CWTrust Help Save the North Woods at Antietam!

CMWinkler

Colonel
Retired Moderator
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Oct 17, 2012
Location
Middle Tennessee
Save 1.2 Acres at the North Woods at Antietam!

When opportunity presents itself, you must act. Union General George McClellan knew this when he discovered a lost copy of General Robert E. Lee’s orders for his September 1862 invasion of Maryland. Armed with this invaluable intelligence, McClellan set his army on a collision course with the Confederates that resulted in the bloodiest day in American history—the Battle of Antietam. Though “Little Mac” failed to destroy his enemy, as some might have liked, few could argue his decision to bring on a battle in Maryland changed the course of American history.

The Civil War Trust has now been called into swift action—to preserve a 1.2-acre portion of the North Woods on the Antietam battlefield. At a recent auction, the Trust placed the winning $300,000 bid on this land. The Save Historic Antietam Foundation immediately pledged $50,000 leaving us $250,000 to raise within 45 days of the auction. Though we have had our fair share of opportunities at this iconic battlefield this year, this tract in particular—which saw troops from three different Union corps advance and retreat across it—requires our immediate attention. If we do not raise the necessary $250,000 before November 3 of this year, we could lose our chance to save this important piece of hallowed ground.

Help Save the North Woods at Antietam!

P.S. Our imminent deadline to raise the funds necessary to save this land is November 3!


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Looking on Google Streetview, the lot seems to have a nice house and some other building(s) on it, which probably accounts for the steep price. However it will be nice to protect this part of the field and get the North Woods back.
 
Hmmm...wonder if I throw in a bid for 400K and then try to raise the money, if I could save it myself. I'd love to own that and would preserve it as well as the park. :smile coffee:

I should start a GoFundMe page.
 
Got that email today as well and it maddened me, big time... Let me count the ways:

1. Back Asswards operations: You first raise the $, and secure matching funds and then bid.
2. I suspect if they were not campaigning hard to buy expensive land in the Mid Atlantic and NE states in their other project, hitting the same donors from their CWT list, they would have had more luck getting $ for this.
3. Exactly the same thing they did with Lee's Headquarters @ GBG: Buy now, plan and deal with stakeholders later, and have the thing sit for a year.

I think I just about had it with them and their incompetence/lack of focus. Have been supporting them for ages, but I have to regret saying that I will start giving $ to places closer to ACW battlefields than them starting next year...
 
Got that email today as well and it maddened me, big time... Let me count the ways:

1. Back Asswards operations: You first raise the $, and secure matching funds and then bid.
2. I suspect if they were not campaigning hard to buy expensive land in the Mid Atlantic and NE states in their other project, hitting the same donors from their CWT list, they would have had more luck getting $ for this.
3. Exactly the same thing they did with Lee's Headquarters @ GBG: Buy now, plan and deal with stakeholders later, and have the thing sit for a year.

I think I just about had it with them and their incompetence/lack of focus. Have been supporting them for ages, but I have to regret saying that I will start giving $ to places closer to ACW battlefields than them starting next year...

Not sure I understand.....are you saying this piece of property is not worth preserving or is not worth the price paid ?
 
Not sure I understand.....are you saying this piece of property is not worth preserving or is not worth the price paid ?

No. What I am saying is that CWT operations are not the way they should be. Secure $, plan and involve the local authorities and then bid.

Would you bid on a house if you did not have a loan secured or if could not cover it with cash and if you did not make sure that local codes would let you do what you want to do with the property?

They:
- make a commitment to buy
- try to find $
- deal with local authorities for preservation

Back Asswards.
 
No. What I am saying is that CWT operations are not the way they should be. Secure $, plan and involve the local authorities and then bid.

Would you bid on a house if you did not have a loan secured or if could not cover it with cash and if you did not make sure that local codes would let you do what you want to do with the property?

They:
- make a commitment to buy
- try to find $
- deal with local authorities for preservation

Back Asswards.

I agree its quite a backwards way of running things, but I assume they did this to ensure the property wouldn't be purchased from under them before they were able to secure all the funding, hence it would be lost - and possibly developed in a way that would mar the integrity of the battlefield around it.
 
I think the time crunch they are under forces them to do it this way. That's also a very steep amount to raise in a short period of time for that small of a property.

I donated to the Gaines Mill/Cold Harbor fund which is lumped in with some acreage at 1st/2nd Kernstown. That's 86 acres for under $200,000
 
With real estate its all about location. Some areas are more expensive despite the lack of property attached to them. Someone else mentioned there was a house and some other structures on the property which may also account for the price tag. Ideally, you'd like to get more bang for your donation dollars, but I guess that's not always possible.
 
They had to do the same thing a year ago for an acre at Stones River. I think they used some reserve funds and then had to replenish that fund. I would rather see parkland than a fast food restaurant on historic properties like this. Sometimes they have to act.

Besides: it always confuses the situation and brings up questions:
Did Forrest miss the approach of the Union troops at Parkers Crossroads because he was chewing on a Big Mac at the McDonalds beside Route 22?
Were Stonewall's troops delayed at Chancellorsville because they were getting Whoppers at the Burger King on Route 3?
Since they cleared up the non-historic buildings along the Emmittsburg Road at Gettysburg, the only thing I have to research there is whether the rebels were ordering take-out from the KFC during Pickett's Charge.:nah disagree:
 
I agree its quite a backwards way of running things, but I assume they did this to ensure the property wouldn't be purchased from under them before they were able to secure all the funding, hence it would be lost - and possibly developed in a way that would mar the integrity of the battlefield around it.

According to the appeal on the CWT website it appears that this was precisely the case......hope they are able to raise the funds.
 
I was at Antietam the day the auction took place. A ranger mentioned that they expected the parcel to be put up for sale, not auctioned off. It wasn't until the last minute that the owner decided to auction instead of sell. So, they did what they could do in the short amount of time there was. Had they waited to have the funds in hand, they would not have acquired the land.
 
I am a contributor to the cwt and I was a bit put off by the way this went down but I get it. Between this and the "triangle are" saved earlier Antietam should really be a great place. Not that it isn't already!
 
Just saw an email that they are 9k short of goal with only one day left.

Begs the question if they don't reach it, where does everyone's money go who contributed?
 
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