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SPENCER, NC -- The Civil War Preservation Trust, with 65,000 members the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States, has released “History under Siege: A Guide to America's Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields 2008”. The report lists the country's 25 most threatened Civil War battlefields alphabetically within two sections. It begins with Antietam, MD, and ends with Yadkin River Bridge, NC.
In the final weeks of the War Between the States, Gen. George Stoneman led a Union force from Tennessee into western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia – his goal to destroy Confederate supplies and supply lines. On April 12, 1865, he overcame resistance north of Salisbury, and occupied the fifth largest city in North Carolina. This city was an inescapable target: site of an infamous prison, Confederate storehouse and arsenal.
With Salisbury under his control, Stoneman turned his attention to the rail bridge over the Yadkin River, six miles to the east. He sent Col. John K. Miller's brigade to destroy the bridge. Miller soon found the bridge defended by Gen. Zebulon York and ten or twelve hundred Confederates, including a large number of “galvanized Yankees”, from fortifications on the far side of the river. Miller sent for the artillery, and the two forces of roughly equal strength fought furiously for five and a half hours. With dark approaching and no means of victory in sight, Miller retreated, leaving the bridge intact. York's defenders had won the last Confederate victory of the war in North Carolina. (Read the rest of the story...)
Today, 200 acres of the heart of this battlefield are threatened by development of the High Rock Raceway. In August, developers got a permit from the Town of Spencer, but failed to apply for a county permit before beginning excavation and grading. Ignoring repeated admonitions and a “stop-work” order, construction was eventually stopped by a court injunction. When the report was prepared, the racetrack still predicted a summer 2008 opening.
The Trading Ford Historic District Preservation Association has opposed destruction of the battlefield since the project was first announced in early 2005. Association President Ann Brownlee is pleased by the recognition of the plight of this battlefield by the Civil War Preservation Trust. “CWPT is the nation's premiere Civil War preservation organization,” says Brownlee. “You expect them to pay attention to Antietam and Gettysburg. It's encouraging that this lesser-known battlefield also warrants their attention.”
In a letter to CWPT members, President Jim Lighthizer said, “All across the nation, America's Civil War history is being attacked by people who couldn't care less about what happened on this hallowed ground.” The message every CWPT member must send to these developers is this: “While you can choose a different site on which to build, we cannot change where our history happened.”
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To contact us: Trading Ford Historic District Preservation Association
400 Lantz Avenue
Salisbury, NC 28144
phone: (704) 633-3125
email: preservation at trading-ford dot org
