Tag: Antietam National Battlefield

Shepherdstown Battlefield Getting $492,000 Grant To Preserve Farmland

The Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board will use the funding to preserve 149 acres that played a role in the lesser-known battle that took place days after Antietam in September 1862.

The National Park Service is giving a $492,000 grant to preserve farmland that was part of the Civil War battle of Shepherdstown.

The Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board will use the funding to preserve 149 acres that played a role in the lesser-known battle that took place days after Antietam in September 1862.

Confederate troops fought off the Union Army at Shepherdstown, which was then in Virginia. 

When they returned to the Potomac River to push north into Pennsylvania the following year, West Virginia had become a state, and a part of the Union.

The preserved acreage will be protected from development but still produce hay and alfalfa.

“The conservation easements this funding will be used for will also ensure that farmers with land in the area can continue to earn a living and help feed America while protecting a piece of American history that is our duty to remember,” said U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.

Another 2023 Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant of $927,000 was awarded to the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission to preserve another 122 acres along the Potomac where most of the battle took place.

Group Seeks to Preserve 84 Acres at Three Civil War Battlefields

A battlefield preservation group is raising funds to protect 84 acres at three Civil War sites in western Maryland and West Virginia.

Spokeswoman Meg Martin said Monday the Civil War Trust aims to raise about $413,000 by year’s end to match about $1.1 million in mostly public funds.

The targets are nine acres at the Antietam National Battlefield, 65 at Maryland’s South Mountain State Battlefield and 10 acres near Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

The Antietam parcel is near the Dunker Church landmark.

The South Mountain parcel is in the unincorporated Frederick County community of Frostown.

The Shepherdstown parcel is near a Potomac River crossing called Boteler’s Ford. It’s part of a 510-acre site that the National Park Service said last year would make a suitable addition to Antietam, if Congress desires.

Park Service Favors Adding W.Va. Battlefield to Antietam

The National Park Service says a Civil War battlefield near Shepherdstown would make a suitable addition to the Antietam National Battlefield in neighboring Maryland.

The agency announced the finding Wednesday. Now it’s up to Congress to decide whether the boundary of the Antietam battlefield near Sharpsburg should be adjusted to include the 510-acre site across the Potomac River.

Congressional authorization would enable the park service to acquire land or conservation easements.

The Shepherdstown battle was the final engagement of the Maryland Campaign, which included clashes at Harpers Ferry, South Mountain, and Antietam.

The Battle of Shepherdstown is also known as the Battle of Boteler’s Ford. It was fought September 19 and 20, 1862 – two days after the battle of Antietam.

It resulted in more than 600 casualties.

Bell Ringing Commemorates Lee's Surrender April 9, 1865

Two Civil War battlefields in Maryland are ringing bells to mark the 150th anniversary of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender.
 
The Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg and the Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick are ringing bells for four minutes Thursday starting at 3:15 p.m. The four minutes symbolize the four years of the war. 
The National Park Service is asking churches and local governments to join in.
 
Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia. He surrendered to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant at Appamattox, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.

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