Terrible News for the Wilderness Battlefield

In a not so stunning turn of events if you’ve been following the situation, the Orange County (VA) Planning Commission voted 5-4 to allow the construction of a Super Wal-Mart on the Wilderness Battlefield.  The decision isn’t final yet, with the ultimately final vote going to the Orange County Board of Supervisors later this year.  Read more about the attempted desecration of a Civil War battlefield at PreservationNation.  This situation breaks all kinds of “common sense” alternatives and is a disgusting way to usher in the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War.  Once a battlefield is gone, it’s gone FOREVER.  We can’t bring it back.  Look at Chantilly, Virginia as just one example, or Seven Pines, Virginia for another.  Some will say this is just a part of the battlefield or that it wasn’t central to the fighting, but there is no reason to construct a Super Wal-Mart on sacred ground when other ground is available.  It’s just stupid.  Everyone at Wal-Mart and those in Orange County who are in positions of power should be ashamed of themselves.


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4 responses to “Terrible News for the Wilderness Battlefield”

  1. Sherri K. Edman Avatar

    I’m a touch confused here…some sites say the building site is on the battlefield, while others say it outside the park entrance. Which is correct?

    1. admin Avatar

      Sherri,

      The map at the following page should help:

      http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/wilderness/maps/wildernesswalmartmap.html

      The proposed site is not within the official boundaries of the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park (in dark green), but it IS literally across the road from the flank of Sedgwick’s Corps. There is absolutely no reason to put an eyesore like a Super Wal-Mart anywhere near a battlefield like the Wilderness, especially when other sites have been proposed in the area further away.

      Brett

  2. Naim Peress Avatar

    I have placed the email addresses of the Orange County supervisors on my blog. We bloggers need to urge people to email the supervisors or to go to the CWPT website to email them from there.

    Naim Peress

  3. James Durney Avatar
    James Durney

    What do you expect from VA? The state is working to hide the CSA White House and seems ashamed of being in the CSA. In The Valley, most of the battlefields are not marked or respected.

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