On March 12, 2008, AND ONCE AGAIN ON MARCH 18, 2009, the Civil War Preservation Trust reaffirmed what it originally declared in March 2007: that Fort Monroe is at risk. Below appears the page that we posted back then.

This Daily Press news article reports that the Civil War Preservation Trust has declared ten sites endangered and fifteen more -- including Fort Monroe -- at risk. With a membership of over 70,000, the CWPT is the nation's largest organization devoted to preserving Civil War sites. The organization says that this announcement is "more than a list of threatened historic sites -- it is also a roadmap for saving the last remaining links to a moment in history that defined us as a nation." Read more at the CWPT's Web site. On October 9, 2006, the CWPT issued a resolution in support of a Fort Monroe National Park.

 

Fort Monroe on list of 'at risk' Civil War sites
A preservation organization says five Virginia locations are threatened by development.

Jim Hodges

Daily Press
247-4633
March 14, 2007

HAMPTON -- Fort Monroe, scheduled to cease operations as an Army post in 2011, has been placed on the list of "at risk" battlefields by the Civil War Preservation Trust.

The Washington, D.C.-based organization annually lists 25 battlefields that it considers most under pressure by development, with the top 10 called "most endangered" and the others as "at risk."

Fort Monroe was included in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure legislation, and there's a movement to make it a national park after the Army leaves.

The listing by the Civil War group comes even though legislation calls for Fort Monroe to be considered by the National Park Service. The bill, which has yet to be signed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, also pays homage to preserving the post's history.

"We're very pleased," said Mark Perreault, an officer with Concerned Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park. "The Civil War Preservation Trust issued a resolution last fall supporting Fort Monroe as a national park. This is nationally significant. The (trust) has had good success calling national attention to endangered sites."

Among those considered "most endangered" in Virginia are:

* Cedar Creek, in the Shenandoah Valley, where a surprise Confederate assault Oct. 19, 1864, was beaten back by Union troops. The site is under pressure from mining interests.

* Northern Piedmont, which includes seven battlefield sites over Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Dominion Power and Allegheny Power have proposed 500-kilovolt lines over the sites.

* Petersburg, where 18 major battles were fought in 1864-65. It's under pressure by Fort Lee, which is more than doubling in population in 2011 under Base Realignment and Closure legislation.

Five Virginia battlefields, including Fort Monroe, are on the "at risk" list.

Fort Monroe was a Union base during the Civil War, and the Monitor-Merrimack (known in the South as the CSS Virginia) Battle of the Ironclads was fought nearby.

The post was also a refuge for slaves, who - upon reaching the installation - were declared Confederate "contraband" by the post's commander, Brig. Gen. Benjamin Butler.

Other historically significant sites deemed in jeopardy: Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and Harpers Ferry in West Virginia.

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