I would like to offer one of the thousands of reasons why Wal-Mart and Orange County need to find a site that does not encroach on the Wilderness battlefield.
The following is taken from the Richmond Daily Dispatch of June 14, 1864:
"Conspicuous among the many who fell in the battle of the Wilderness will be found the name of Wm. R. Crafton, of Lunenburg County, Va. He was a member of Company I, 23d Va. regiment, and while gallantly charging the enemy's works he fell, shot in the neck, during the first day's fight, May the 5th, 1864.
"At the commencement of this war, this young man was acting as section master on the Southside railroad he joined the regular army in March 1862, where he has been ever since, having had the pleasure of but 15 days absence.
"Notwithstanding the hardships, he kept cheerful and buoyant, and up to the time of his demise was sanguine of success. Hear what his comrades say of him: 'He was a good man, a brave, and noble soldier; his virtues will ever be remembered and appreciated by those who knew him.'
"As a son, he was dutiful; a kind and loving brother, and a warm friend to the cause of his country. He left an aged, widowed mother, several brothers and sisters, and a large circle of relatives and friends, with whom the writer of this notice deeply sympathizes."
The foregoing was almost certainly written by a reporter who interviewed William's brother, Cornelius. Both men were corporals in the 23rd Regiment at the time of the Battle of the Wilderness.
Cornelius lived to tell about it; William did not.
I'm not asking Orange County to give up the tax revenues, jobs, and perceived convenience that a new Wal-Mart might bring. I'm not asking Wal-Mart to forgo its expansion plans.
What I am asking is that the county and the company find an alternative site that doesn't degrade the grounds that memorialize members of my family and those of the many others who fought and died in the Wilderness.
Ray Crafton
Spotsylvania