- Joined
- Oct 17, 2012
- Location
- Middle Tennessee
First, I have exciting news to relate:
I recently wrote to you to announce our new "umbrella" organization: the American Battlefield Trust. We have a new name, a new look, but our mission remains the same. I’d like to remind to you that the Civil War Trust is NOT going away, and – as always – you have the choice to support preservation and education projects that speak most deeply to you. You can learn more about the recent announcement here.
With that said, I am thrilled to share one of the biggest Civil War preservation opportunities we have had in recent years.
We are launching an eight-month campaign to save the largest and most significant remaining undeveloped acreage at the First Day’s Battlefield at Gettysburg – 18 acres at Seminary Ridge!
Located just south of Chambersburg Pike, and just across the road from Lee’s Headquarters (which you helped save in 2014), the famed Seminary Ridge saw fierce fighting on July 1, 1863, when Union troops retreated to make their final stand and were met with a renewed and furious Confederate attack.
On this hallowed land, the famed Iron Brigade, along with one New York and six Pennsylvania regiments, desperately tried to hold back the North and South Carolinians in Alfred Scales and Abner Perrin’s brigades. Four Union batteries crowned the Ridge, including six fearsome Napoleon guns posted directly on a portion of these 18 acres, and fired over the heads of the Union infantrymen with devastating effect on the advancing Confederates.
This is some of the most historically significant land at Gettysburg that is still in private hands. Fortunately, the Lutheran Seminary has meticulously stewarded the land, and it is relatively unchanged from its 1863 appearance. But we need to protect it to ensure it can never be destroyed by development.
Due to the location of the land, we will not be applying for matching grants. The price tag is steep – $3.5 million – but I know that with your help, we can save this crucial piece of our history.
When you commit $49 or more, you will receive a special "I Helped Save Seminary Ridge" T-shirt as our thank you. When you commit $100 or more, your name will also appear on our new online donor-recognition wall, and donors who commit $200 or more will also have their names noted on the on-site donor-recognition signs at Lee’s Headquarters (another site that our supporters have helped to save), located just across the Chambersburg Pike from Seminary Ridge.
The future of this hallowed ground is in your hands. Please make your contribution today to protect this hallowed ground, forever.
’Til the battle is won,
Jim Lighthizer
President, American Battlefield Trust
P.S. Please make history today and help save the site of the desperate fight on Seminary Ridge in the First Day’s battle of Gettysburg!