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Battlefield Preservation.
Just got this in an email from the Battlefield Trust.
A crucial part of the “West Woods” portion of the Antietam battlefield has just come onto the market, and we need your help to protect it today. We are working against an urgent deadline that requires us to act now to purchase and protect a 3-acre tract before it is lost.
As you well know, the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), fought on September 17, 1862, is still the bloodiest day in American history. Far more Americans perished on that day than during the attack on Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or September 11.
The area that we are trying to save saw some of the heaviest fighting of the War. Historian Bruce Catton wrote:
“In a square of ground measuring very little more than one thousand yards on a side – cornfield, barnyard, orchard, East and West Woods, and the fields by the turnpike – nearly twelve thousand men were lying on the ground dead or wounded.”
Anyone who has visited this portion of the battlefield is familiar with the state highway that runs through it. Currently, anyone who wishes to walk that western part of the battlefield must “wait until the coast is clear” of speeding traffic before sprinting across the road.
The three acres we are targeting are privately owned land within the boundary lines of the national park. Until now, this land has been 1.) completely inaccessible to the public, and 2.) not protected.
By saving this land today, we will help to open up this part of the battlefield for greater visitation and prevent any future sale and development of this crucial property. Saving this land would add significantly to the historic land preserved all around the West Woods and gets us one step closer to being able to declare Antietam an essentially preserved battlefield.
If we act quickly, you and I can save it forever!
The price to acquire this land is $310,000. While that is a big number, it is also a very fair price. The real kicker here is that we have to close on the property no later than September 30 of this year! That’s right, just a few weeks away.
Thankfully, a few major donors have generously stepped forward to cover half the cost. So, I am asking for your generosity to help raise our $155,000 portion as soon as possible.
Please make a gift to preserve this land today, so that we can honor the courage and valor of the American soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice here.
‘Til The Battle is Won,
Jim Lighthizer
President
American Battlefield Trust
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Just received an email with some video of this tract of land.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi0j...4bb&ceid=19904
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Donating $62 gets you a burial map.
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