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Civil War Preservation Trust gets $2 million from federal government toward its quest to raise $12 million to cover the purchase price of Slaughter Pen Farm Date published: 10/17/2006
RELATED: Read the speech read during a Slaughter Pen walking tour on Monday.
By RUSTY DENNEN S DIRK Kempthorne was thanking the Civil War Preservation Trust for saving a key part of the Battle of Fredericksburg, a small American flag behind the podium fluttered in the breeze, then toppled over. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Kempthorne paused during the ceremony at Slaughter Pen Farm yesterday morning as several people rushed forward to reposition the Stars and Stripes. He didn't miss a beat. "I don't know how you felt," he told the 160 people gathered on the field under a crisp blue sky when the flag hit the ground. "But how many flags fell?" he wondered about Dec. 13, 1862, when the Spotsylvania County cornfield earned its name. It became known as the "slaughter pen" after the Union Army failed to dislodge dug-in Confederates on a nearby ridge. Kempthorne was among dignitaries who spoke at the farm on Tidewater Trail, east of Shannon Airport. He was there to announce that the federal government was chipping in $2 million toward CWPT's $12 million purchase of the property. Kempthorne, a former U.S. senator and former Idaho governor, praised the preservation group for its efforts to save Civil War sites. His great-grandfather, Pvt. Charles Kempthorne, fought with a Wisconsin infantry unit and was wounded at Antietam, Md. "Abraham Lincoln said any nation that does not honor its heroes will not endure. Today, we honor our heroes," Kempthorne said. The $2 million is part of a grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Washington-based CWPT purchased the property, known locally as the Pierson Farm, in June. It was the highest price ever paid by a private preservation group for Civil War land. CWPT borrowed the money from SunTrust Bank, which gave it favorable terms. CWPT has been hustling to raise the money to cover the purchase. In addition to the $2 million pledged by Kempthorne, CWPT has raised about $1 million from its membership, and the Fredericksburg-based Central Virginia Battlefields Trust has pledged another $1 million.
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