American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

ACWGC Forums

* ACWGC    * Dpt. of Records (DoR)    *Club Recruiting Office     ACWGC Memorial

* CSA HQ    * VMI   * Join CSA    

* Union HQ   * UMA   * Join Union    

CSA Armies:   ANV   AoT

Union Armies:   AotP    AotT

Link Express

Club Forums:     NWC    CCC     Home Pages:     NWC    CCC    ACWGC
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:00 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Slaughter Pen Farm Saved
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 2:01 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 14, 2017 1:55 am
Posts: 935
Location: Tennessee
Got this in the email box today! Wow.... I remember when this project began 16 years ago. Crazy how time flies. Luckily the land is fully paid for and preserved now.


FROM THE AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD TRUST:

There are a handful of preservation projects that I would categorize as organization defining, and the $12-million effort to protect the Slaughter Pen Farm at Fredericksburg tops the list. Today, at long last, it is a singular honor to declare victory on this 16-year fundraising campaign!

No, you’re not dreaming: After 16 long years of asking for your help to pay off the largest and most complex private battlefield preservation effort in the nation’s history, the American Battlefield Trust owns the 208-acre site deemed by historian Frank O’Reilly as “the very heart and soul” of the Fredericksburg Battlefield free and clear. Thanks to your outpouring of support and the generosity of an anonymous major donor, we made the final payment on our loan in May, two years early.

Although the Battle of Fredericksburg is most famous for the doomed Union assault on Marye’s Heights, the fight was won and lost further south, as troops in blue and gray struggled across an undulating farm field and toward the slopes of Prospect Hill. The intense fighting on the south end of the Fredericksburg battlefield produced some 9,000 casualties, many of whom fell on a piece of ground dubbed "the Slaughter Pen" by soldiers and locals alike.

Over the years, the Trust was able to successfully discourage inappropriate development proposals targeting the site until, in early 2006, 208 acres of farmland were put up for sale on the open real estate market, advertised as the “prime light industrial development site in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” They carried an alarming purchase price of $12 million. But with a history as rich as this, we couldn’t let the lofty price tag scare us away, nor could we bow to a seller adverse to preservationists.

It was time to be bold and get creative. The tale of how we secured and ultimately paid for this land is dramatic and unexpected, involving preservation-friendly housing developers actively working on our behalf, a groundswell of dynamic local activism and bankers willing to offer remarkably generous financing terms. Truly, the story occupies an entire chapter of Fighting the Second Civil War, the book that tells the history of the modern battlefield preservation movement.

Plenty of people thought we were in over our heads! Closing occurred in June 2006, and we proceeded to use all available resources to pay off the loan — from federal matching funds via the American Battlefield Protection Program to a noteworthy contribution from the Commonwealth to the sale of Virginia tax credits to a remarkable $1 million pledge from our friends at the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. We even took advantage of the ups and downs in the economy to refinance our loan, saving us several percentage points — and tens of thousands of dollars in interest.

But the key to our success has always been you! Nearly half of the $12 million raised for Slaughter Pen Farm was through private funds, with many donors expressing their passion and generosity in the form of recurring gifts that chipped away at the loan. Tens of thousands of individual donors contributed to this project and I am thankful to each and every one.

If you haven’t yet, I hope you have the chance to come and see what you’ve helped accomplish. Through restoration and interpretation efforts, you can walk in the footsteps of the men who fought there and take in the view the soldiers had in 1862. And keep in mind, as our Twilight Tours return this summer, there will be an opportunity to explore the land with a brilliant historian in mid-July.

Come fall, the Trust is planning an on-site celebration to commemorate this milestone, and it is highly likely that artillery will make an appearance. I've promised more than once that some day, I’d fire our paid-off mortgage out of a cannon!

Many years in the making, our joy and gratitude over this accomplishment is through the roof. Don’t forget: You’re the driving force that turned this dream into a reality.

Your obed’t serv’t,
David N. Duncan
President
American Battlefield Trust

_________________
Gen. Blake Strickler
Confederate General-in-Chief
El Presidente 2010 - 2012

Image


Top
 Profile Send private message  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 3:23 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 3:36 pm
Posts: 592
This is good news indeed.

_________________
Colonel Jason "Skeedaddle" Campbell
The Mahoning 4th Brigade
3rd Division
2nd Corp

AoT
"Let's fill up our canteens, boys. Some of us will be in hell before nightfall and we'll need the water"


Top
 Profile Send private message  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 4:10 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2022 11:43 am
Posts: 565
Location: Ireland
That is a totally amazing achievement and a credit to all those who made it a reality. In this day and age it is truly outstanding, I think, that a body of people, albeit a small body I warrant in the overall scheme of things can have such a dramatic impact on the giant global money dispensing and land grabbing developers.

_________________
Karl McEntegart
Brigadier General
Officer Commanding
Army of Tennessee



Image


Make my enemy brave and strong, so that if defeated, I will not be ashamed.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 7:58 pm 
Offline

Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2003 9:52 am
Posts: 2469
Location:
Image

Garry Owen - Don Troiani

Huzzah!! Great, news Blake, thanks for sharing!!

_________________
General Scott Ludwig
4/II/ANV


Top
 Profile Send private message  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 103 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group