Saving History Saturday: Preserving Two Battlefields near Two Historic Taverns

News adapted from the American Battlefield Trust’s website

There is a special opportunity to save three tracts of land—141 acres of irreplaceable battlefield land that was once the site of both an American Revolutionary War standoff and a Civil War engagement near the historic Todd’s Tavern, plus 98 acres of land where Union forces attempted to damage the pertinent Confederate supply lines of the Weldon Railroad with battles fought in proximity to the Globe Tavern.

The importance of saving and preserving sacred land where men fought and died in two separate wars that determined our sovereignty and defined our nation cannot be understated. These 141 acres that included the land where Todd’s Tavern stood in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, are threatened by the shadow of development.

An additional 98 acres of hallowed ground, on two tracts, near a second tavern — the Globe Tavern south of Petersburg, Virginia — played very important roles in two battles for the strategically vital Weldon Railroad, the first in June 1864 and the other in August of that same year. The Weldon connected Richmond and the rail hub of Petersburg to the South’s last Atlantic port, Wilmington, North Carolina, and Grant desperately wanted to wrest control of the railroad from the Confederates.

Thanks to grants from the federal government and the Commonwealth of Virginia, funding from partner organizations Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, and the Petersburg Battlefields Foundation, and a large contribution from a generous donor and their members, American Battlefield Trust will be able to save all this land and put these 239 priceless acres into the “saved forever” column for just $137,500.

Today, there’s the opportunity to do just that, and it might be may be just in the nick of time because the threats to the land around Todd’s Tavern and Globe Tavern appear to be growing almost daily.

To make a donation, watch a history video, or read more about these historic battlefields, please visit: https://www.battlefields.org/give/save-battlefields/protect-239-acres-todds-tavern-globe-tavern-virginia