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News
Monterey Battlefield Preservation

Chambersburg Chamber supports Monterey Pass Battlefield preservation

 

     WAYNESBORO – The Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce donated $1,000 to the Friends of the Monterey Pass Battlefield Inc. on Wednesday (Aug. 24, 2011) to help the organization with its plans to purchase battlefield property. The Chamber presents three Civil War seminars each year and donates some of the proceeds for battlefield preservation. Since the seminars began in 1989, the Chamber has donated nearly $150,000 to numerous preservation organizations.

     “As chairperson of the Friends of the Monterey Pass Battlefield, I could not be more pleased with this donation. I am very happy to see our battlefield gain recognition and support from these organizations,” said Alicia Miller. “Several opportunities have arisen which could result in preserving strategic lands where the Battle of Monterey Pass occurred. We are currently within striking distance of purchasing one of these properties thanks to donations from organizations like the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce. To all those who have donated thus far, I would like to say thank you for assisting us in preserving this significant Civil War battlefield for future generations to enjoy,” Miller said.

     “Our Civil War seminars bring history buffs and leading historians from throughout the United States to Chambersburg, so the opportunity to preserve a battlefield in Franklin County is important to us,” said Cindy Baker, representing the Chamber. “The Monterey Pass battlefield – the site of the second largest Civil War battle in Pennsylvania after Gettysburg – is part of the rich history of Franklin County.”

     On July 4-5, 1863, about 10,000 soldiers fought in a midnight battle as Confederate soldiers departed Gettysburg after the historic battle there. At Monterey Pass, Union soldiers took more than 1,500 prisoners and destroyed 9 miles of Confederate supply wagons.

     The preservation group wants to establish an interpretive center about the Battle of Monterey Pass, Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania and his withdrawal from Pennsylvania after the Battle of Gettysburg. The check presentation occurred at Blue Ridge Lions Club Park near Blue Ridge Summit, where a Civil War Trails marker includes information about the battle.

Cindy Baker, sixth from right and representing the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce, presents a $1,000 check to Alicia Miller, chairperson of the Friends of the Monterey Pass Battlefield. They are surrounded by Washington Township officials, where the land is located, and representatives of the Franklin County Visitors Bureau, the Greater Waynesboro Chamber of Commerce, the Waynesboro Main Street program, the Blue Ridge Lions Club and historians.


    

 
Civil War Seminar/tour to include Va. battlefields

Civil War seminar/tour to include Va. battlefields

     HAGERSTOWN, Md. – The registration deadline is nearing for a July 27-30 Civil War seminar featuring some of the nation’s top historians, including well known battlefield guide Ed Bearss.
     The four-day seminar, “First Blood: Manassas and Ball’s Bluff, is being presented by Chambersburg (Pa.) Civil War Seminars and Tours and will be based at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, 1718 Underpass Way. Contact Cindy Baker at (717) 264-7101 for information or see the Web site, http://www.chambersburgcivilwarseminars.org. The Web site includes the brochure for the seminar.
     Tours will include First Manassas and Ball’s Bluff battlefields and other sites in northern Virginia, including Fort Evans, the National Firearms Museum, the 17th Virginia Museum and Gen. Robert E. Lee’s boyhood home.
     Manassas was the site of the first sizeable land battle of the war, according to Ted Alexander, chief historian at Antietam National Battlefield and co-founder of the seminar. Confederates won battles at Manassas and Ball’s Bluff, a smaller battle site near Leesburg. “Battles don’t have to be big to be important. Ball’s Bluff was symbolic because a Union force was routed just upstream from the nation’s capital,” Alexander said. Col. Edward Dickinson Baker, a U.S. senator and friend of Abraham Lincoln’s, was killed at Ball’s Bluff, bringing the war closer to the heart of the Union. (Baker is the only U.S. Senator ever killed in battle.) Dead bodies also flowed into Washington, symbolic because it indicated “the Confederacy was on a roll,” Alexander said.
     Seminar topics include “Uniforms of 1861,” “West Pointers and the Civil War,” and “Union and Confederate Leadership in 1861.” There also will be an auction of Civil War-related books and other items, at 8 p.m. July 29.
     This year is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, stirring interest about the earliest days of the war.
     The final seminar of the year, from Sept. 30-Oct. 2, will focus on “The Opening Guns: War Comes to Maryland and Washington, D.C.” and how the war impacted these two cities. A bus tour will include Civil War Baltimore.
     The seminars have raised more than $135,000 for battlefield preservation since their inception in 1989.
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Auction raises funds for battlefield preservation

Chambersburg Civil War Seminars raises funds for battlefield preservation each year through its annual Luhn Memorial Auction.

The seminars have raised more than $140,000 for battlefield preservation since their inception in 1989. The auction is in memory of Civil War historian and preservationist Ed Luhn. Hundreds of books, prints, memorabilia, gift certificates, and other items related to the Civil War and American history are auctioned each year during the July seminar. The proceeds go to organizations such as The Civil War Preservation Trust, Gettysburg Foundation and The Save Historic Antietam Foundation.