Help Preserve Gettysburg’s Iconic Skyline

There is no more iconic battlefield than Gettysburg. Names like Devils Den, Little Round Top, the Railroad Cut and the High-water Mark have left indelible marks on each of our hearts. Many of us have visited these places on multiple occasions and have fond memories of this historic and picturesque landscape.

We know the value of preserving battlefields as walkable classrooms and places that should be protected so that future generations can share the same experiences we have had. Well, imagine if the next time you visit the battlefield the bucolic views we have come to enjoy and appreciate are now marred with a giant water tower and other 21st-century support structures.

The very essence of the Gettysburg viewshed is now being threatened by a proposed zoning amendment that could change the skyline forever.

On Tuesday, July 26 the Cumberland Township Board of Supervisors will consider a request to amend a zoning ordinance that would increase the maximum height regulations for "essential services" from 35 to 175 feet in Residential and Residential Medium High Districts. This proposed change would open the door for projects such as a recent proposal by the Gettysburg Municipal Authority to build a 175-foot water tower on historic Herr’s Ridge, creating a massive visual intrusion on the First Day portion of the battlefield and overshadowing other critical to the scenic integrity of the park.

We invite you to join us in raising concerns to the Cumberland Township Board of Supervisors about the proposed amendment. It’s essential that we make our voices heard and share our concerns with the Board.

Take a moment to SPEAK OUT – sign the appropriate letter on our website to the Board of Supervisors, emphasizing the need to protect Gettysburg National Military Park’s magnificent viewshed and identify less-intrusive solutions to infrastructure goals. If you are able, please consider attending the Board of Supervisors hearing on July 26 to make your voice heard.

Don’t let Gettysburg’s skyline that we have all come to cherish be scarred forever.

Sincerely,
Jim Campi
Chief Policy and Communications Officer
American Battlefield Trust

NPS Developing Landscape Plan At Antietam

Park Service Developing Landscape Plan At Antietam National Battlefield

From National Parks Traveler
By Compiled From NPS News Releases - July 8th, 2022

The National Park Service is preparing an updated land management plan for Antietam National Battlefield/NPS file

The National Park Service is taking a look across the landscape at Antietam National Battlefield with an eye towards restoration and preservation that would be accomplished through a Landscape Management Plan.

The agency has prepared an environmental assessment for development of the plan and is now seeking public comment on it. The plan would amend the Antietam National Battlefield General Management Plan, last updated in 1992, improve the scene restoration and resource management portions of the GMP, address lands acquired since 1992, and guide the evolving management of the historic battlefield landscape. 

The proposed project includes reforesting approximately 140 acres; enhancing riparian buffers and mitigating erosion; establishing approximately 287 acres of additional native grasslands and meadows; maintaining agricultural areas; re-planting and maintaining orchards; maintaining mown lawn; improving the Mumma Farmstead and location-specific designed landscapes; re-establishing important viewsheds; and maintaining fencing and other landscape elements.

Antietam National Battlefield was established in 1890 to commemorate the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. The purpose of Antietam National Battlefield is to preserve, protect, restore, and interpret for the benefit of the public the land and resources associated with the Battle of Antietam and its legacy. 

The purpose of the land management plan is to develop comprehensive and sustainable land-use strategies that will preserve significant landscape elements and integrate natural and cultural resources. The plan will define the framework for the treatment of the battlefield describing specific guidelines and tasks aimed to maintain and enhance its historic character. Some of the issues the updated plan will address are invasive plant species, pests, erosion of the battlefield, protection of witness trees, improving agricultural and watershed stewardship and climate change impacts. 

Public comment on the plan is being taken through August 8. To learn more about the plan and comment on-line, visit this site. You also can mail comments to:

Superintendent 
Attn: Landscape Management Plan 
Antietam National Battlefield 
P.O. Box 158 
Sharpsburg, MD 21782 

NPS Awards $926,674 to Extend Protected Land at Gettysburg

National Park Service Awards $926,674 to Extend Protected Land at Gettysburg Battlefield

July 9, 2022 Gettysburg Connection
by Community Contributors

The National Park Service’s (NPS) American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) awarded $926,674.18 in Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to protect an additional 4.64 acres of Civil War battlefield lands at Gettysburg.

These projects build on more than a decade of collaborative conservation in which the American Battlefield Trust has partnered with other nonprofit organizations, the NPS, and state and local governments to preserve one of our nation’s most iconic battlefields. The awards are made possible by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which reinvests revenue from offshore oil and natural gas leasing to help strengthen conservation and recreation opportunities across the nation. 

“These grants to state and local governments represent an important investment in public-private conservation efforts across America,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “They support partnership efforts that thoughtfully consider the needs, concerns, and priorities of communities inextricably connected to these unique places and stories.”  

In the months following the July 1863 battle at Gettysburg, local advocates purchased parts of the area known as Culp’s Hill to protect the battlefield and set aside land for those who died in action. By century’s end, the Gettysburg Memorial Association, a non-profit organization chartered to protect the battlefield and commemorate Union forces, turned over many of these acres and monuments for inclusion in the federally managed Gettysburg National Military Park. The NPS stepped up to steward the park in 1933 and, for nearly a century, has worked with partners to protect, interpret, and restore the battle’s most significant sites of military encounters and support operations.   

Since 2015, the American Battlefield Trust has matched NPS ABPP awards totaling $3.69 million to protect nearly 95 acres at Gettysburg. The two grants awarded today support the Trust’s on-going efforts to protect lands adjacent to the park, including tracts on Culp’s Hill, that enhance NPS’s commitment to safeguard the Battle of Gettysburg’s landscapes and memories.

As we approach the battle’s 159th anniversary, the protection of Culp’s Hill looks back to the earliest preservation efforts at Gettysburg and forward with our collective dedication to what President Abraham Lincoln described as “the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”  

NPS ABPP’s Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants empower preservation partners nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened battlefields on American soil. In addition, the program administers three other grant programs: Preservation Planning, Battlefield Interpretation and Battlefield Restoration Grants. Financial and technical assistance support sustainable, community-driven stewardship of natural and historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.  

Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants are available on a rolling basis. To learn more about how to apply, head to NPS ABPP’s website. For questions about NPS ABPP’s grants, contact the program at e-mail us. 

Join Civil War Trust for Live Coverage of Gettysburg 159!

In just a few days, we’ll mark the 159th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. From July 1-3, Trust historians will be coming to you from the field, joined by special guests including Carol Reardon, Doug Douds, Tim Smith, Bryan Cheeseboro and more. I hope you’ll join us – virtually – as we tackle tours and topics across the battlefield.

We’ll cover as much ground as we can, both new territory and a few favorite haunts. But for 2022, we’re drilling down into stories of individual soldiers, as much as possible. There will be content for novices and Gettysburg buffs alike, some special surprises and even giveaways courtesy of our friends at Ancestry/Fold3!

Tune in to the American Battlefield Trust Facebook Page and YouTube channel for this exclusive Battlefield Live event, July 1-3. Make sure to check both, as our connectivity may vary.

We will start around 9:00 a.m. EST, and broadcast intermittently on one channel, the other, or both, throughout the three-day event. We may even get so excited that we post the day before and after as well! 

See you (virtually) in Gettysburg!

Garry Adelman
Chief Historian
American Battlefield Trust

Culpeper Battlefields State Park Authorized in Virginia

At the American Battlefield Trust, we are fond of saying that “we build parks and tell stories” Well, today, we mean it quite literally! 

On June 21, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin held a ceremonial signing of the state’s two-year, compromise budget, which included language authorizing the creation of Culpeper Battlefields State Park, set to open on July 1, 2024!  This park will be formed by the Trust’s donation of some 1,700 acres of battlefield land to the state — hallowed ground that you and I have protected, now recognized for its incredible historic value and embraced for its scenic and recreational opportunities.   

If you’ve ever had the chance to travel to Culpeper, Va., you’ve likely taken in some beautiful sights — from green, rolling hills to rambling horse farms to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west. So greatly steeped in history is this landscape, that we at the Trust have saved roughly 4,982 acres here over the past 35 years we’ve been in operation — at Brandy Station, Cedar Mountain, Kelly’s Ford and Rappahannock Station.  

But Culpeper was not only a place of massive strategic importance in the Civil War, it was also a stop for thousands of enslaved peoples as they hurried northward to freedom; many crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers there. 

Now these historic landscapes will have the chance to attract an even greater crowd of students and lifelong learners as a state park. Its creation from these protected landscapes is the culmination of a tremendous vision shared by not only elected officials across the Commonwealth, but also the preservation community and Culpeper residents. We are also deeply thankful that the budget includes a $3 million appropriation that will allow the Trust to pursue even more land, up to 800 acres, to enhance the park’s visitor experience.  

I’ve seen some of the ideas that have been proposed for this park and I can tell you: We are in for a treat when the park opens in July 2024! Until that time, don’t hesitate to get a head start and check out Culpeper’s battlefields as the summer season provides a picture-perfect setting for exploration.  

Thank you for standing beside us as we strive to save hallowed ground and make it even more meaningful by molding pathways for increased access and refreshing learning opportunities!

Sincerely,

Jim Campi

Chief Policy and Communications Officer

American Battlefield Trust

159th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg - Sacred Trust - Talks and Book Signings

The Gettysburg Foundation presents…

Join us for Talks & Book Signings July 1-3, 2022, at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA.

Daytime Talks in the event tent on the front lawn. Tickets not required.

Evening Talks in the theater inside the Museum & Visitor Center. Free Tickets required for theater seating.

Free tickets for 7 p.m. evening Talks will be available on schedule:

July 1, 7 p.m. Talk - SOLD OUT

July 2, 7 p.m. Talk

July 3 | Available June 16

USS Monitor still in "Astounding Condition"

June 6
CBS News (link to story)

In this May 2022 image provided by NOAA, sand tiger sharks swim next to the USS Monitor's armor belt, 16 miles off North Carolina./ AP

One of the nation's most revered military shipwrecks was visited in May by a NOAA-backed team and they made a surprising discovery 16 miles off North Carolina.

The Civil War ironclad USS Monitor is apparently refusing to surrender to the forces of nature. Despite being on the seafloor since 1862, the first-of-its-kind ship remains in "an excellent state of preservation," according to Tane Renata Casserley, resource protection and permit coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

That's all the more surprising given Navy divers made significant intrusions into the shipwreck in 2002, when they recovered the highly prized turret and other artifacts for preservation, he said.

"The wreck is in an astounding condition after being on the seafloor for 160 years and weathering all of the environmental conditions off Cape Hatteras, including exceedingly strong currents and hurricanes," Casserley told McClatchy News.

"During those (2002) projects, it was necessary to cut into the ironclad's armorbelt, hull, and deck to gain access to the turret since the shipwreck was on top of it. The question for us at NOAA was, did those cuts into the shipwreck cause further deterioration? Would we see significant changes caused by these actions today?"

The answer to those questions "was a resounding 'No'," he said.

It's a revelation that begs explanation, and Casserley has a theory.

The USS Monitor was visited as part of the Valor in the Atlantic expedition, which sent a remotely operated camera to explore multiple ships sunk during the Civil War and World War II.

The USS Monitor was the oldest and most important of them, as the first U.S. warship built with a revolutionary rotating gun turret, NOAA reports.

Monitor sank on New Year's Eve in 1862, in a region off North Carolina known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, due to an estimated 2,000 shipwrecks. Sixteen U.S. sailors were lost in the sinking, historians say. "The waves grew and the wind howled. With each pitch and roll, shock waves ravaged the crew and the hull of the little ship," according to a NOAA report.

"Leaks developed, flooding the engines and reducing steam pressure needed for propulsion. The crew tried using pumps and even bailing with buckets, but the distress was too great. ... The turret was the only escape hatch from below and as the men attempted dashing across the deck many of them were swept into the unknown by the treacherous waves."

Two Confederate holidays could be erased from Louisiana law

From USA Today….
May 26, 2022

Baton Rouge, Louisiana:
Two Confederate holidays would be erased from Louisiana law under legislation approved 4-2 by a state Senate committee. The House-passed bill by Rep. Matthew Willard, a New Orleans Democrat, goes next to the full Senate. Neither Confederate Memorial Day nor the day honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee have been observed in Louisiana for years. They are among a list of holidays a governor can proclaim in addition to other, permanent holidays that include Christmas and Independence Day. The governor is limited in the number he can proclaim in a year.
As amended by the Senate Judiciary Committee A on Tuesday, the list of optional holidays still would include President’s Day, National Memorial Day and a day honoring Huey P. Long, the former Louisiana governor and U.S. senator. Committee chairman Barrow Peacock, a Republican from the Shreveport-Bossier area, was among the bill’s opponents. He said the holidays should be seen as memorials and markers of history that should be remembered

May Armed Forces Events in the Valley

Join us on Sunday, May 22nd at 2PM (1400 hours) when we will once again place flags on Veteran graves at Fairview Cemetery. The Cemetery is located at 855 Lehigh St, Allentown, PA. Your help will be greatly appreciated. The more volunteers the better!!!

Please join the 153rd PA Volunteer Infantry reenacting group in a ceremony honoring the members of the original 153rd PVI buried at Nisky Hill Cemetery as well as all veterans. The ceremony will take place in the Nisky Hill Cemetery, 254 East Church Street, Bethlehem, Pa., on Saturday, May 28, 2022, at 11:00 AM.

See two other events on the photos below:

Memorial Day Order - HQ -GAR - 1868

Washington, D.C., May 5th, 1868
Headquarters, Grand Army of The Republic

General John A. Logan’s General Order 11 (Memorial Day Order)

I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.

If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.

Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.

II. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.

III. Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective.

By order of

JOHN A. LOGAN,
Commander-in-Chief

‍N.P. CHIPMAN,
Adjutant General

Official:
WM. T. COLLINS, A.A.G.