Confederate Flag database available online
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 29, 2009
The Museum of the Confederacy's entire collection of 685 flags is available for the first time in a searchable database.
The non-profit Richmond museum says the collection can be found on the flag page of the museum's Web site at http://www.moc.org.
Each entry includes a flag's identification, history and measurements. Color photos are available for most of the flags.
The collection is housed in a 1,300-square foot facility.
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/CONGAT29_20090829-172402/289211/
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Battles in the West
Western front Civil War battles often overlooked
Published: June 30
By Derek Spellman
Scholars and historians say the Civil War on the Kansas-Missouri border, and the Civil War in the Ozarks, has been overlooked by outsiders and overshadowed by larger engagements in the East.
Yet they say this region was a unique crucible of conflict both before and during the Civil War.
Before the war, abolitionists and pro-slavery elements fought in Kansas and western Missouri.
“We are very rich in Civil War history,” said Connie Langum, a historian at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield at Republic.
Missouri
Including skirmishes, Missouri was host to 1,200 engagements during the Civil War — more than any other state except Virginia and Tennessee. Both sides sought the state in large part because of its central location and waterways.
At Newtonia, battles were fought in September 1862 and October 1864. American Indians fought on both sides during the first battle, according to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission.
A group of lawmakers sympathetic to the Confederacy even met in October 1861 in Neosho and voted for Missouri to secede, although the vote carried no legal weight.
The most significant battlefield in Southwest Missouri is Wilson’s Creek, where Union and Confederate forces squared off in August 1861. That battle saw about 2,330 casualties between both sides, including the death of Union Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, and was the first large battle west of the Mississippi River, according to the National Park Service.
Langum, the Wilson’s Creek historian, said Missouri saw something of its own conflict inside the larger Civil War. Guerrillas were “stirring up trouble throughout the war in this area” in actions that often were deadly, she said.
Neighbor did fight neighbor, she said, and brother did fight brother.
“It’s very personal here,” she said.
Arkansas
Wilson’s Creek is part of a triad of significant battles fought within the Ozarks.
The others are Pea Ridge — considered the battle that kept Missouri out of Confederate hands — and Prairie Grove. The Battle of Pea Ridge was fought in early March 1862, while Prairie Grove fighting took place in December 1862. Arkansas was a Confederate state.
Pea Ridge, in Benton County just south of the Missouri state line, saw thousands of casualties, mostly Confederate, and today the site is as close to its appearance in 1862 as any Civil War battlefield.
“I would venture to say that Pea Ridge is probably one of the best preserved battlefields left in the United States today,” said John Scott, superintendent of the Pea Ridge National Military Park.
Kansas
Kansas has several Civil War battlefield sites, including a cemetery in Baxter Springs where soldiers killed by Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill’s forces are buried.
The biggest battle in the state was fought in October 1864 along the banks of Mine Creek and featured one of the largest cavalry engagements of the war.
Fort Scott played its own role in the Civil War.
The Fort Scott National Historic Site consists of 20 structures, a parade ground and five acres of restored tallgrass prairie, according to the National Park Service.
Kelley Collins, the chief ranger at the site, said a number of people fleeing the fighting in places in Arkansas, for example, stopped at Fort Scott while en route to Fort Leavenworth or other places. Some stayed in Fort Scott.
http://www.rockwallheraldbanner.com/cnhins/local_story_181170648.html
Published: June 30
By Derek Spellman
Scholars and historians say the Civil War on the Kansas-Missouri border, and the Civil War in the Ozarks, has been overlooked by outsiders and overshadowed by larger engagements in the East.
Yet they say this region was a unique crucible of conflict both before and during the Civil War.
Before the war, abolitionists and pro-slavery elements fought in Kansas and western Missouri.
“We are very rich in Civil War history,” said Connie Langum, a historian at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield at Republic.
Missouri
Including skirmishes, Missouri was host to 1,200 engagements during the Civil War — more than any other state except Virginia and Tennessee. Both sides sought the state in large part because of its central location and waterways.
At Newtonia, battles were fought in September 1862 and October 1864. American Indians fought on both sides during the first battle, according to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission.
A group of lawmakers sympathetic to the Confederacy even met in October 1861 in Neosho and voted for Missouri to secede, although the vote carried no legal weight.
The most significant battlefield in Southwest Missouri is Wilson’s Creek, where Union and Confederate forces squared off in August 1861. That battle saw about 2,330 casualties between both sides, including the death of Union Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, and was the first large battle west of the Mississippi River, according to the National Park Service.
Langum, the Wilson’s Creek historian, said Missouri saw something of its own conflict inside the larger Civil War. Guerrillas were “stirring up trouble throughout the war in this area” in actions that often were deadly, she said.
Neighbor did fight neighbor, she said, and brother did fight brother.
“It’s very personal here,” she said.
Arkansas
Wilson’s Creek is part of a triad of significant battles fought within the Ozarks.
The others are Pea Ridge — considered the battle that kept Missouri out of Confederate hands — and Prairie Grove. The Battle of Pea Ridge was fought in early March 1862, while Prairie Grove fighting took place in December 1862. Arkansas was a Confederate state.
Pea Ridge, in Benton County just south of the Missouri state line, saw thousands of casualties, mostly Confederate, and today the site is as close to its appearance in 1862 as any Civil War battlefield.
“I would venture to say that Pea Ridge is probably one of the best preserved battlefields left in the United States today,” said John Scott, superintendent of the Pea Ridge National Military Park.
Kansas
Kansas has several Civil War battlefield sites, including a cemetery in Baxter Springs where soldiers killed by Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill’s forces are buried.
The biggest battle in the state was fought in October 1864 along the banks of Mine Creek and featured one of the largest cavalry engagements of the war.
Fort Scott played its own role in the Civil War.
The Fort Scott National Historic Site consists of 20 structures, a parade ground and five acres of restored tallgrass prairie, according to the National Park Service.
Kelley Collins, the chief ranger at the site, said a number of people fleeing the fighting in places in Arkansas, for example, stopped at Fort Scott while en route to Fort Leavenworth or other places. Some stayed in Fort Scott.
http://www.rockwallheraldbanner.com/cnhins/local_story_181170648.html
Friday, August 28, 2009
Florida Confederate Site Saved
Saving a Floridian Civil War site
By RON WORD The Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
CAMP MILTON - History and nature have combined in a little-known park which was once the major Confederate military base in north Florida near the end of the Civil War.
Children walk on a pathway through the woods at Camp Milton. In 1864, Camp Milton was a key Confederate installation aimed at blocking Union advances toward Baldwin, a supply center and rail head. Florida was a big supplier of cattle, salt and other goods to the Confederate army.
Although no major battles were fought on the grounds, Camp Milton served as a base for skirmishes between the 8,000 Confederate troops and 12,000 Union soldiers in Jacksonville, about a dozen miles to the east.
Soldiers and slaves had built massive wooden defenses.
Less than a decade ago, this 124-acre park on the far western edge of Jacksonville was destined to become a sludge dump, until city and state agencies stepped forward to purchase the land.
Now the park is home to towering pines, magnolias, saw palmettos and blackberries, plus foxes, bobcats, snakes, deer, armadillos, opossums and red-shouldered hawks.
Youngsters skipping down a boardwalk into the woods on a recent summer day to see the remains of earthworks built in 1864 were thrilled when they saw a small snake slithering up a tree.
Period re-enactors dressed in long, flowing dresses taught the children about life in Jacksonville in 1864, describing laundry, basket-weaving, spinning and toys. Some 1,750 children have visited the preserve this summer.
Dressed as a Union soldier in military wool from his underwear to his outer blouse, Michael Meek, 24, described the life of a soldier in the waning days of the Civil War near Jacksonville. Meek described his muzzle-loading rifle, complete with bayonet, to the children while they peppered him with questions.
"It's an honor to talk to the little kids about their history," said Meek, who has learned that he is descended from a Union soldier who spent time at Camp Milton.
Although Milton was built as a Confederate camp, Union forces from Jacksonville invaded and then abandoned Camp Milton four times before it closed in July 1864.
The camp was named for Florida's Civil War Gov. John Milton, who committed suicide on April 1, 1865, when he realized the South had lost the war.
Designed by Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, a specialist in defensive fortifications, the earthworks at Camp Milton were built of wood instead of coquina rock or brick.
"These things were very tough to build. You can imagine what these guys went through, the humidity and the heat," said Fred Singletary, an amateur historian and historical re-enactor.
The park is a mostly undiscovered jewel. There are no signs directing visitors from nearby Interstate 10 and it is not advertised in city tourism brochures.
Each year in February, the park holds a re-enactment of the events leading up to the Battle of Olustee with soldiers and women dressed in period garments.
The fact that the Camp Milton Historical Preserve exists is a testament to the work of amateur historians and sympathetic city and state lawmakers.
Their dreams came to fruition in September 2006, when Camp Milton opened to the public.
But there are other Civil War locations across the South, including some in north Florida, which are being lost to development.
"We believe that the ultimate fate of nearly all Civil War battlefield land will be decided in the next decade," said Jim Campi, a spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust.
Camp Milton was saved using a combination of about $1.7 million in city and state matching grants to purchase land and fund amenities.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090819/ARTICLE/908191040
By RON WORD The Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
CAMP MILTON - History and nature have combined in a little-known park which was once the major Confederate military base in north Florida near the end of the Civil War.
Children walk on a pathway through the woods at Camp Milton. In 1864, Camp Milton was a key Confederate installation aimed at blocking Union advances toward Baldwin, a supply center and rail head. Florida was a big supplier of cattle, salt and other goods to the Confederate army.
Although no major battles were fought on the grounds, Camp Milton served as a base for skirmishes between the 8,000 Confederate troops and 12,000 Union soldiers in Jacksonville, about a dozen miles to the east.
Soldiers and slaves had built massive wooden defenses.
Less than a decade ago, this 124-acre park on the far western edge of Jacksonville was destined to become a sludge dump, until city and state agencies stepped forward to purchase the land.
Now the park is home to towering pines, magnolias, saw palmettos and blackberries, plus foxes, bobcats, snakes, deer, armadillos, opossums and red-shouldered hawks.
Youngsters skipping down a boardwalk into the woods on a recent summer day to see the remains of earthworks built in 1864 were thrilled when they saw a small snake slithering up a tree.
Period re-enactors dressed in long, flowing dresses taught the children about life in Jacksonville in 1864, describing laundry, basket-weaving, spinning and toys. Some 1,750 children have visited the preserve this summer.
Dressed as a Union soldier in military wool from his underwear to his outer blouse, Michael Meek, 24, described the life of a soldier in the waning days of the Civil War near Jacksonville. Meek described his muzzle-loading rifle, complete with bayonet, to the children while they peppered him with questions.
"It's an honor to talk to the little kids about their history," said Meek, who has learned that he is descended from a Union soldier who spent time at Camp Milton.
Although Milton was built as a Confederate camp, Union forces from Jacksonville invaded and then abandoned Camp Milton four times before it closed in July 1864.
The camp was named for Florida's Civil War Gov. John Milton, who committed suicide on April 1, 1865, when he realized the South had lost the war.
Designed by Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, a specialist in defensive fortifications, the earthworks at Camp Milton were built of wood instead of coquina rock or brick.
"These things were very tough to build. You can imagine what these guys went through, the humidity and the heat," said Fred Singletary, an amateur historian and historical re-enactor.
The park is a mostly undiscovered jewel. There are no signs directing visitors from nearby Interstate 10 and it is not advertised in city tourism brochures.
Each year in February, the park holds a re-enactment of the events leading up to the Battle of Olustee with soldiers and women dressed in period garments.
The fact that the Camp Milton Historical Preserve exists is a testament to the work of amateur historians and sympathetic city and state lawmakers.
Their dreams came to fruition in September 2006, when Camp Milton opened to the public.
But there are other Civil War locations across the South, including some in north Florida, which are being lost to development.
"We believe that the ultimate fate of nearly all Civil War battlefield land will be decided in the next decade," said Jim Campi, a spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust.
Camp Milton was saved using a combination of about $1.7 million in city and state matching grants to purchase land and fund amenities.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090819/ARTICLE/908191040
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Franklin Battle Sites Merge Operations
Historic Franklin battle sites to merge operations
By Kevin Walters
THE TENNESSEAN
August 23, 2009
FRANKLIN — Franklin's two best-known house museums share a common history in the Battle of Franklin.
Now, Carnton Plantation and the Carter House will share one group to oversee both their operations and their budgets.
Named the Battle of Franklin Trust, the new board is comprised of members from each nonprofit's separate boards who will have authority over both sites' operations and budgets. That totals about $800,000.
Marianne Schroer, president of Carnton's board, said the new arrangement should improve visits for tourists, streamline operations and add muscle to both groups' future fund-raising, including an interpretive center planned near the Carter House.
"We would like to work together so that when a tourist comes to Franklin they see both sites and they have a total experience," Schroer said. "They'll spend five days here, instead of one afternoon."
During the Battle of Franklin on Nov. 30, 1864, the Carter House was the scene of some of the day's most horrific fighting as Union and Confederate forces fought on Columbia Avenue.
After the fighting, Carnton Plantation was used as a field hospital for the wounded. A Confederate cemetery is adjacent to the plantation.
Transitions continue
The creation of the new board continues transitions begun at each site last year.
Last summer, Williamson County tourism officials asked Asheville, N.C.-based consulting firm Magellan Strategy Group to meet with both sites' boards. From that work, the idea to start a new, separate board sprang.
The Battle of Franklin Trust is an 11-member board comprised of five members from each group, with an 11th member selected by the board.
Meantime, both sites' longtime executive directors resigned separately; no new permanent executive directors have been chosen to lead them.
The new trust will next conduct a national search to pick one new executive director to oversee both museums' operations.
"It will take as long as it needs to take," said J.T. Thompson, a trust board member who also owns the Lotz House Museum across Columbia Avenue from Carter House. "In a perfect world, I would like to see someone in place by Jan. 1."
For the time being, historian and Carnton staffer Eric Jacobson will serve as the plantation's new interim director after former Carnton interim executive director Margie Thessin stepped down last week to pursue other interests.
"I think she's done a fabulous job," Jacobson said. "The board asked me to do it through this transition."
David Fraley has been the Carter House's interim executive director since last summer after Thomas Cartwright resigned as executive director.
Early opinions about the changes have been positive so far.
"I think it is a wonderful thing for both sites," Jacobson said. "I think it's a wonderful thing for the story. I think it offers much more consistency."
Jim Vaillancourt, senior consultant for the Center for Nonprofit Management, said consolidating the operations gives more traction for long-term projects such as the Carter House's proposed $4.5 million interpretative center.
Vaillancourt worked with the museums' boards to finalize the new arrangement.
"It's more likely that the two boards working together will raise the capital rather than on their own," Vaillancourt said.
The center has a $1.2 million state grant for the project.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200908230210/COUNTY090101/908230325
By Kevin Walters
THE TENNESSEAN
August 23, 2009
FRANKLIN — Franklin's two best-known house museums share a common history in the Battle of Franklin.
Now, Carnton Plantation and the Carter House will share one group to oversee both their operations and their budgets.
Named the Battle of Franklin Trust, the new board is comprised of members from each nonprofit's separate boards who will have authority over both sites' operations and budgets. That totals about $800,000.
Marianne Schroer, president of Carnton's board, said the new arrangement should improve visits for tourists, streamline operations and add muscle to both groups' future fund-raising, including an interpretive center planned near the Carter House.
"We would like to work together so that when a tourist comes to Franklin they see both sites and they have a total experience," Schroer said. "They'll spend five days here, instead of one afternoon."
During the Battle of Franklin on Nov. 30, 1864, the Carter House was the scene of some of the day's most horrific fighting as Union and Confederate forces fought on Columbia Avenue.
After the fighting, Carnton Plantation was used as a field hospital for the wounded. A Confederate cemetery is adjacent to the plantation.
Transitions continue
The creation of the new board continues transitions begun at each site last year.
Last summer, Williamson County tourism officials asked Asheville, N.C.-based consulting firm Magellan Strategy Group to meet with both sites' boards. From that work, the idea to start a new, separate board sprang.
The Battle of Franklin Trust is an 11-member board comprised of five members from each group, with an 11th member selected by the board.
Meantime, both sites' longtime executive directors resigned separately; no new permanent executive directors have been chosen to lead them.
The new trust will next conduct a national search to pick one new executive director to oversee both museums' operations.
"It will take as long as it needs to take," said J.T. Thompson, a trust board member who also owns the Lotz House Museum across Columbia Avenue from Carter House. "In a perfect world, I would like to see someone in place by Jan. 1."
For the time being, historian and Carnton staffer Eric Jacobson will serve as the plantation's new interim director after former Carnton interim executive director Margie Thessin stepped down last week to pursue other interests.
"I think she's done a fabulous job," Jacobson said. "The board asked me to do it through this transition."
David Fraley has been the Carter House's interim executive director since last summer after Thomas Cartwright resigned as executive director.
Early opinions about the changes have been positive so far.
"I think it is a wonderful thing for both sites," Jacobson said. "I think it's a wonderful thing for the story. I think it offers much more consistency."
Jim Vaillancourt, senior consultant for the Center for Nonprofit Management, said consolidating the operations gives more traction for long-term projects such as the Carter House's proposed $4.5 million interpretative center.
Vaillancourt worked with the museums' boards to finalize the new arrangement.
"It's more likely that the two boards working together will raise the capital rather than on their own," Vaillancourt said.
The center has a $1.2 million state grant for the project.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200908230210/COUNTY090101/908230325
Opponents of Walmart Fight to Save Wildneress Battlefield
OPPONENTS SPEAK
Preservation groups vow to continue fight against Wilderness Walmart despite Orange supervisors' decision
Date published: 8/26/2009
By CLINT SCHEMMER
Preservationists are dismayed by Orange County's approval of the Wilderness Walmart retail center, but aren't conceding defeat.
A national coalition of heritage groups will continue appealing to the retail giant to find an Orange site for its Supercenter that's farther from the Wilderness battlefield. The store site is a quarter-mile from Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
"The ball is now in Walmart's court," James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust, said yesterday. "Walmart better understands the nationwide anger generated by its proposal to build on the doorstep of a national park.
"It is in the corporation's best interests to work with the preservation community to find an alternative site. We are optimistic that company officials will see the wisdom of moving elsewhere."
But Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris ruled that out.
"It's clear that the public has spoken and there is considerable support for the store at the site," he said. "We would like to continue our open dialogue with these groups, but they appear to have other motives."
Calling the Walmart plan "misguided," Lighthizer said the trust and the other members of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition will weigh all options for continuing their campaign.
"This battle is not over yet," he said.
The coalition was joined in its opposition to the Walmart by 253 of the nation's top historians, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, Congressmen Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Peter Welch, D-Vt., the Vermont Legislature, Pulitzer prize-winning authors David McCullough and James McPherson, and TV documentarian Ken Burns.
Asked yesterday whether legal action is now likely, coalition leaders declined to speculate.
But the coalition will be "keeping up the drumbeat of opposition" to the project, said Jim Campi, the Civil War Preservation Trust's director of public policy. He noted that in battlefield controversies elsewhere, preservationists have proven to be tenacious.
"At Brandy Station in Culpeper County, we lost every zoning vote against an industrial park and a Formula One racetrack," Campi said. "But ultimately, we prevailed, and that battlefield is preserved. We're in this for the long haul."
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/082009/08262009/489308
Preservation groups vow to continue fight against Wilderness Walmart despite Orange supervisors' decision
Date published: 8/26/2009
By CLINT SCHEMMER
Preservationists are dismayed by Orange County's approval of the Wilderness Walmart retail center, but aren't conceding defeat.
A national coalition of heritage groups will continue appealing to the retail giant to find an Orange site for its Supercenter that's farther from the Wilderness battlefield. The store site is a quarter-mile from Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
"The ball is now in Walmart's court," James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust, said yesterday. "Walmart better understands the nationwide anger generated by its proposal to build on the doorstep of a national park.
"It is in the corporation's best interests to work with the preservation community to find an alternative site. We are optimistic that company officials will see the wisdom of moving elsewhere."
But Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris ruled that out.
"It's clear that the public has spoken and there is considerable support for the store at the site," he said. "We would like to continue our open dialogue with these groups, but they appear to have other motives."
Calling the Walmart plan "misguided," Lighthizer said the trust and the other members of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition will weigh all options for continuing their campaign.
"This battle is not over yet," he said.
The coalition was joined in its opposition to the Walmart by 253 of the nation's top historians, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, Congressmen Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Peter Welch, D-Vt., the Vermont Legislature, Pulitzer prize-winning authors David McCullough and James McPherson, and TV documentarian Ken Burns.
Asked yesterday whether legal action is now likely, coalition leaders declined to speculate.
But the coalition will be "keeping up the drumbeat of opposition" to the project, said Jim Campi, the Civil War Preservation Trust's director of public policy. He noted that in battlefield controversies elsewhere, preservationists have proven to be tenacious.
"At Brandy Station in Culpeper County, we lost every zoning vote against an industrial park and a Formula One racetrack," Campi said. "But ultimately, we prevailed, and that battlefield is preserved. We're in this for the long haul."
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/082009/08262009/489308
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Walmart to Build Near the Wilderness
Officials OK Walmart near VA Battlefield
Walmart near Civil War's Wilderness Battlefield wins final approval in central Virginia
By Steve Szkotak, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday August 25
ORANGE, Va. (AP) -- Officials in central Virginia approved a Walmart Supercenter early Tuesday near one of the nation's most important Civil War battlefields, a proposal that had stirred opposition by preservationists and hundreds of historians.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to grant the special permit to the world's biggest retailer after a majority of more than 100 speakers said they favored bringing the Walmart to Locust Grove, within a cannonball's shot from the Wilderness Battlefield.
Historians and Civil War buffs are fearful the Walmart store will draw traffic and more commerce to an area within the historic boundaries of the Wilderness, where generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee first met in battle 145 years ago and where 145,000 Union and Confederate soldiers fought and more than 29,000 were killed or injured. One-fourth of the Wilderness is protected.
But they could not sway supervisors, who said they didn't see the threat.
"I cannot see how there will be any visual impact to the Wilderness Battlefield," Supervisor Chairman Lee Frame said, casting a vote for the special use permit the retailer needs to build. "I think the current proposal ... is the best way to protect the battlefield."
The retailer said construction could begin in a year.
Nearly 400 people crowded into Orange County High School to attend the board's hearing. Some came dressed in period costume, including a dead ringer for Lee.
Many residents cited three reasons for supporting the Walmart proposal: jobs, tax revenue and a cheap shopping option for the 32,000 residents of this farming community about 60 miles southwest of Washington.
"I know we've been referred to as ignorant shoppers," said Barbara Wigger. "I feel bad about that but I'll live with it. Let us have our Walmart and let us stop the battle."
Speakers who urged the board to reject the special permit said they were not anti-Walmart, but simply worried about the sanctity of the battlefield.
"This is a major battlefield," said Charles Seilheimer Jr. "It may not be Gettysburg but it's pretty close. The Civil War experts say this is part of the battlefield. I believe them."
In a state with more key Civil War battlefields than any other, the company's plan to build near the Wilderness had mobilized historians, preservationists and politicians.
Opponents included 253 historians such as David McCullough and James M. McPherson, filmmaker Ken Burns, actor Robert Duvall, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, and congressmen from Vermont and Texas, states that lost many men at the Wilderness.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has 8,000 stores worldwide and adds about 240 each year, countered that the site is zoned for commercial use and the store will not be within sight of the battlefield's 2,700 protected acres. The retailer has also said the store will create hundreds of jobs and generate $800,000 in tax revenue for Orange County.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Officials-OK-Walmart-near-Va-apf-4279596914.html?x=0&.v=1
Walmart near Civil War's Wilderness Battlefield wins final approval in central Virginia
By Steve Szkotak, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday August 25
ORANGE, Va. (AP) -- Officials in central Virginia approved a Walmart Supercenter early Tuesday near one of the nation's most important Civil War battlefields, a proposal that had stirred opposition by preservationists and hundreds of historians.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to grant the special permit to the world's biggest retailer after a majority of more than 100 speakers said they favored bringing the Walmart to Locust Grove, within a cannonball's shot from the Wilderness Battlefield.
Historians and Civil War buffs are fearful the Walmart store will draw traffic and more commerce to an area within the historic boundaries of the Wilderness, where generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee first met in battle 145 years ago and where 145,000 Union and Confederate soldiers fought and more than 29,000 were killed or injured. One-fourth of the Wilderness is protected.
But they could not sway supervisors, who said they didn't see the threat.
"I cannot see how there will be any visual impact to the Wilderness Battlefield," Supervisor Chairman Lee Frame said, casting a vote for the special use permit the retailer needs to build. "I think the current proposal ... is the best way to protect the battlefield."
The retailer said construction could begin in a year.
Nearly 400 people crowded into Orange County High School to attend the board's hearing. Some came dressed in period costume, including a dead ringer for Lee.
Many residents cited three reasons for supporting the Walmart proposal: jobs, tax revenue and a cheap shopping option for the 32,000 residents of this farming community about 60 miles southwest of Washington.
"I know we've been referred to as ignorant shoppers," said Barbara Wigger. "I feel bad about that but I'll live with it. Let us have our Walmart and let us stop the battle."
Speakers who urged the board to reject the special permit said they were not anti-Walmart, but simply worried about the sanctity of the battlefield.
"This is a major battlefield," said Charles Seilheimer Jr. "It may not be Gettysburg but it's pretty close. The Civil War experts say this is part of the battlefield. I believe them."
In a state with more key Civil War battlefields than any other, the company's plan to build near the Wilderness had mobilized historians, preservationists and politicians.
Opponents included 253 historians such as David McCullough and James M. McPherson, filmmaker Ken Burns, actor Robert Duvall, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, and congressmen from Vermont and Texas, states that lost many men at the Wilderness.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has 8,000 stores worldwide and adds about 240 each year, countered that the site is zoned for commercial use and the store will not be within sight of the battlefield's 2,700 protected acres. The retailer has also said the store will create hundreds of jobs and generate $800,000 in tax revenue for Orange County.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Officials-OK-Walmart-near-Va-apf-4279596914.html?x=0&.v=1
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sesquicentennial in South Carolina
Battle joined for tourist $$
Weak economy makes it tough for state to get ready
By Brian Hicks
The Post and Courier
Monday, August 24, 2009
Every day, Charleston honors, idealizes and trades on its key role in what many locals refer to as The War.
Not only are old times here not forgotten -- they're profitable.
But now, as the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaches, just about every state in the old Confederacy is trying to horn in on what is one of South Carolina's biggest tourism draws.
Georgia plans to spend $5 million refurbishing its battlefields and historic sites. Virginia has put $4 million into its sesquicentennial tourism campaign. Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama and even Maryland have started heritage events.
In South Carolina, more than a dozen public agencies and private boards and groups are working on plans for five years' worth of events to mark everything from the state's secession to the firing on Fort Sumter and the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Charleston. The state has set up a War Between the States Heritage Trust Commission, but it has not yet met.
So far, South Carolina has put no money into any of these efforts.
"I hope we don't let other states surpass us," said Randy Burbage, South Carolina division commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "It could be a huge economic success, if we do it right."
State officials say it's still early and money could materialize, but it's a tough sell in a world of budget cuts, layoffs and record-high unemployment.
For now, local groups are handling most of the planning. The Fort Sumter/Fort Moultrie Trust is coordinating local events for the sesquicentennial. Right now, there are plans for a December 2010 event at The Citadel which will recall the state's secession with lectures from leading war scholars.
Like most states, South Carolina's plans are meant to be inclusive and touch every demographic. There are plans for exhibits on the role of women in the war, the plight of African-Americans and the ways that the war manifested itself in art and music.
"This is a commemoration, not a celebration," said Robert Rosen, a local attorney and president of The Fort Sumter/Fort Moultrie Trust. "We need to remember it in ways that are positive for all parts of the community."
Charleston is a natural focal point for the war's anniversary. South Carolina seceded from the Union in December 1860 in a meeting that took place in the city. Shots were fired on the Star of the West steamship by Citadel cadets in January 1861, and the war began with the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861. Charleston fell and Columbia was burned in the early months of 1865, just before the war ended that April.
Already, a good number of the tourists who visit Charleston come for that history. At the Confederate Museum in the Market, director June Murray Wells says there has been a steady increase in visitors over the past few years. They flock to the museum, where they can find some of the most amazing artifacts of the war in this city: the first Confederate flag to fly over Fort Sumter, the first rifled cannon made in the south, a lock of Robert E. Lee's hair.
"I think we are having more people now than ever before," Wells said. "I don't think the sesquicentennial will have very much effect."
The museum will offer special exhibits during the five years of the anniversary, but is not coordinating with other groups. Many other agencies also are acting solo but expect the state commission to put them under one umbrella to better market the state. Most events are still in the planning stage; specific dates are not set. State officials note that South Carolina is a year away from the budget that would include money for tourism campaigns.
"People are just beginning to wake up to the fact that it's a year away," said Marion Edmonds, communications director for the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
State Sen. Glenn McConnell, president pro tem of the Senate and chairman of the state Hunley Commission, said South Carolina's budget has been too tight of late to include any money for a marketing campaign. But there may be ways to benefit the state's commemoration in the coming legislative session. Perhaps, he said, the Legislature could direct some of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism marketing budget toward anniversary events.
"The only way to make a case for that is to show that it's advantageous for the state," McConnell said. "Put aside historical arguments, we have an opportunity to out-perform other states for a great many tourism dollars. Interest is going to be very high for five years, and we've got to look for ways to leverage that for economic development."
In the meantime, Rosen said the Fort Sumter/Fort Moultrie Trust will ask Charleston, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant for some accommodations tax money to help pay for some events.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans plans to contribute to the state's efforts of their own accord. Right now the group is working on a brochure that will direct folks to significant historical sites in each South Carolina county. The group will also sponsor its own seminar in January 2011 on the legalities of secession and plans to release information on where each of the 170 signers of the Ordinance of Secession are buried.
The group also will coordinate re-enactors who will camp at Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in the days leading up to the firing on the fort, but members aren't sure they will be able to pull off a re-enactment of the actual bombardment.
But Burbage says once again, South Carolina will be home to a shot heard 'round the world.
"It's such a part of our history," he says, "We can't let it pass by."
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/aug/24/battle-joined-for-tourist/
Weak economy makes it tough for state to get ready
By Brian Hicks
The Post and Courier
Monday, August 24, 2009
Every day, Charleston honors, idealizes and trades on its key role in what many locals refer to as The War.
Not only are old times here not forgotten -- they're profitable.
But now, as the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaches, just about every state in the old Confederacy is trying to horn in on what is one of South Carolina's biggest tourism draws.
Georgia plans to spend $5 million refurbishing its battlefields and historic sites. Virginia has put $4 million into its sesquicentennial tourism campaign. Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama and even Maryland have started heritage events.
In South Carolina, more than a dozen public agencies and private boards and groups are working on plans for five years' worth of events to mark everything from the state's secession to the firing on Fort Sumter and the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Charleston. The state has set up a War Between the States Heritage Trust Commission, but it has not yet met.
So far, South Carolina has put no money into any of these efforts.
"I hope we don't let other states surpass us," said Randy Burbage, South Carolina division commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "It could be a huge economic success, if we do it right."
State officials say it's still early and money could materialize, but it's a tough sell in a world of budget cuts, layoffs and record-high unemployment.
For now, local groups are handling most of the planning. The Fort Sumter/Fort Moultrie Trust is coordinating local events for the sesquicentennial. Right now, there are plans for a December 2010 event at The Citadel which will recall the state's secession with lectures from leading war scholars.
Like most states, South Carolina's plans are meant to be inclusive and touch every demographic. There are plans for exhibits on the role of women in the war, the plight of African-Americans and the ways that the war manifested itself in art and music.
"This is a commemoration, not a celebration," said Robert Rosen, a local attorney and president of The Fort Sumter/Fort Moultrie Trust. "We need to remember it in ways that are positive for all parts of the community."
Charleston is a natural focal point for the war's anniversary. South Carolina seceded from the Union in December 1860 in a meeting that took place in the city. Shots were fired on the Star of the West steamship by Citadel cadets in January 1861, and the war began with the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861. Charleston fell and Columbia was burned in the early months of 1865, just before the war ended that April.
Already, a good number of the tourists who visit Charleston come for that history. At the Confederate Museum in the Market, director June Murray Wells says there has been a steady increase in visitors over the past few years. They flock to the museum, where they can find some of the most amazing artifacts of the war in this city: the first Confederate flag to fly over Fort Sumter, the first rifled cannon made in the south, a lock of Robert E. Lee's hair.
"I think we are having more people now than ever before," Wells said. "I don't think the sesquicentennial will have very much effect."
The museum will offer special exhibits during the five years of the anniversary, but is not coordinating with other groups. Many other agencies also are acting solo but expect the state commission to put them under one umbrella to better market the state. Most events are still in the planning stage; specific dates are not set. State officials note that South Carolina is a year away from the budget that would include money for tourism campaigns.
"People are just beginning to wake up to the fact that it's a year away," said Marion Edmonds, communications director for the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
State Sen. Glenn McConnell, president pro tem of the Senate and chairman of the state Hunley Commission, said South Carolina's budget has been too tight of late to include any money for a marketing campaign. But there may be ways to benefit the state's commemoration in the coming legislative session. Perhaps, he said, the Legislature could direct some of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism marketing budget toward anniversary events.
"The only way to make a case for that is to show that it's advantageous for the state," McConnell said. "Put aside historical arguments, we have an opportunity to out-perform other states for a great many tourism dollars. Interest is going to be very high for five years, and we've got to look for ways to leverage that for economic development."
In the meantime, Rosen said the Fort Sumter/Fort Moultrie Trust will ask Charleston, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant for some accommodations tax money to help pay for some events.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans plans to contribute to the state's efforts of their own accord. Right now the group is working on a brochure that will direct folks to significant historical sites in each South Carolina county. The group will also sponsor its own seminar in January 2011 on the legalities of secession and plans to release information on where each of the 170 signers of the Ordinance of Secession are buried.
The group also will coordinate re-enactors who will camp at Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in the days leading up to the firing on the fort, but members aren't sure they will be able to pull off a re-enactment of the actual bombardment.
But Burbage says once again, South Carolina will be home to a shot heard 'round the world.
"It's such a part of our history," he says, "We can't let it pass by."
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/aug/24/battle-joined-for-tourist/
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