By CLINT SCHEMMER
Like a jeweler stringing another pearl onto a fine necklace, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust has added a new property to its collection of Fredericksburg-area hallowed ground.
Fredericksburg developer Lee Garrison recently donated 10 acres near Lee Drive--a favorite driving-tour route for visitors to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park--to the local nonprofit group.
"We can't acquire every historically significant property, so being given this property is pretty special," said Jerry Brent, the Fredericksburg-based trust's executive director. "It points out the longstanding good relations we've had with the developers in the area."
The small grass-roots trust, now beginning its 15th year, has saved more than 890 acres on the area's four major Civil War battlefields.
Some of its biggest successes grew from its ability to work with builders, Brent said. As examples, he cited its acquisition of two parcels near Grant's Knoll on the Wilderness battlefield, the preservation of Fredericksburg's Slaughter Pen battlefield along State Route 2 and U.S. 17, and conservation easements placed on Latimer's Knoll, a Confederate artillery position overlooking Slaughter Pen.
Tricord Homes of Fredericksburg was instrumental in the Slaughter Pen project, as well as the preservation of 140 acres on Chancellorsville's "first day" battlefield along State Route 3 at Lick Run.
Garrison, a former Tricord manager, just wanted to "do the right thing" with his land near Lee Drive, Brent said.
"My experience while working with Tricord on the Chancellorsville and Slaughter Pen preservation efforts gave me an appreciation for balancing the need for development as our local population continues to grow with the need to protect the significant historical battlefields in our area," Garrison said in an interview yesterday.
The 10.3-acre tract between the park road and Lafayette Boulevard lies within Fredericksburg's "core" battlefield as designated by the federal Civil War Sites Advisory Commission, the nation's top authority on where Civil War actions took place.
But it wasn't the site of bloodshed, Brent said.
"No battles were fought on this property. No bullets were flying," he said. "It probably saw rear-area troop movements or served as a supply area."
Eric Mink, the park's cultural resources manager, elaborated.
"During the December 1862 battle Confederate troops were likely stationed in this vicinity, if not on the property itself, but they would have seen virtually no action," Mink said.
"That winter, Confederates may have occupied, if not camped on, the property. The details on Confederate troop locations are sketchy for that time period."
The tract, which adjoins the national park, isn't far from Lee Drive's Pickett Circle picnic area.
The National Park Service's holdings along Lee Drive are not deep at some points, Brent said, so "the preservation of this parcel provides an excellent buffer against future development."
To add the tract to its acreage, the federal agency would need to adjust the park's authorized boundary. That would require congressional approval.
Russ Smith, the park's superintendent, praised the property owner's action.
"Mr. Garrison has been very generous in his donation of land to the CVBT," he said yesterday. "We will consider this parcel for inclusion in the park as part of our current General Management Plan process."
Civil War historian Robert K. Krick said the tract was part of the long line that Gen. Robert E. Lee defended on the outskirts of Fredericksburg in December 1862. It was occupied by Fredericksburg's own regiment, the 30th Virginia Infantry.
"The 30th--part of a brigade commanded by Gen. Montgomery D. Corse of Alexandria--numbered in its ranks several hundred men and boys from this region: Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Caroline, Stafford and King George," he said. "The ranks included many familiar family names: Chew, Doggett, Sener, Rawlings, C. Wistar Wallace (for whom the regional library is named), Braxton, Hunter, Tayloe, Thornton, McGhee, Newton, Broaddus, Massey, Hilldrup, Armstrong, Ashton and Barton."
Krick, who lives in Fredericksburg, is a CVBT board member and the former chief historian of the national military park.
Lafayette Crossing Holdings LLC gave the property to CVBT after their respective attorneys sanctioned the arrangement.
"With this donation, we can put the money we raise toward other projects," Brent said. "That's a very important thing to us, to be able to preserve land without having to raise money for it or take money out of our coffers. That's the way we like to do business whenever we can."
The trust's three-day annual meeting, with special tours of area battlefields and historic sites, begins today.
Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Email: cschemmer@freelancestar.com