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Kentucky Civil War site is focus of new battle for development

By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

PERRYVILLE, Ky. — In the fall of 1862, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War was fought on farmland just outside a small town in Boyle County, Ky. That battle changed the war in many ways and that farmland has remained much as it was nearly 150 years ago.
The area, which is now a state park, has recently made news again – this time, over a new battle, as a nearby private landowner is trying to turn his property adjacent to the park into a development for residential and commercial purposes. This time, the dispute ended up in the hands of the Perryville city council, which recently voted to keep the area preserved for the time being.

An Associated Press report stated that Marion “Pete” Coyle Jr. had wanted to develop 34 acres of his farm along Highway 150 just west of Perryville. While this battle was won by preservation groups, it may not be the last, according to Mary Koik, a spokesperson for the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT).

“We can’t say all development is bad. As towns grow, they need new infrastructure. But most people don’t realize this is a problem,” she said. “Only about 15 percent of battlefields across the country are protected and 30 acres of battlefield land are being paved over every day. This will probably be an issue again as the community continues to grow.”

The possibility of the development prompted the CWPT to place Perryville on its list of the 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields in the country, which also included a site in Spring Hill, Tenn. The organization said the Spring Hill site “is today threatened with some of the most rapid, unchecked development in the nation.”

The CWPT has previously helped preserve 110 acres of the Spring Hill battlefield. It also bought 385 of the 669 acres of the Perryville battlefield. The organization is America’s largest nonprofit organization (501c3) devoted to the preservation of the nation’s endangered Civil War battlefields.

In addition, the Trust also “promotes educational programs and heritage tourism initiatives to inform the public of the war’s history and the fundamental conflicts that sparked it,” according to its mission statement.

“We are nonprofit in the business of saving that dirt,” said Koik. “In most cases we give the land to state parks or the national government. Whenever possible, we don’t like to hold onto the land.”

CWPT has protected more than 25,000 acres at more than 90 sites in 18 states, in its 20 years of existence. Last year alone the organization rescued more than 1,600 acres of ground at legendary battlefields such as Champion Hill, Miss.; Shiloh, Tenn.; and Petersburg, Va.

“Perryville is one of the most pristine battlefields in the country,” said Koik. “It’s like you go back in time when you’re there. That’s the value of the preservation.”

Ironically, while the actual battle was a victory for the Confederacy, it would turn back Confederate troops out of the state for the duration of the war. Gen. Don Carlos Buell commanded 58,000 Union troops while Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg brought 16,000 soldiers.

More than 1,300 soldiers perished in the battle. Most of the federal troops were removed and buried at the military cemetery at nearby Camp Nelson, but the Confederate soldiers were left and eventually buried by locals in mass graves. One such grave is marked by a monument and stone fence, but many unknown soldiers are in unmarked graves around the battlefield.

Each year, a reenactment of the battle takes place as thousands of reenactors and visitors descend upon the area. For more information about the battlefield, visit www.perryville.net/home.html and for more information about the CWPT, visit its website at www.civilwar.org

This farm news was published in the April 23, 2008 issue of the Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.

4/23/2008