Central Virginia Battlefields Trust is working to create access to its Nine Mile Run property at Chancellorsville by building an automobile pull-off area and installing interpretative wayside panels explaining what happened on this significant piece of land. This almost 12-acre tract comprises two parcels on the north side of Route 3 on both sides of Nine Mile Run. It is across Route 3 from the 99-acre McLaws Wedge property that CVBT saved in 1998 and later conveyed to the National Park Service.
CVBT had previously identified this piece of pristine battlefield land as one ideally suited to interpret and open to public visitation. Upon further review, it was determined that the property requires infrastructure work to make it accessible and safe for visitors. An access and an exit point off the main entrance road both need old, damaged ditch drainpipes removed and new ones installed. In addition, a significant amount of gravel needs laid to form a pull-off and parking area so that vehicles do not have to park along the public street. Finally, interpretive wayside signs will need to be purchased and placed.
The estimate for the basic site improvement work is $10,000.00, which is what we are seeking to raise. Will you help us begin making this historic piece of land open and available to the public? Gifts of any size will support this project. Thank you!
What Happened at Nine Mile Run?
On May 3, 1863, Americans fought each other with alarming ferocity at Chancellorsville. The fighting on that one day eclipsed all other single days during the Civil War, excluding Antietam, in producing casualties. Part of that tragic May 3 story played out on property now preserved by the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. There, along Nine Mile Run, a swampy, meandering stream that eventually runs into the Rappahannock River, Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws attacked Federal troops of Brig. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps division in an effort to drive them from the position.
Among those fighting in an entrenched position for the Federals was Pvt. Warren Persons of the 64th New York Infantry in Col. John R. Brooke’s brigade. Writing to his mother a week after the battle, and following several vivid descriptions of casualties to the comrades around him, Persons explained, “It was a sickening sight to see young men, strong and healthy, in the full flush and vigor of life, suddenly struck down without a moments time for thought or preparation for eternity. It was such a sight as I wish never to see again and especially on the Sabbath, but such are the contingencies of war. As I marched from the scene of conflict that day I could scarcely restrain the tears as I thought of my brave companions left weltering in their gore.”
The $10,000 that CVBT is looking to raise will be used to plan and execute our interpretive efforts. Gifts of any amount will help us.
