For years, I’ve argued with people about Nathan Bedford Forrest. I have some extremely strong opinions about where Forrest falls in the pantheon of Civil War cavalrymen. I’ve elaborated on the issue at length here in one of my first posts on this blog. Suffice it to say that, in spite of the abuse heaped on me by the Forrest worshippers, I don’t think much of him as a cavalryman, but I admire his ability commanding mounted infantry. Thus, in my opinion, one cannot even consider Forrest a cavalryman, meaning he does not rank in my world.

In addition, I’ve always been known as an Eastern Theater guy, and I probably always will be, simply because the Eastern Theater is what interests me the most. At the same time, my friend Greg Biggs has been after me for years to do something with Western Theater cavalry, so I’ve decided to meet Greg’s challenge. The Battle of Brice’s Crossroads is generally considered to be Forrest’s greatest victory, and even though the victory at Brice’s Crossroads really had no strategic importance to speak of, it featured one of the few documented instances of a smaller force defeating a larger one by successfully executing a double envelopment. That makes it tactically interesting.

Also, I ordered the last copy of Ed Bearss’ classic Forrest at Brice’s Cross Roads and in north Mississippi in 1864 in inventory with the publisher, Morningside, yesterday. That means that the book is officially and permanently out of print, as Morningside has no intention of reprinting it. There are only three used copies for sale on the Internet, meaning that it’s few and far between. Ed’s book is the only work devoted entirely to the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads published, and it’s now out of print. This means that the battle is ripe for a new tactical treatment, and it should sell well.

So, I’m going to tackle it. Researching and writing about these fights is how I learn, and I’m looking forward to learning about this battle, and to spending time on the battlefield. Perhaps I may even end up changing my opinion of Forrest as a result. I’m intent on keeping my personal biases against Forrest from clouding my analysis of this fight, and I think I can do so. I’m looking to make my first visit to the battlefield in September.

Master cartographer Steve Stanley has agreed to do the maps for the book, which means it will have superb maps. I also intend to include a walking/driving tour with GPS coordinates. I will keep everyone posted as to my progress with this. Two of my projects with J.D. come first: our study of Jubal Early’s raid on Washington in 1864, and completing the first volume of our three-volume study of cavalry operations in the Gettysburg Campaign, so don’t look for this any time soon. I’m only just getting starting researching, and I have a lot to learn about this battle.

I owe a special tip of the hat to fellow blogger Paul Taylor, as his recent visit to Brice’s Crossroads with his son, and his description of it, is what got me interested in pursuing this project. I also owe Paul a special and public thank you for the Brice’s Crossroads and Shiloh pins that he sent along. Thanks, Paul: both for the idea to pursue this Brice’s Crossroads project, and also for the pins, which have found a home on CWPT hat.

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You are never going to become successful on TokTok if you remain a lurker, watching other peoples’ videos, possibly even leaving comments, but never uploading your original material.

You will never be more than an also-ran, however, if you limit yourself to uploading bog-standard lip-synch videos, either. Sure, that’s fine for generally-untalented teenagers, just wanting to be part of the crowd, along with their real-life friends. But it is incredibly limiting to your online social success.

If you have any talent in your niche and even a fraction of confidence, make an effort to produce original videos. TikTpk’s young audience probably don’t require that you have hidden depths of technical expertise, but they do expect you to at least make an effort if they are going to bother to follow you, check this link for more info.

If you look at the list of successful TikTok accounts, you will see that the vast bulk of them made their name by uploading original, exciting videos that appealed to a sizable group of TikTok’s users.

Aamir Kamal claims that it is essential to look attractive in your videos. Now, being “attractive’ Is very much subjective, and you shouldn’t try to be somebody who you aren’t. But you should come across as the best version fo yourself in your videos (unless, perhaps, you make comedy videos and you are the victim of your own jokes).

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I’ve mentioned previously that I’m one of the tour leaders for Ted Alexander’s Mother of All Gettysburg Seminars, to be held in Chambersburg from July 23-27.

On Thursday, July 24, JD and I are scheduled to lead a day-long tour of some of the sites associated with Jeb Stuart’s ride during the Gettysburg Campaign. Ted called me last night to let me know that about 70 people have registered for the weekend so far and that seats for our tour are filling up fast. It appears that we will be conducting the tour in a 15-passenger van, and about 12 of those seats are already spoken for. Consequently, if you have an interest in going on this tour with us, I recommend that you move quickly while there are still some seats available on the van.

Hurry, and we will see you in Chambersburg.

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The other day, I received a letter that informed me that the Nominating Committee of the newly-formed Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation had chosen me for a three-year term as one of the founding voting trustees of the Foundation. Given that I wasn’t even aware that the Foundation had been formed, it came as quite a wonderful surprise, and I immediately accepted the invitation.

The Foundation is apparently an arm of the Ohio Historical Society, as the letter came in an OHS envelope, and as the Foundation will be maintaining its office at the OHS facility here in Columbus. OHS owns a miserable little four acre parcel of land on the battlefield that features a reproduction of an Indian burial mound, a monument to the battle, and a couple of interpretive markers, and that’s all of the battlefield that’s been preserved. The rest of the battlefield is in private hands, and a big chunk of it is owned (and has been so owned for decades) by a sand and gravel company that has been working on getting the necessary permits to dig up the battlefield for years.

Buffington Island is an interesting fight for a lot of reasons. First, and foremost, it’s Ohio’s only significant Civil War battlefield. For another, two future U.S. Presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley were present at the battle. Also, nearly 5,000 cavalrymen slugged it out here on a large and fluid battlefield that led to the surrender of a significant portion of John Hunt Morgan’s command, including his brother-in-law, Col. Basil W. Duke. Next, there was significant involvement by the U.S. Navy’s Mississippi Squadron in the form of several river gunboats that helped to block the Ohio River fords and make it impossible for Morgan to cross. Finally, more than 100 men were killed in this battle, and approximately 50 Confederate dead remain buried on the battlefield in unmarked graves.

I’ve been involved in the fight to try to preserve this battle for more than a decade, since the sand and gravel company first got serious about getting permits. Here’s a link to a piece on the battle that I wrote years ago (you can get a sense of how old it is by the fact that George Voinovich was still Governor of Ohio and John Glenn was still in the Senate). It’s short and not my best work, but it gives a sense of the battle and preservation fight.

From my perspective, I’m not only honored to have been selected, I’m tickled that some semi-official body associated with the State of Ohio has finally decided to get on board with the idea of preserving this State’s only significant Civil War battlefield. My frustration with the utter lack of any concern about the upcoming sesquicentennial of the Civil War has already been documented here, so I’m hoping that the fact that OHS is involved means that somebody will actually pay attention this time.

I will keep you posted of our progress as the organization begins to coalesce. I’m guessing that our first board meeting will be held in the next sixty days, so I will report back then.

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This was one of the worst days I’ve had in about as long as I can remember. As I sit here, I feel completely violated. My world has been invaded, and I’m not sure that it will ever quite be the same again.

As a sole practitioner, my entire world, everything associated with the operation of my business, is based in the computer that I use at the office. My time and billing software, my accounting software, my case management software, and, of course, my client files, are the lifeblood of how I operate.

My office is at the end of a building in an office condominium complex. The office backs up to a stand of trees that divides the office park from residential properties. It’s an extremely secluded spot, and it has, apparently, been just begging to be taken advantage of by some adventurous miserable prick. And, although I never really considered it until today, the building has no security system. In retrospect, that should have been a big concern for me, but it just never crossed my mind.

When I walked into my office today, the first thing that I noticed was that the torchiere in the corner was on, which it should not have been. I turned it off when I left yesterday. And then I noticed that the window was gone, and that there was a sixty pound rock, and lots of broken glass on the floor next to my desk. Then I looked at my credenza, and came to the horrifying realization that my computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and expensive JBL Creature 2 speakers, as well as all of the associated cables, were all gone. My printer was still there, but it was turned up on end so that the fuckers could pull the printer cable out and take it.

My whole business is gone. And with the crazy schedule that I’ve been keeping, I hadn’t had an opportunity to do a back-up in a couple of months. I lost my entire billing database and have no copies at all of the invoices I sent out yesterday, since I don’t keep hard copies, but rather save them on the computer as a PDF file. I have been having to contact clients to get them to get copies of the invoices that went out yesterday to me so that I can rebuild the database and so I know what their account balances are. I generally know what they are, but I surely don’t know the specific dollar amounts.

So far, I’m out about $200 to buy a keyboard, mouse, printer cable and a low-end set of speakers for my laptop. I still need to acquire a monitor and a new printer, since my present printer does not have a Mac driver and is not compatible with my MacBook. I will have to buy those over the weekend. That doesn’t count what I’m going to have to pay the consultant to come back in and set up my billing and practice management programs for me. It also cost me half a day of productive time today, since I had to come home to have access to a computer, and I can’t get anything done with the dogs constantly bugging me. This fiasco is definitely going to cost me more than the amount of my month’s rent, that’s for sure.

There is only one thing that could have happened that could have been worse, and that’s losing my license. This is as close to the worst case scenario as something could possibly be. And I feel completely violated, like I’ve been raped. At the moment, I’m unsure what I’m going to do, but I can tell you two things: (a) I am NOT paying rent this month, and if the building owner doesn’t like it, I will sue him for the damages resulting from the total lack of any security and (b) I will not stay in the building if a security system is not installed immediately. While I doubt that an alarm going off would have stopped this smash-and-grab, perhaps knowledge that there was a security system in the building might have deterred the motherfuckers.

Fortunately, it appears that they left at least partial fingerprints behind, so I’m hopeful that the police will find them and make an arrest. And if they do, the least I hope for them is that some big guy named Bubba with a scorching case of herpes decides to make him or them his bitch while they’re incarcerated.

UPDATE, JULY 3: This morning, I paid a visit to Office Max and purchased a new monitor and a new printer, as well as a new surge protector, because the bastards even took that.

It turns out that at least one of the morons left a lovely thumbprint on the glass, so my hope is that Columbus’ Finest will shortly be making an arrest and that they might even be able to recover my computer.

As of today, I’m out about $500, which doesn’t even begin to count the cost of the consultant that will have to come in next week. This morning, I told the landlord that unless there’s a functioning security system in this building by the end of next week, I’m moving out, and he informed me that there is a system in place, it’s just not active. Just dandy.

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My friend Clark B. “Bud” Hall sent this item along today. This is great news, and an extremely generous gift that will prove invaluable to those who study the life and career of George Armstrong Custer:

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) announced today that it has donated a collection of civil war artifacts to the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center’s Military History Institute in Carlisle, Penn. The historic collection, which includes more than 200 pieces, belonged to Jacob Lyman Greene, the adjutant general (chief administrative officer) to General George Custer.

“As a Fortune 100 financial services organization, we are committed to giving back to our communities. We are thus very pleased to donate this lasting collection of history to the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center’s Military History Institute,” says Trish Robinson, senior vice president, Strategic Communications and Community Responsibility and deputy head of Government Relations, MassMutual. “The opportunity to honor the legacy of Jacob Greene and preserve this
collection for future generations by housing it at the U.S. Army Military History Institute is a great privilege for MassMutual.”

Greene was the fifth president of Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, which became a part of MassMutual in 1996. His collection, valued at more than $800,000, dates back to the early 1860’s during the beginning days of the Civil War. His trunk, which he left behind at Connecticut Mutual, includes a variety of his military papers, letters and commissions as well as court martial documents, for soldiers in his cavalry. In addition, the collection contains Greene’s military commission to captain signed by Abraham Lincoln and a splinter of wood from his bunk at Libby Prison, where he was once a prisoner of war.

“We know these important pieces of history will be in great hands at the institute,” notes Ms. Robinson. “Our hope is that they will shed more light on not only the lives of Jacob Greene and General Custer, but also the lives of the soldiers serving under them.”

Colonel Rob Dalessandro, Director of the Army Heritage and Education Center, echoed Ms. Robinson’s assessment. “The Jacob Greene materials are a significant addition to the Army Heritage
and Education Center’s extensive holdings on the American Civil War,” he said. “We are honored to be the stewards of Captain Greene’s legacy. His story is a fine example of the service America’s soldiers have rendered to the nation.”

MassMutual inherited the collection when Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company became a part of it. Greene’s collection was recently flown to the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center.

The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center endeavors to “Tell the Army’s Story, One Soldier at a Time.” Their collection of personal papers, photographs, manuscripts and other materials is widely
regarded as the finest collection of primary source material on the U.S. Army in the world.

Kudos to MassMutual for doing the unselfish thing and for making this archive of material available to researchers like me. Greene was captured at Trevilian Station, so he’s of great interest to me, and I wish I had had this material available to me when I was researching the story of the Battle of Trevilian Station.

Thanks also to Bud Hall for passing this along.

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I’m going to rant about something unrelated to the Civil War now, so if things not related to the Civil War are of no interest to you, please skip this post. This one’s been brewing all month, and it’s time to get it out of my system. I recognize that some might be offended by what I’m about to say, and I regret that. I likewise recognize that some might consider me to be insensitive for what I am about to say. However, it’s how I feel, and I am not going to apologize for it.

Having driven more than 2400 miles this month, I’ve seen a lot of highways (many of them more than once). There are few things that I find more irritating than makeshift roadside memorials. For one thing, they’re terribly distracting. You can’t help but look at them, even if you don’t want to, as they stand out. That makes them unsafe. My eyes are supposed to be on the road, not on your makeshift memorial with the fake flowers and the deceased person’s favorite Big Johnson t-shirt attached to it. I don’t want to have to look at it. Neither do the rest of us.

For another, while I’m sure that erecting them makes the person who did so feel better, and I am sorry for their loss, I do NOT want to know about it, and I’m sure most other people don’t, either. I realize that misery loves company, but please don’t invite me to your pity party. Please don’t subject the rest of us to your misery. We didn’t know the person, which means that we don’t care. Truly, we don’t. That’s cold, but it’s the truth.

Finally, in the overwhelming majority of cases, it’s illegal to put this crap up in the right of way alongside the road. If the presence of these makeshift memorials means that weeds can’t be mowed, thereby making it even more unsafe than it otherwise would be, then I’m all for tearing the damn things down, even if that means hurting someone’s feelings. I also have no interest in having tax dollars go toward the upkeep of these things. There is absolutely no reason why even so much as a single penny of tax dollars should go toward the upkeep of something illegal and which has no business being there under any circumstances.

There. I feel better now. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming….

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Hell month is over. I survived.

I’m just home from the Gettysburg: Retreat and Pursuit seminar put on by Mark Snell at Shepherd University. This makes four straight weekends that I’ve traveled at least 350 miles to do an event, and wow, am I beat.

The weekend was interesting, to say the least.

It didn’t get off to a good start at all. After meeting Ted Alexander in Hagerstown on Thursday afternoon to lay one portion of the tour, I drove on to Shepherdstown to check into the hotel and got the extraordinarily unpleasant news that there was no room reserved for me. Never mind that I was the tour guide for the event, there was no reservation for me. Mark’s assistant told me that the hotel screwed up the reservation, that they had reserved 25 rooms and only got 20, meaning that there were others who also did not have reservations. It got worse. I was told to go to the nearby Clarion Hotel and wait there, that Mark’s assistant Denise would meet me there. After sitting in the lobby like a moron for half an hour, no Denise. By then, I was so angry that you could have fried eggs on my forehead. I ended up having to change my clothes in the men’s room of the lobby of the hotel, which was terribly embarrassing. Denise ended up giving me her room at the lovely Bavarian Inn, which is just across the street from Shepherd’s campus, overlooking the Potomac River and Blackford’s Ford. All was eventually forgiven, but it was not an auspicious beginning.

One of the very cool things about this seminar was that a couple who attended last week’s program also attended this week’s. It was great fun having them along again. At dinner last night, I told them that if they want to see me next weekend, they’re going to have to come to Columbus to do so. 🙂

Mark opened the program with a good talk on Union logistics that he finished putting together about five minutes before show time. I enjoyed sitting and chatting with Drs. Chris Stowe and Tom Clemens. I’ve known Tom for 15 years, but I just met Chris for the first time this weekend. He’s a good guy, and I enjoyed getting to know him and further enjoyed chatting with him. Kent Masterson Brown was the “scholar in residence” and the keynote speaker, and he gave an excellent talk on the logistics of the retreat from Gettysburg. I then had a couple of beers with the gang at the Center and had a really interesting discussion with Chris Stowe there.

To be honest, I was a little worried about how things would work with Kent. He’s used to being the star of these retreat tours–for good reason, since his book has been out for several years and is an excellent work–and I’m something of an upstart. There’s also the issue that our work, although intended to complement his, could be construed as competition. Fortunately, I’ve known Kent since 1993 or 1994, and we worked together extremely well this weekend. He picked up where I left off, and vice versa, and I was perfectly happy to permit him to take the lead on the things where he’s the acknowledged expert. It worked like we’d been a team for years, which was very gratifying.

Friday morning, Chris gave an excellent talk on George Gordon Meade and the retreat, followed by a fine talk on the Wagon Train of Wounded by Ted Alexander. I felt kind of bad for Chris. Mark Snell insisted that he do his very silly but spot-on impression of Ken Burns’ God-awful cameo in the movie Gettysburg, to Chris’ embarrassment. He’s a trooper, though, and did it, to lots of laughs.

We then boarded the bus for a trip to Gettysburg to tour the new visitor’s center and a number of hospital sites from the battle. A former student of Mark’s named Nick Redding, who works for the Civil War Preservation Trust as a grants associate, served as the guide. Nick’s very young, but he’s a very impressive young man with an incredibly bright future. He did a terrific job leading the tour, which included a stop at the newly-acquired George Spangler farm (where Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead died of his Pickett’s Charge wound). It turns out that we were the first group taken on the property. After dinner, we then returned to Shepherdstown by following the route of the Wagon Train of Wounded. Kent sat next to me on the bus and directed the driver, which was a tremendous help to me.

Saturday morning was my day. We drove up to Gettysburg again, and Mark surprised me by asking whether we could make a brief detour on the way. Mark lives near Gettysburg, and he has a period farm there. He’d just had the pond on his property dredged, and he simply could NOT wait until today to see the work. We HAD to detour by his house to see the reincarnation of the results of the Battle of the Crater in his yard. My guess is that the extra stop proved to be the reason why we had to cut out a stop at the Cushwa Basin on the C & O Canal in Williamsport, where a significant portion of Lee’s army waded the Potomac River on July 14, 1863. Well, okay, maybe not. But I had to give Mark lots and lots of grief (which isn’t actually all that difficult to do, by the way). After Mark inspected Lake Superior, we finally got to do what we went to Gettysburg to do.

As I mentioned above, the tour went very well indeed. I added a new stop to the tour at the site of the July 12, 1863 fighting for Hagerstown, which was a site Kent had not visited previously. We had a hard and fast time to be back in Shepherdstown for dinner, so we had to drop the last stop at the Cushwa Basin, but that really didn’t inhibit things. Folks came away from the tour with precisely the response we’d hoped for, which is an appreciation for the ordeals of the soldiers, the remarkable movements of the armies, and the fact that there was plenty of fighting during the retreat and not just Meade letting Lee go, as is so often portrayed. We got back to Shepherdstown just in time–a hellacious thunderstorm blew in as we were finishing dinner. There was a period musical program last night, but I only made it through half of it before hitting the wall and having to go back to the hotel and collapse. I fell asleep at 9:45 watching TV. It’s very tiring having to be “on” all day.

This morning, there was a really good talk about preservation of sites along the retreat route by Tom Clemens and a lengthy panel discussion that was a lot of fun. Once that ended, it was time for me to hit the road. After another miserable six hour drive, I got home. Hell month is finally over. I actually get to stay home for three whole weeks before Ted Alexander’s Mother of All Gettysburg Seminars the last weekend in July. I can’t wait to just have some down time to decompress. I can tell you this–I’m sick to death of driving at the moment. For now, stick a fork in me. I’m done.

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With apologies to William Shakespeare…

Tomorrow, I’m on the road yet again. This time, it’s off to Shepherdstown, WV for Mark Snell’s Gettysburg retreat seminar. I’m looking forward to seeing old friends like Mark, Ted Alexander, and Tom Clemens, but I can’t say I’m too keen on yet another 6 hour drive tomorrow.

I’m leading a tour of the route of the Wagon Train of Wounded on Friday evening, and then a full-day tour of battle sites from the retreat on Saturday. I’ve got a panel discussion on Sunday morning and then home, at which time my June insanity will finally be over, a couple of thousand miles later.

I will try to post while gone, but I make no guarantees.

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Andrew Duppstadt wrote me privately yesterday and asked if I’d be interested in seeing the response of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation to all of the criticism that’s been flying. I said sure, and in the interest of fairness, I quote the letter here verbatim:

June 23, 2008

To Our Reenactor Partners, Sponsors and Supporters:

There has recently been some negative and misleading publicity about the successful efforts of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation to secure a binding agreement from O-N Mineral’s, (Carmeuse) to support preservation efforts and contribute to the shared goals of creating a reserve of property for further preservation efforts. We felt that we owe it to all of our reenactor partners, sponsors, supporters and the public to set the record straight. Contrary to the negative and incomplete information spread by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove, Inc., the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation stood alone and successfully took the initiative to preserve and protect core battlefield land and artifacts.

After twenty years of intense and dedicated preservation efforts on the part of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, (“CCBF”), we are deeply saddened and surprised that any entity would issue a public statement that so inappropriately characterizes the activities and intentions of the CCBF and its members. For this reason, we believe the facts concerning our relationship with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Belle Grove, Inc., (collectively designated “Belle Grove”), and Carmeuse, (the “Quarry”), need be disclosed.

Reenactments
CCBF held its first reenactment in 1990, and since that time has occasionally used additional property from Belle Grove, depending on the number of reenactors attending an event. In 1999, Belle Grove required a payment of $6,000 for the use of a few acres behind the plantation and reserved the right to cancel the agreement at anytime and for any reason. CCBF considered this unacceptable, and for the next several years, the event was held solely on CCBF lands. CCBF rented land from Belle Grove for the 140th Anniversary Reenactment in 2004, and through 2007. In addition to paying all the expenses associated with hosting the reenactments, CCBF has paid over $68,000 to Belle Grove since 1999.

First and foremost, our reenactment will continue this fall as it always has. Through the hard work of our many dedicated reenactors, sponsors and volunteers, we will continue our reenactment activities as scheduled on October 18 & 19, 2008, so that preservation, educational activities and respect for our heritage and history can continue. The reenactment will take place on the core battlefield lands owned by the CCBF, as it has for many years. The CCBF Board voted several months ago not to use the Belle Grove property this year due to the high cost of renting the land ($5,000 for 3 days).

Quarry
FACT – After almost two years of waiting for the local preservation partnership group to negotiate a position, two weeks before the quarry rezoning public hearing, the CCBF stood alone in attempting to negotiate with the Quarry to ensure responsible preservation efforts and responsible land use. Ever since the rezoning issue appeared, our organization had opposed the application, because none of the concerns the CCBF raised had ever been adequately addressed. However, it also became clear to our board members that the “just say no” policy was not a practical position to take when we learned that the limestone vein adjacent to the Battlefield was of the highest quality valued at least $300 million dollars. With the prospect that the Quarry operations would continue as planned, CCBF alone sought to intercede, negotiate and obtain commitments from the Quarry that would enhance and continue our preservation efforts. We were able to secure such an agreement from the Quarry and, more importantly, secured an agreement that would bind the Quarry whether or not its rezoning efforts succeeded.

On April 23, 2008, just hours before the Frederick County Board of Supervisors public hearing, CCBF President Hirschberg signed an agreement with the Quarry guaranteeing the following:

Berms: To improve and enhance the viewshed, the Quarry will reduce the height of the berms around the pits that are visible from the Heater House fields and main battlefield. In addition, the Quarry will landscape the berms with a mixture of deciduous and coniferous plantings. The agreement reached between the Quarry and CCBF was crafted to eliminate or significantly reduce the visibility of the existing processing plant when viewed from Route 11. For two decades, the number one complaint from both reenactors and spectators has been having the processing plant as the backdrop to the battlefield. We believe protecting the viewshed is critical to the experience that our reenactors and visitors enjoy. Its mitigation will become the single most important improvement to the vista of the entire park for years to come. This was the result of simply meeting one-on-one with the Quarry, and sharing our concerns. Berm construction will not occur in areas identified as historically significant.

Cultural Resources: An eight acre tract previously identified as historically significant will be donated to CCBF within sixty days of the signing of the agreement. The Quarry and the CCBF have also agreed that there exists other historical resources, (U.S. VI Corps camp area), immediately adjacent to the eight acre parcel which may encompass an additional twenty acres more or less. These acres will also be deeded to the CCBF upon the completion of an archaeological study to confirm its significance. A joint archeological survey by Dr. Clarence Geier and Dr. Joseph Whitehorne, (both noted experts on the Civil War), will be conducted on all other properties under consideration for rezoning and such studies will be paid for by the Quarry.

Artifacts: All artifacts discovered will become the property of the CCBF and will be held in trust for the public benefit.

Additional Land Donation: As part of the agreement, other newly discovered areas of historical significance, (such as an area known locally as the Middletown Woods), may also be deeded to the CCBF. As a result, more core battlefield may/will be donated to CCBF pending the conclusion of the archeological survey.

In addition to the items mentioned above, the Quarry decreased the acreage in the rezoning application, (from 639 acres to 394 acres), restricted the number of truck loads to 86 per day, and instructed drivers to avoid Belle Grove and Chapel Roads. Also, CCBF has begun discussions with the Quarry concerning the possible placement of preservation easements on substantial amounts of core battlefield land.

In summary, CCBF has at all times acted honestly, responsibly and in a manner believed to be in keeping with the Foundation’s mission statement. Our efforts have always depended on the sustained goodwill and dedicated efforts of our many reenactors, sponsors and volunteers who have enabled us to preserve this important national treasure known as the Cedar Creek Battlefield. Our actions were intentionally designed to ensure that the preservation efforts of the past are enhanced, additional battlefield land is immediately secured, and strategies are implemented that will lead to future battlefield and artifact protection.

We look forward to seeing you on October 18 & 19.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation,

Suzanne Chilson
Executive Director
Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation
P.O. Box 229
Middletown, Virginia 22645
540-869-2064
cedarcrk@visuallink.com
www.cedarcreekbattlefield.org

While I appreciate Ms. Chilson’s efforts and explanations, the fact remains that the CCBF dropped the ball on this one, big time. The explanations just don’t ring true, and I cannot buy into the idea of appeasement. There are times to negotiate, and there are times to draw a line in the sand. This was a time to draw a line in the sand, and I cannot forgive the failure to do so. I remain persuaded that the time for the CCBF to be the steward of this battlefield has ended.

Thanks to Andrew for passing this along.

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