The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-27
f-.-,,i ~ 81 c,-r.,-o-s...

peaceful enough to-day, with its broad
and well-shaded streets SIS iine old resi-
ocnce. and its onterprtsinE and h0spita-
Die people. Difficult to realize. indeed. Is
the fact that during he civil var IS
streets literally ran With blood, and is
homes filed with dead and cying. while
TUiH and desOiation was rs legacy from
the c0ntendlng armies which swept madiy
over 81 and through IT, Grim reminders
% those terrible days are the hOlec, SIN
visible. which shell and mimic bail made
in the walls Of the houses.
As with Fredericksburg. so with the re-
gi0n round about. There r. no locality in
fne United States to-day which can equal
80 az a theatcr OF war. Within 4 radius
Of fifteen miles around the city there were
fought a dozen battles. many of them
among the blOOdiest as well as the most
important OF the war. Twice was Fred
"ricksburg the scene OF desperate con-
r.ct, While ten or twelve miles away are
the broad fields which lie around Cnln-
celiOrsvllIe. Beyond Is the Wilderness.
while nearer stlll upon the left, IS SpOtt-
Hylvania Court House. Fredericksburg.
Charlottesville, Spottsylvania, aHG the
Wilderness are indeed names which tnTill
The soul OF every old soldier when they
"Atf 4AA'Aah4b4+-Af ~ EdE 44gAAAAAS VI s1cttAii
Church, TOdd's Tavern, and half Q Gozen
other localities which are less famous Oh y
because the engagements which they Wit
messed are Overshadowed by the deadly
struggles OF the trst-named- Tine actual
compass OF the six battle-helis," 10 quote
from an admirable little pamphlet wrisicn
by !. $, Potter, shown on the military
map was only about 1900 acres, and yet
upon tina; small area nearly J9,0VG men
were, at different times, engaged In q
struggle that dcluged this historic spot
with blood, and probably about 5000 men
were killed, wounded, and missing ia
these memorable conflicts"
An EFsrt at Preservation.
An efIor IS now being made by men
who served on the Northern and Southern
sides. respectively during the war TO pre-
serve these famous battle-felds for fu-
tuTe generations in the form OF a national
memorial park. The nucleus Of this ef-
fort IS the Fredericksburg ana Adjacent
Battle-felds Memorial Park Association,
which was organized in February, 1893,
and Of which Gen. Horatio Q. King is the
Chairman. The Legislature of Virginia
has already passed acts authorizing the
United States TO acquire the territory,
while other acts provide for the con-
demnatiOn Of the property. All that the
State can do has been done, and the next
step must be taken b. Congress. In the
latter body q bill has already been intro
duced appTOpTiating $00,00 for the pur-
pose Of purchasing the land, marking
the boundaries Of the park, opening, i'm
proving or repairing the necessary roads,
and paying the commissioners and treir
assistants.
The sum asked OF Congress IS a mere
bagatelle. In return for it the govern
ment secures thousands Of acres Of land,
much Of which is still SCARED with the
edrthworks Of the opposing armies, ard
all OF which has been the scene Of mil
itary operations. Investigation of The
project convinces one that never was "a
more unselfish, more economical PROPOSE
tiOn made TO Congress. The land is
offered at an average Of $50 an acre, and
most of il Will cost less than 50 an acre.
Not one of the persons connected with
the park association owns a square foot
OF land in the desired district, with ;he
exception of Il very small section imme-
diately adjoining the city, which Will
have TO be taken from one Of the incOr-
porators. II is not intended. of course,
10 take the land out of cultivation
When 1t has been purchased for the gov
eminent the present farmers will con-
tinue 10 occupy their farms by the pay
ment of a nominal rent. They will agree,
however. not 10 disturb such landmarks
as still exist, and TO allow the erection
Of monuments at any point which may
be designated. Many Of them have lived
all their lives upon their farms, which
were owned by their fathers before them,
and they are by no means anxious 10 sell
All OF them appreciate. however, the i'm
mense importance of preserving intact
the famous battle-fields, and they will
surrender their titles with the knowledge
that they are doing 4 service to the coun-
try.
Inspecting the BattIe-fieIds.
An inspection OF the battle-fields has
just been made for the purpose of allow
ing the representatives, OF the government
10 examine the work already done by the
association. This has been quite exten-
Slve and thorough Competent engineers
and military experts have surveyed every
loot Of the territory. and have plotted
the ground, carefully eliminating all
places without real historical value.
The governments representatives were
Col d. ID. Wheeler and Col. Charles
Bird, Of the Quartermaster's Department.
Ell
heer Corps. Accompanying them were
Cen King, the President OF the associ-
atcn; Senator Thomas S. Martin, Con-
gresham w. a. Jones. and many ex-
Union and ex-Confederate officers. who
were thoroughly familiar with the con-
tested ground. Among the latter were
Capt 5 }. Quinn, formerly of Barksdale's
Ir.sade, who still preserves the diction-
AIRY ana the bundle Of letters which say
ed his life by stopping the bullet which
struck him; Cod. W II. Taylor, who was
Robert +. Lees Adjutant General; Majs.
.. r. Hine and r. :. Lacey, who were
in the Union Army; Mai. II. l., Biscoe
and Col Frank Hume, who fought over
the historic ground: Capt NJ b. Rowe
who now owns Maryes Heights, at the
foot Of which is the famous stone wall:
Mai +. =. Norris. formerly of Gen. But
teTiield'S stan, who is an encyclopaedia of
Information regarding the battle-heds;
capt. McCracken ard several others, IN
Guiding MIR. sydney Bradford, the civil
engineer. who surveyed the park and
whose thorough acquaintance with the
ground made him an admirable guide
The party spent tWO days IN their jour
Uey, starting from Fredericksburg. and
after visiting Chancell0rsvihe, spending
me Nfst night al the tHtMnlHs House IN
tie Widemess, in front OF which Wilcox
had his lines, and near whFh the battles
Of May . and ., 1861. were fought. The
second day was occupied with an inspec-
ton OF the battle-ground al Spottsy.vania,
covering the territory over which Gen.
Grant ITIed 10 Ind short cut 10 Rich
mOud.
On Msrye's ksights.
on the morning OF December Is, 1Ss2
the Union forces we're encamped on the
northern shore ot the Rappahannock,
where their batteries commanded the
heights. and were also IN possession OF
the town, which had been shellod on
the heights on the other side OF the town
were the Contcdoratcs iu = long line
which extended several miles from Ham
Atou's crossing On th, right OF Beck's
Island upon tie LEFT Almost IN the cen
Ter OF the lire VAS Maryes Heights. a
Hiil about 80 feet high. With a fine man
SION ct the summit OF it, grassy slope
and with "a stone wall and a -unksn road