By RUSTY DENNEN
In one of the more fast-track battlefield preservation efforts, the Civil War Preservation Trust next week will acquire a key part of the December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg.
The $12 million deal on the 205-acre Pierson farm in Spotsylvania County is set to close on Tuesday.
A news conference and celebration for invited supporters and dignitaries will be scheduled later in the month, Jim Campi, spokesman for the trust, said yesterday.
The Washington-based trust announced in March that it would launch a national fundraising campaign to buy the land, which during the war earned the name Slaughter Pen. The farm on Tidewater Trail east of Shannon Airport is adjacent to part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
The deal is the largest by far by the Civil War Preservation Trust. And if it comes off as expected, the deal will have been accomplished in record time.
Tricord Cos., a local home builder that has been involved in the preservation of other battlefield land, found out in December that the farm was for sale, and contacted preservationists.
In February, Tricord signed a contract, agreeing to sell it to CWPT at cost, and the clock began running for the preservation group to come up with the $12 million.
To put the deal in perspective, CWPT spent about $13 million last year for its entire land-acquisition program nationwide.
Helping in the effort is the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, a local preservation group, which has pledged $1 million. The Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table board has agreed to chip in $3,000.
Over the past few weeks, Slaughter Pen has been featured in preservation magazines and newsletters, and CWPT and other groups have been taking potential donors on tours of the site.
CWPT intends to combine donations from its 75,000 members and other preservation groups, with state and federal grants and bank financing to cover the cost.
The property has been at the top of the property wish-list of preservationists for years.
CWPT President Jim Lighthizer has described Slaughter Pen this way: "Hands down, this is the single most important piece of ground" connected with the battle. "If you don't have this, you don't have the Battle of Fredericksburg."
Though the National Park Service has more than 8,300 acres of historically significant land from the four major battles fought in the area, important sites are still outside the park and are at risk of being developed.
A key part of the 1862 conflict took place on land south of Fredericksburg where Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's 2nd Corps fought Union Gen. William Franklin's Left Grand Division.
Of the 9,000 men killed or wounded on the battle's southern end, some 5,000 met their fate on the farm. Five Union soldiers earned the Medal of Honor on its undulating fields.
To reach RUSTY DENNEN:
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com