Threats to the Wilderness Battlefield

View of Highway 3 next to The Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County, Virginia.

The Wilderness has been designated as one of the top 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields of 2009.

The Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, May 5-7, 1864, was among the most significant engagements of the war and marked the first time two Civil War legends — Gen. Robert E. Lee and Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant — faced each other in battle. Nearly 29,000 American soldiers were killed, wounded or captured in the horrendous, two-day struggle fought in scrub growth and among burning trees and earthworks. Today, preservationists in Orange County, Va., are facing an uphill battle to stop Walmart from building a new 138,000-square foot supercenter across Route 3 from the battlefield. There are already several other Walmart’s within a 20-mile radius and, if built, the new store would ensure further commercial development in the area. Preservationists have offered to fund a comprehensive planning study that would preserve the battlefield while allowing the Orange County to meet its economic development needs.


www.civilwar.org