Civil War battlefields endangered

The site of the single bloodiest day in American history is under siege — threatened by a 120-foot cell phone tower, says a preservation group.

The vast field in western Maryland is where the Battle of Antietam was fought on Sept. 17, 1862. It's one of the 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields, according to an annual report released Wednesday from the Civil War Preservation Trust.

The list includes other historic sites in Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee.

"In almost all cases, it is suburban sprawl that threatens these battlefields," said Jim Lighthizer, president of the trust. "We're not against development, but we're for thoughtful, sensitive growth that takes cognizance of the assets in the community."

The Battle of Antietam ended Gen. Robert E. Lee's first attempt to invade the north. It resulted in nearly 23,000 casualties — about 3,700 killed, 17,300 wounded and 1,800 captured or missing. The casualties over a 12-hour period shocked the nation.

The trust says the site is virtually devoid of visual intrusions, giving visitors a sense of the battlefield as it was in 1862. The cell tower, it says, would rise 30 feet above the tree line and be seen from almost all of the site's most famous vantage points — including Lee's headquarters.

Another major concern for the trust is the Cedar Creek Battlefield in Virginia, where Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early attacked Union forces in the fall of 1864. Union troops, however, were able to rally and defeat the Confederates. The trust says the site is facing a triple threat: expansion of a limestone mining operation, possible widening of I-81 and the proposed inclusion in a plan to expand power line construction.

Intense development pressure in the Richmond, Va., area is the reason the Cold Harbor battlefield is on the list. The 1864 battle saw heavily entrenched Confederate forces repel repeated attacks from a Union army nearly twice its number.

Only 300 of the battlefield's 7,500 acres have been preserved, the trust said. It said a county plan would double the housing density allowed in the area, encouraging more development.

The other endangered sites on the list are: Perryville, Ky.; Prairie Grove, Ark.; Hunterstown, Pa.; Monocacy, Md.; Natural Bridge, Fla.; Savannah, Ga., and Spring Hill, Tenn.

With its more than 60,000 members, the trust said it was able to save more than 1,600 acres at legendary battlefields last year. It cost about $14 million to buy the land, said Lighthizer.

The trust is the nation's largest nonprofit battlefield preservation group.

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On the Net:

Civil War Preservation Trust: http://www.civilwar.org