CVBT's and Your Challenge...

Between 1862 and 1864, two great armies clashed in the Rappahannock River valley. Their battlegrounds have entered the nation's memory as Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House.

Veterans of these battles began to preserve the scenes of their great conflicts in the 1880s. But it wasn't until 1927 that a portion of this heritage came under the protection of the National Park Service.

Today, these historic places are seriously threatened. The strategic location that drew armies to Central Virginia more than 140 years ago now draws residential and commercial development at a staggering pace.

From 1970 to 1990, the population of Fredericksburg and its surrounding counties increased 120 percent, a growth rate four times that of Virginia as a whole.

The battlefields are being overwhelmed.

Senseless Destruction...

All across America, urban development threatens to destroy our nation's most sacred ground. Once it is gone, another piece of our nation's past disappears.

No place is this destruction more prevalent than in Central Virginia, "the cockpit of the Civil War."

The Civil War's most famous battlefields -- Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor -- and many other lesser known conflicts, such as Mine Run and Haw's Shop are under attack again. Not from invading armies, but from shopping malls, industrial parks and housing complexes.

We must act now to stop this senseless destruction of our heritage!

Join CVBT now and support the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust's efforts to prevent the destruction of America's Heritage.