Governor McDonnell Announces Civil War Battlefield Preservation Grants

The following is a release from the Governors office:

“As the Virginia commemorations of the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War cross the midway point between 2011 and 2015, Governor Bob McDonnell today announced 13 grant awards to organizations working to preserve historic battlefields for present and future generations of Americans.

The grants originate from the Civil War Site Preservation Fund that Governor McDonnell and the General Assembly established as a permanent fund in 2010. Funds for this year’s grants, totaling $2,252,663, will be awarded by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, which determines the awards based on a rigorous evaluation process. This year's awards will assist in protecting more than 1,265 total acres associated with battles at Appomattox Court House, Ball’s Bluff, Beaver Dam Creek (Mechanicsville), Brandy Station, Cedar Creek, Chancellorsville, Deep Bottom, Kelly’s Ford, Malvern Hill, Rappahannock Station (I and II), Second Manassas, and Sailor’s Creek.

The grant recipients are the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, the Civil War Trust, Richmond Battlefields Association, and the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. These organizations will match state funds either to purchase lands approved as part of the awards process or to obtain easements on specific tracts. All awards will result in the donation of perpetual easements to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

“Through concerted efforts to conserve battlefields this administration and our partners are leaving to present and future Virginians a lasting legacy,” said Governor McDonnell. “It is fitting that coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War we have conserved through public-private partnerships lands that witnessed such immense sacrifice. In doing so, we save hallowed ground and honor the Commonwealth’s past while we simultaneously make an investment in its future through heritage tourism.”

This year’s grants mark the third consecutive year that Governor McDonnell has announced awards tied to the Civil War Site Preservation Fund (CWSPF), bringing the total of battlefield lands conserved through CWSPF grants during the McDonnell administration to 4,587 acres.”