Saving History Saturday: American Battlefield Trust Targets Three Civil War Battlefields for Preservation
The American Battlefield Trust (ABT) is targeting 52 acres on three battlefields for preservation. The battlefields are Chancellorsville in Virginia, Gilgal Church in Georgia, and Corinth in Mississippi.
The first tract consists of three-acres on part of the Flank Attack part of the battlefield. This is the far end of the Union Army line where General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s Corps first struck.
The Battle of Gilgal Church took place from June 15-17, 1864, just southwest of Kennesaw, Georgia. This 18-acre parcel is the ABT’s first preservation action at this battlefield. The property has been under threat of residential development and has some of the last remnants of Civil War entrenchments to be found along the route of General William T. Sherman’s Atlanta campaign.
The largest of the three tracts is the 32-acres at Corinth. This property includes the location of what was known as the Beauregard Line. This parcel later became a part of the Corinth Contraband Camp, established for thousands of ex-slaves. A company comprised of men from this camp formed part of the 1st Alabama Infantry of Colored Descent, later the 55th U.S. Colored Infantry.
The three tracts are valued at $1.6 million but ABT only needs to raise $160,680 to save this land due to landowner donations and expected grants. To find out more about this opportunity, visit ABT’s website.
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