Another Preservation Win at Seven Pines/Fair Oaks!

The Seven Pines/Fair Oaks battlefield has long been considered completely lost to preservation. A key battlefield in 1862, it witnessed some 11,000 casualties, making it the second-bloodiest day of the war to that time. Joe Johnston was wounded here, and Robert E. Lee took command of the army on this ground.

During World War I, the area where D. H. Hill attacked became a production area for war materials, and supporting housing and a retail village sprung up. Today this area is known as Sandston, and more houses continue to be built. The Fair Oaks portion has also been developed. Tragically, there did not seem to be even a sliver of land available to save.

This all changed a few years ago when Vic Vignola was working on his book Contrasts in Command. Vic discovered that the part of the wartime Adams farm might be available for sale. He immediately notified Bobby Krick of the Richmond National Battlefield Park, as well as the American Battlefield Trust. The Trust quickly stepped in and saved the roughly dozen acres. This is important land… the farm was a key part of the Federal position in the Fair Oaks area on May 31, 1862.

Now another tract is being saved. The Capital Region Land Conservancy has acquired 24 acres to the east, down along the railroad tracks. It’s out of the way, but it was a significant scene of the action on June 1. On this land the brigades of Oliver O. Howard and Thomas Meagher struggled with those of Lewis Armistead and George Pickett. Howard was possibly wounded and lost his arm here. CRLC anticipates recording a conservation easement with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources before the transfers to the Richmond Battlefields Association.

This is not all that the CRLC has done recently. Just a few years ago they purchased a major piece of land at Malvern Hill, where basically the entire battlefield has been saved. It has been called one of the best-preserved battlefields in America. The CRLC has also been steadily acquiring land near Deep Bottom within the core area of the Battle of New Market Heights where the US Colored Troops broke through the Confederate line and marched on to Fort Harrison.

While land is becoming increasingly scarce, the actions of an observant individual and a team of dedicated preservationists can work wonders. Be sure to keep an eye out… you never know what you might discover!