The Civil War Trust, long an effective and nimble leader in saving Civil War battlefields, has created a new organization to do the same for RevWar battlefields (for which there is still much work to be done). I’ve made a donation and hope you will, too.
For more info: http://www.campaign1776.org/
Interesting site but I think they could use a page showing which battlefields they are looking to help protect and conserve.
Yes - looks like it’ll be Princeton to start, and then who knows where they might turn next?
Ummmm…
Unless there is some unusual topography which enabled the battle to turn out as it did, what is the point of preserving battlefields, as opposed to preserving more critical open space?
Gettysburg was largely a function of topography (and an incredibly overconfident Robt. E.) - but how about King street, which was the site of the “Boston massacre” (5 dead is hardly a massacre, IMO)? Do we forever keep that corner as it was in 1770?
Sorry, but “soldiers died” does not equal “sacred ground”.
Even given topography, how does preserving a battlefield advance historical understanding? Surely we can understand the concept of “Hill”, and surveyors can measure them rather precisely. I can understand wanting to create monuments or even commemorative urban park spaces, but preserving a battlefield seems somehow disproportionate to its conceptual value.
People tend to pay more attention to history when they can stand in the actual place and see some actual things. IME.
Absolutely. There’s no substitute for being able to walk the actual ground and see where things are in relation to one another - Pickett’s Charge being a good example. And if you read the Campaign 1776 FAQs, you’ll see some of the issues they’re dealing with in terms of subsequent development of land.
This is how I feel.
I’ve read countless books about Gettysburg. I’ve seen photos, watched movies, everything. But it wasn’t until I actually stood at The Angle when I truely thought, “What was Lee thinking?”
I can’t wait to take my daughter.
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I went to the Princeton Battlefield last June. It’s not very big. That in itself gives you insight into the scale of Revolutionary War battles. It was quite interesting and they have a decent little museum in the house that remains on the site.
Regardless of if there is a major topographical feature like Little Round Top, walking a battlefield gives you insight you can not get in a book. I haven’t been to many but I gained important insight at everyone I’ve been to. I never really understood Yorktown till I stood there.
It’s one thing to look at a map and see little red/blue arrows, and another to actually be at the battlefield and realize just how exposed (or not) one side or the other was, or how far that actually is, or how steep the hill is or whatever.
I think you can go too far in terms of preservation; obviously preserving the entire Alamo complex wasn’t going to happen, but merely preserving the actual chapel and Long barracks was going a bit far in the opposite direction, if you ask me. There’s no real way now to get a feel for where the fighting actually took place, since most of the battlefield is actually just downtown San Antonio now.
Similarly, the Battle of Harlem Heights was mostly fought in NYC where Columbia University is today. From what I can tell, it’s all built over now.
NYC has built over more history than most places have.
And it’s kind of a shame.
George Washington’s house when he was President of the US was demolished for the Brooklyn Bridge.
But part of the Battle of Brooklyn is preserved in Prospect Park and some people know where the battlefields in Central Park are.
There are two Revolutionary War battlefields within an hour’s drive of me. Saratoga is a big park (as it deserves), but the Battle of Bennington is just a small park maintained by the State of New York (despite its name the battle was not in Bennington, but rather in Hoosic Falls, NY; the objective of the British was Bennington, but they never got there).
My reaction seeing the Bennington battlefield was “how the hell did the British lose?” They were in a perfect defensive position – atop a hill where you could see all around you, but they neglected to guard their rear and the US troops came through the woods.
Without seeing the battlefield, there was no way to understand just how impressive the victory was, and I’m all for saving as many battlefields as possible.