) was one of the last major battles fought in the Shenandoah Valley . In the fall of 1864, Union commanders sent Gen. Philip H. Sheridan to the Valley to bring a final end to Southern control of the region. After delivering a crushing defeat at Winchester on 19 September, Sheridan faced Confederate Gen. Jubal Early just south of Strasburg at Fisher’s Hill, where the Valley is at its most narrow—indeed, the area was called the “ Gibraltar of the Valley.” Early’s diminished forces were unable to fully cover the Valley’s span and Sheridan ’s troops circled around the thinned Confederate lines at Ramseur’s Hill. Seeing that they had been flanked, the Southerners were forced into a hasty retreat.
In its 1992 survey of the Valley’s Civil War battlefields, the National Park Service noted the significance of the Battle of Fisher’s Hill.
“Confederate defeat at Fisher's Hill…opened the Shenandoah Valley to a advance that reached beyond Staunton ,” the report said. “When Sheridan withdrew during the first part of October, his army systematically burned mills, barns, crops, and forage, and ran off livestock. By implementing this strategy of “total warfare,”' Sheridan felt that he accomplished the primary objective of his campaign--to deprive the Confederacy of the agricultural abundance of the Valley.”
In the 1990s, the area where the Union flanking attack occurred was protected by the former Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites. A local organization—the Strasburg Guards—developed a walking trail and interpretation at the site. The land was eventually deeded to the county.
In addition to Ramseur’s Hill and its 2001 acquisition at Fisher’s Hill, the Foundation has preserved an additional 43 acres, including a portion of the Civil War-era alignment of the Valley Pike. The Battlefields Foundation also is in discussions with other landowners about protecting additional land at Fisher’s Hill.
Howard Kittell, Executive Director of the Foundation, reported that the Foundation will work with local organizations and landowners to create an interpretive plan for the battlefield that will connect protected sites on the battlefield and help visitors get a full understanding of the story of the battle.
“Last year our Board of Trustees agreed that Fisher’s Hill should become our model interpretive site,” he said. “We are deeply grateful to the Board of Supervisors, county staff, and the people of Fisher’s Hill for their interest and support in protecting and interpreting this amazing resource.”
In March, Morris expressed confidence in the Foundation’s stewardship abilities.
“(The Foundation) has quite a bit of property in the Fisher’s Hill area,” he said. “And I think this is another piece of the project down there. They have plans for Fisher’s Hill and I think we are putting this land in good hands. I am excited about working with them on future projects.”
Adamson echoed the sentiments voiced by Neese and Morris.
“In 2004 we were part of a coalition of citizens and organizations that sponsored the Fisher’s Hill veterans’ picnic and the county was very supportive of that event,” she said. “But they aren’t in the business of interpreting and maintaining battlefield sites. We’re confident that Foundation will be good stewards of this land and are pleased that the county recognizes this.”
Susie Hill , the county’s director of economic development and tourism, pointed to the opportunities presented by the battlefield.
“From a tourism perspective, this property is a diamond in the rough,” she said. “The story it has to tell is significant, and so much of the property is undisturbed. We look forward to working with the Battlefields Foundation in developing this as a premier stop in telling the Valley’s Civil War story.”
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As authorized by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation serves as the non-profit manager of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, partnering with local, regional, and national organizations and governments to preserve the Valley’s battlefields and interpret and promote the region’s Civil War story.
Created by Congress in 1996, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District encompasses Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties in Virginia and the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Winchester . The legislation authorizes federal funding for the protection of ten battlefields in the District: Second Winchester, Third Winchester, Second Kernstown, Cedar Creek, Fisher’s Hill, Tom’s Brook, New Market, Cross Keys, Port Republic , and McDowell.
Eric