Foundation buys part of New Market

[Buffalo-Guard]

Foundation buys New Market battlefield

Part of the funds used to purchase the 69 acres came from the "Gods and Generals" movie.

Miranda Puckett
The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, in association with the Roanoke County-based Center for Civil War Living History, recently purchased the Civil War battlefield at New Market for more than a half-million dollars.
The purchase of the battlefield -- announced Monday -- helps preserve it from urban development; and at 69 acres it is the largest contiguous preserved battlefield area in the Shenandoah Valley.
The property, which includes the Bushong farm, was purchased from Henry Buhl, a retired Harrisonburg High School American history teacher.
The funds provided by the Center for Civil War Living History were matched by a percentage set aside for battlefield preservation from the box office receipts of "Gods and Generals," a film produced by Ted Turner.
Howard Kittell, Battlefields Foundation's executive director, said that the re-enactors from the Center for Civil War Living History have "done a great deal of work with us with our mission to preserve battlefields."
Chris Caveness, treasurer and re-enactor with the center, said that it was nice for people who were involved with the movie as extras or re-enactors to know, "We've accomplished something."
The battlefield at New Market is known for a famous charge by Virginia Military Institute cadets on May 15, 1864.
The Confederate Army, desperately low in numbers, relied on the cadets to fill out their ranks.
VMI cadets led a charge that turned the tide of the Battle of New Market to a Confederate victory -- one of the last Confederate victories in the Shenandoah Valley.

[Fifth Iowa]

It's always great news when another piece of historic land is preserved from destruction. Hurrah!

[nbforrest]

Any idea if the new parcel is contiguous to the main battlefield?

Respectfully

[Buffalo-Guard]

Originally Posted by nbforrest

Any idea if the new parcel is contiguous to the main battlefield?

Respectfully

Good question. I don;t have the answer. I got my inforation from SCV HQ. Prior to that it came from The Roanoke News by Miranda Puckett.

[nbforrest]

The article says the land was part of the Bushong farm, so it must be close to the existing part. New Market would be a fantastic battlefield if it wasn't for I-81 going right through it. Nothing can be done about that though, I guess. Still a nice battlefield.

Respectfully

[Buffalo-Guard]

Originally Posted by nbforrest

Any idea if the new parcel is contiguous to the main battlefield?

Respectfully

This is the response I got in regards to your question.

Dear Mr. Tucker:

I do believe that it runs along land that was already purchased by the foundation and by Virginia Military Institute. If you would like to see a map of the land that was purchased, it is attached to the press release found at this link: http://www.shenandoahatwar.org/news/news_detail.php?news_ID=48

I hope that this is helpful, and thanks for reading!

Miranda Puckett
Staff Writer
The Roanoke Times
540-981-3340

[nbforrest]

Excellent, thank you for the link. Answered my question perfectly. Now, I wonder if the area south of the park with the battle's earlier stages will ever be opened to the public? I wasn't aware that land outside the present park was preserved.

Respectfully