Civil war battlefield preservation grants announced
State grants will help protect 15 battlefields including Appomattox
(The following is taken from a Virginia Department of
Historic Resources news release:)
In what is fast becoming an eleventh-hour battle to preserve some of this
nation's most threatened hallowed ground in Virginia - from Chancellorsville
and Cold Harbor to Cedar Creek and Appomattox - the Commonwealth is providing
much needed ammunition to frontline organizations defending the state's Civil
War battlefields.
Drawing from a $5.2 million arsenal in the form of the Civil War Historic Site
Preservation Fund, established by the General Assembly in 2006, the Department
of Historic Resources is awarding 21 matching grants to save 1,571 acres of
land associated with 15 significant battles.
Two battlefields in Appomattox will benefit from these grants:
Appomattox Station is a 46-acre tract where in the final days of the war
in 1865, Union troops captured supply trains for Lee's army and scattered
Confederate defenders.
Appomattox Courthouse Battlefield includes two tracts totaling nearly 12
acres, adjacent to each other and contiguous with nearly 1,774-plus acres
already preserved by the National Park Service and the CWPT in the core
battlefield at Appomattox. In this final engagement of the war, on April 8,
1865 Gen. Robert E. Lee bivouacked near the village of Appomattox Courthouse,
while nearby Union troops converged. The last Confederate offensive on April 9
initially gained ground, but the arrival of Union infantry stopped the advance
and Lee found himself surrounded on three sides.
The Local Government Council managed the initial study of the Appomattox
battlefields for this process. "The acquisition of property for the
Appomattox Station will benefit the region by providing an additional tourism
destination that complements the existing civil war site," says Gary Christie,
Executive Director, Local Government Council.
If you have any questions, please contact Scott Smith at 434-845-3491 or at:
ssmith@region2000.org.