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People tend to have a knee-jerk reaction to the word "preserve". They automatically want things to be preserved because, well just because. They don't care about what it takes to "preserve" an old shack or an overgrown field that Stonewall Jackson might have rode across. All the major CW sites have been preserved. As a matter of fact they have been preserved behind chain link fences and armed guards. Imagine if they decided to "preserve" every plot of land in Europe that had some military conflict. Everything would be fenced in.
I toured six Civil War battlefields last month and they are not behind chain link fences and armed guards. Too many people tour Gettysburg and assume that all Civil War battlefields are that way.
When I toured the battlefield of Second Manassas the battle sights are interspersed with private homes and businesses. You pull off the road where there is a sign and you realize Union forces moved through this guys backyard and that gas station
Fredericksburg is a wonderful site as you stand where Lee had his artillery and walk along the refurbished sunken road. However, the field that union troops fought an died over has long since been consumed by buildings and homes. I don't see why anyone would want to live on ground that was full of thousands of dead and dying brave Union Soldiers
Chancellorsville is fully developed by local homes and you move about trying to figure out what it possibly could have looked like in 1863. The site where Stonewall Jackson was shot is now a major highway. His monument is hidden behind the visitor center
The house where Stonewall Jackson died is well preserved. But the area around the house is a deserted rail yard and industrial zone
While taking the guided tour at First Manassas, my son, who had seen the Ken Burns documentary asked where Wilmer McClains house was. The ranger told him it was about a mile away and was now a CVS parking lot
Not all of the Civil War sites are major battlefields. But to hundreds of towns and villiages, they represent their heritage. Small skirmishes that killed a few dozen men, but contributed to the larger war effort
I used to live in fredericksburg and spotsylvania and mannasas. The history there is pretty amazing. Did you get to see the church in Fredericksburg with the cannon ball still embedded in the brick. That really brings it home.
You are right, the people of those area would probably fight another civil war to keep their battle fields. I remember when they wanted to build a Walmart on a site where George Washington spent time living as a young man near Fredericksburg. That did not go over very well and the Walmart go moved a few miles down the road.
I don't believe there is a chance in hell that Walmart is going to take over an existing CW battlefield park or structure. Some mysterious faction wants a $1.50 donation because they tell us that CW sites are being "lost" at an acre an hour. It ain't true (maybe they have the CW mixed up with the Rain forrest) but History Channel celebrities say it's so. I agree that if you want to "preserve" any historic site go ahead and buy it but don't expect to use taxpayer money to maintain it. It's unclear what the mission of the $1.50 people is or who is behind it. I can't find anything on the internet.