Old Campgrounds – Preservation
| 23 rd. SEASON: | |
| Total Amount Raised: | $ 825 |
| Total: Amount Donated: | $ 672 |
| Total Contribution with Matching Grants | $ 116,282 |
| TOTAL FOR ALL SEASONS: | |
| TOTAL AMOUNT DONATED: | $34,797 |
| TOTAL CONTRIBUTED WITH MATCHING GRANTS: | $394,093 |
Click on the pictures below to learn more about each.
Saving 118 Acres at Bristoe Station
Preserving 3 Battlefields in Tennessee
Preserving 7 Battlefields in 4 States: Saving 1053 Acres
Gettysburg Preservation Effort
Brandy Station
Helping Pamplin Park to Grow
Saving the Old Dominion
Third Winchester
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Saving 118 Acres at Bristoe Station
The American Battlefield Trust has come out with by far the largest matching grant in its history as an organization. The matching grant is $539 to $1 and the Trust is looking to purchase 118 acres at the Bristoe Station Battlefield in VA. The membership unanimously approved the round table making a $200 donation toward this matching grant. The total contribution from us with the matching grant is $107,800. This is our biggest contribution yet in the history of the Round Table. -
Preserving 3 Battlefields in Tennessee
Honoring Ed Bearss, The First Defenders dedicated $400 for a matching grant of $21.17 - $1. This brings the total contribution in his name to $8468. -
Preserving 7 Battlefields in 4 States: Saving 1053 Acres
The First Defenders dedicated $200 for a matching grant of $14.10- $1 with the Civil War Trust to preserve the seven named battlefields. -
Gettysburg Preservation Effort
The First Defenders decided in November to contribute to the Civil War Trust campaign focusing on preserving 35 acres that saw the clash of Federal 11th Corps and Confederate Second Corps troops just north of Gettysburg.
The land today is just west of the Harrisburg Pike and due south of Barlow's Knoll, an area dotted with monuments to the men who fought and died in these fields on July 1, 1863.
Our contribution was made in two parts: first, $300 was donated in memory of long-time member Dennis Yerger who died this past summer. His family generously asked that friends consider making gifts in Dennis' memory to the Round Table, and it was determined these gifts should be used for some type of "Gettysburg Project." A total of $300 was donated for this purpose.
The Round Table added another $200 to the Civil War Trust contribution.
This combined total of $500 benefited from a 2:1 Civil War Trust match which means the First Defenders donation resulted in a total of $1,000 raised for this important preservation effort. -
Brandy Station
The Largest Cavalry Battle of the Civil War On June 9th, 1863, the Union cavalry "came of age" as they launched a dawn surprise attack on their much-vaunted Confederate counterparts. While the Rebel horsemen would hold the ground at day's end and J.E.B. Stuart would claim victory, everyone knew the contest was hardly the kind of "victory" to which Stuart's men had grown accustomed. Henceforth, and beginning just three weeks later in Adams County, Pennsylvania, the Confederate cavalry would find it difficult or impossible to best the blue-clad foes.
Preservation efforts at Brandy Station have resulted in some impressive gains over the past few years, and the First Defenders have provided $250 in honor of Ed Bearss' April presentation to the Civil War Trust and its latest effort to save 244 acres in two parcels. With a $6.30-to-$1.00 match, the First Defenders have added $1,575 toward the Trust's $190,000 goal! -
Helping Pamplin Park to Grow
Pamplin Park is situated on land that saw some of the most savage and desperate fighting during the final nine months of the Civil War as Grant and Lee settled into siege warfare around Petersburg. Pamplin Park represents possibly the most exquisite example of private battlefield preservation and development of educational resources. The First Defenders have been fortunate to have several of Pamplin's staff members present to Round Tables, and this year donated $150 to the Park as an extra thanks to our September speaker, Edward Alexander. -
Saving the Old Dominion
The First Defenders contributed $100 to the Civil War Trust's campaign to preserve 313 acres of land at five different Virginia battlefields including Gaines' Mill, Ream's Station, Sailor's Creek, White Oak Road and Williamsburg. These sites witnessed some of the most critical and significant fighting in the Eastern Theatre in 1862 and 1864. The Old Dominion campaign boasted at match of $10.80 to $1, which means the Round Table contribution added a total of $1,080 to the Trust's efforts! -
Third Winchester
The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia includes some of the most beautiful country in the United States, but by 1864 the bucolic rural landscape had been trampled by opposing armies for more than two years. Yet the worst was yet to come in the fall of that year during a time still known as "The Burning." At the outset of that campaign was the Third Battle of Winchester, a strategic union victory. However, much of the land over which the armies fought is unprotected and suffering from both urban and commercial blight. The Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Association is working hard to preserve the key sites of the battle, and the First Defenders chipped in $100 to aid in that effort.
