Preservation Alerts
The 78th PVI, Co. F proudly
supports battlefield preservation efforts.
Development Threats
Thirty acres of Civil War battlefield land are destroyed
every day! Click here to see those on the Civil War Preservation Trust's
most threatened list: Endangered
Battlefields
By
PHIL RIGGAN
inRich.com
The
name "Cold Harbor" is said to originate from a pre-Civil War tavern
that was a haven for travelers seeking food and shelter from the cold.
The
area still acts as a haven -- nearly 150 years after the War Between the States
-- but mostly for plants, animals and people looking for peace and quiet in
nature.
The
Richmond National Battlefield Park protects more than 2,000 acres of land in its
11 units spread throughout Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover
and Henrico. Other than a few small parking lots, tour roads and visitors
centers, most of that land is essentially green space -- protected nature
preserve.
Civil
War parks "act a green space where trees and plants can grow in an area
where development pressures are high," said Kristen Allen, natural resource
management specialist for the park.
More
than 280 acres of that sacred Civil War soil are found at the Cold Harbor
Battlefield in Hanover County.
In
its annual report, "History Under Siege," the Civil War Preservation
Trust listed Cold Harbor in the top 10 most endangered battlefields, stating
that "pressure in the Richmond area is so great that only about 300 acres
of what was once at least a 7,500-acre battlefield are currently
preserved."
Robert
Krick, historian for the Richmond National Battlefield Park said "the
purpose of the list is to increase national awareness. The upper portion of the
battlefield [to Bethesda Church] is gone. The area is getting squeezed [by
development].
"Cold
Harbor is considered the classic example in Virginia of trench warfare,"
Krick said. The prolonged battle there May 31 to June 12, 1864, saw combined
casualties for Confederate and Union troops reach more than 16,000.
Krick
enhanced the park's historical value with this quote from "Trench Warfare
Under Grant and Lee: Field Fortifications in the Overland Campaign," by
Earl J. Hess: "Although small in comparison to the total volume of works
constructed here, the Cold Harbor Unit protects the most singular set of Civil
War fieldworks we have."
PUBLIC AWARENESS
The
Civil War Preservation Trust works closely with the local governments and park
services to help improve public awareness.
"Sometimes
people forget where the battlefields are located, and why they are
important," said Mary Koik, spokesperson for the Trust.
"We
hope communities weigh the significance of the battlefields when making
decisions on development," she said, adding "we spend most of our
money preserving land."
On
the subject of nature preservation, Koik said that viewing "the parks as
open space, green space, helps everyone -- you want to preserve something. More
bang for your buck."
BATTLEFIELD AS NATURE PRESERVE
Allen
helped answer some general questions she often fields from park visitors about
the way the parks are maintained:
"Why don't they cut the grass or clean up the dead
trees?"
RNBP
lacks the personnel to maintain all of its land at the same level. Lawn areas
that are around main visitor areas are maintained like one would maintain their
yard, she said.
However,
larger historic fields serving are typically maintained as either agricultural
fields or tall native grass meadows, which provides several benefits:
•
Looks more like a fallow farm field that might have existed during the 1860s
than a manicured lawn;
• Requires less fuel, oil, and avoids creating air pollution associated with
using tractors;
• Requires no lime or fertilizer;
• Provides much needed habitat for ground nesting birds, small mammals and
reptiles.
In
addition, forested areas are divided into "managed forest" and
"natural zones," she said.
Managed
forest occurs on some of the park's earthworks to help prevent erosion and
protect the embankments. In natural zones, dead trees are usually left standing
and downed wood is usually left on the ground, providing an important habitat
for cavity nesting birds and mammals, as well as reptiles and insects.
"How do you maintain the battlefield as it was laid out
for the Civil War?"
Park
historians, including Krick, spend time researching historic photos, maps and
accounts to determine exactly what the landscape looked like at the time of the
Civil war, Allen said.
Once
they agree on a battlefield layout, they next develop a cultural landscape
report that incorporates all historical elements with the current landscape
conditions, physical history of the site, and makes recommendations for how to
rehabilitate the historic landscape.
"In
general this seems to strive for making the landscape look just as it did during
the 1860s unless there is some issue with feasibility or biological
resources," Allen said. Her example: a riparian area may have been
cleared of forest vegetation during the Civil War, but that practice is now
known to be environmentally unsound.
"How you maintain the Civil War earthworks?"
"Rain
and wind are the two elements that cause erosion to areas of bare soil,"
Allen said, "especially when those areas are sloped as earthworks."
The
park primarily tries to minimize bare soil and practice several management
regimes for earthworks:
•
Full forest cover. These are generally well protected from erosion by their
thick leaf litter and thick vegetation which intercepts rain as it falls toward
the ground. Only maintenance at those sites is the occasional removal of
"hazard trees."
• Open forest where the underbrush is trimmed once per year and the tree
canopy is allowed to remain to provide protective leaf litter.
• Covered with tall native grasses. Since these grasses are deeply rooted and
grow tall, they provide good protection and require little maintenance compared
to other grasses. In addition, and they allow visitors to easily view the
earthworks and provide a landscape similar to that of the 1860s.
"What about the plowed land on the battlefields?"
"Our
farmers understand that we are fairly restrictive on our agricultural leases
because we don't want to damage our streams and soils," Allen said.
Farmers
are limited in the pesticides they can use and the park avoids agricultural
leases within 150-200 feet of water courses on park land, she said. Most
farmers grow hay, soybean, winter wheat and corn on the battlefields.
Contact Phil Riggan: 649-6037 or priggan@inrich.com
Landowner Pete Coyle envisions turning the approximately 34-acre tract on the edge of Perryville into a housing subdivision along with an assisted living center and limited commercial development.
A national Civil War preservation group is so worried by the proposed development that it placed the Perryville battlefield site on a list of the nation's 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields.
The designation this week comes amid a rezoning proposal that would clear the way for the development.
The proposal won approval recently from a sharply divided Danville-Boyle County Planning and Zoning Commission but still must win backing from the Perryville City Council. Perryville Mayor Anne Sleet said Friday that she hasn't made up her mind on the plan.
The development in the central Kentucky town about 85 miles southeast of Louisville would be visible from hilltops about a mile away at the battlefield, where more than 7,500 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after five hours of fighting in October 1862. A Confederate withdrawal after the battle secured Kentucky for the Union.
The Perryville battlefield - which includes nearly 670 acres that have been preserved - has long been considered a historic gem because of little or no modern encroachments. The battlefield draws about 100,000 visitors yearly and has been the site of two national Civil War re-enactments this decade.
"When you're here, you're in 1862," said Chris Kolakowski, executive director of the Perryville Enhancement Project, a preservationist group. "I could take any veteran of the Battle of Perryville ... out to the ground that they fought on, and they would be able to recognize where they were."
The property wasn't the site of fighting but was a key transportation route as troops marched toward battle and some came back bloodied and wounded to be seen at makeshift hospitals, he said.
Kolakowski said he'd prefer that the property remain undeveloped, but there's a bigger concern - an adjoining 52-acre rural tract closer to the battlefield.
That property is also owned by Coyle, who has had talks with the state about a possible conservation easement to protect the 52 acres from development. Coyle said he hopes an agreement can be reached, but added, "anytime you're dealing with the state with budgets, you never know."
The talks come at a time when Kentucky lawmakers are putting together the state's next spending plan while grappling with a nearly $900 million projected revenue shortfall over the next two years.
"We are supportive of preserving this property, and we very much want to work with the landowner on it," said Gil Lawson, a spokesman for the state Commerce Cabinet, which includes the state parks department.
"However, with the current state budget situation, funding for parks is very limited."
The rural property is separated from the battlefield park by a 50-acre tract owned by someone else.
Coyle envisions the subdivision becoming a haven for empty-nesters and retirees. The addition of just over 50 homes, the assisted living center and commercial development on a couple of lots would be a boon to the historic town of about 800, generating new tax revenue in a community with little growth opportunity, he said.
"There's no other place to build in the city," he said. "So this is kind of a salvation for the city."
James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust, sees it differently. He said the rezoning applications threaten the "historical integrity of the area."
It was the first time that the trust, a nonprofit battlefield preservation group, added the Perryville battlefield to its annual list of the nation's most endangered Civil War battlefields.
Kenneth Noe, an Auburn University history professor who has written a book about the battle, said he was "floored" to see the Perryville battlefield added to the endangered list.
"I can't think of anyone who has done a better job of preserving a battlefield than the people of Perryville and Boyle County," he said.
He's worried about the proposed development and even more concerned about the precedent it might set. "It could have national implications," he said. "If it can happen at Perryville, it can happen anywhere."
Kolakowski said it would be the first major residential development on the end of Perryville closest to the battlefield. "Do we want to see it stay agricultural? Yes," he said. "But we're realistic enough to know that may or may not be a possibility."
The property includes a strip of land that was a road used by the Confederates to move soldiers to the front, haul supplies and transport wounded troops to hospitals. Coyle said he wants to see that strip turned into a hiking and biking trail that would lead from town to the battlefield.
The development would be visible from a couple of hills at the battlefield, including one where Confederate artillery was positioned and soldiers moved to attack Union lines further west, Kolakowski said.
"The way the terrain is out here, anything within about two or three miles of the park is going to be visible and is going to impact the vista and be an intrusion on the landscape," he said.
Still, Kolakowski sounded conciliatory in discussing Coyle's development plans, with his bigger concern being safeguarding the 52 rural acres from development.
"It's his property," Kolakowski said. "We're trying to balance his desire to develop it with preservation needs. We're trying to strike the best balance."
Coyle said he'd like to see an outcome in which the 52 rural acres are left undeveloped.
"There was blood shed there; people being carried back from the battlefield to the hospitals," he said. "It's still hallowed ground."
On
Links to Preservation Organizations