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PEOPLE VISIT Civil War battlefields for many reasons. For some, it is to pay tribute to an ancestor. They walk the ground where their ancestor fought and, in some cases, died. For others, it is an intellectual curiosity. They seek to understand what happened. Some come to learn lessons from history that will improve their lives. In each case, the historic terrain is the key to their visit.
I have seen people emotionally overcome, with tears in their eyes, as they walk what they consider sacred soil in areas like the Spotsylvania battlefield's Mule Shoe. On the other hand, I have seen them appalled at what has happened to areas like Salem Church in Spotsylvania County.
What has happened at the Mule Shoe and at what is now called old Salem Church provides a good contrast in understanding how the terrain can help us appreciate a historical event. For 17 years, I have studied Kershaw's Brigade. I have walked the ground of every major battlefield and dozens of smaller actions where those soldiers fought. With the exception of Beans Station, which is now under a man-made lake in Tennessee, Salem Church is the most damaged of their battlefields. Except for the church and the Orange Turnpike (now heavily traveled and widened State Route 3 west), none of the landmarks described by the soldiers survive.
On May 3, 1863, Gen. John Sedgwick, with over 20,000 soldiers, headed west from Fredericksburg to relieve the pressure of the Union army engaged at Chancellorsville. On a ridge where Salem Church is located, a a smaller Confederate force stopped Sedgwick's men to protect the rear of the Gen. Lee's army at Chancellorsville.
The woods, ravines and secondary roads are all gone, covered by modern suburban sprawl. It is impossible to stand where they stood and see what they saw. Some of their written words survive; the terrain--a key to understanding what happened--does not. The soldier's descendants and those seeking lessons from history gain next to nothing by visiting the site.
In stark contrast, the Mule Shoe area near Spotsylvania Courthouse is wonderfully preserved. Wood lines, subtle terrain features, artillery pits and earthworks remain relatively little changed since the soldiers fought there.
Earlier this year, Gordon Rhea wrote a book about Charlie Wilden, the unlikely Confederate hero at the Bloody Angle. I took the book out there and walked the very route that Charlie took to the Bloody Angle. There still exists the same little farm lane he walked to a reserve line of earthworks, where he seized the flag and wrapped it around himself to lead the 1st South Carolina forward. As I stood at that exact spot described by Charlie, I saw what he saw (obviously minus soldiers shooting at each other). I looked through the woods as he looked. I saw the high ground where there was a slight bend in the Confederate earthworks. Then I made my way forward, as he did, through the woods to that now-famous angle. I gained some appreciation of what Charlie experienced.
Several years ago, I took a busload of British military officers on a staff ride around the Fredericksburg-area battlefields. The last place we visited was Lee's Last Line at the base of the Mule Shoe. Earlier in the day we had looked at the weakness in the initial Confederate line of the Mule Shoe. An examination of the trenches led to an understanding of what went wrong for the Confederates when the Mule Shoe was assaulted on May 12.
As we approached Lee's Last Line, several of the officers noted that these are classic trenches built to high engineering standards. It was obvious to the British officers that the Confederate engineers had learned from their mistakes in laying out the Mule Shoe and why this Confederate line easily repulsed the May 18 attack. The British officers agreed that it was seeing things like this that justified their journey across the Atlantic.
The American people would be appalled if a developer destroyed a library or archive to make a buck. So why is it that people sit quietly by and watch the historic landscape destroyed? I suggest it is because they do not understand how the ground can be read and learned from. We need to educate people to understanding the value of the land, not in a monetary sense but as an educational tool. We cannot undo what has happened to areas like Salem Church any more than we can alter what the soldiers who fought there did. We can contribute our time and money to saving historic sites. The clock is ticking. Stop spectating and become involved.
MAC WYCKOFF of Spotsylvania County is a historian. He is also newsletter editor for the Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table.