Chairman's Welcome
By Tod Sedgwick
It is a high honor for me to serve as chairman of your organization. We should all be very proud to be a part of an organization that has saved 23,200 acres in the past 20 years.
I have the unique distinction of bearing a name that is popular with both the Blues and the Grays. My collateral ancestor, Union Army Gen. John Sedgwick, was killed by a sharpshooter at Spotsylvania Courthouse in the Overland Campaign, immediately after urging on his men, saying, "They couldn't hit an elephant at that distance." "Uncle John" is praised by the Yankees for his bravery and popularity but the Rebs also look up to him as a tribute to Confederate marksmanship!
As we approach the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the war at Fort Sumter, the oral history of the war, passed down through the generations, is fading. This makes our great task of saving Civil War battlefields all the more urgent. During this same period that education and family memories of the Civil War are declining, the cost of saving the most important battlefields is skyrocketing. Much of the land between Washington and Richmond, Va., for example, has gone up in price five times in the last few years.
It is certain that all of this land will be either protected or developed in the next 10 to 15 years.
What does this mean? It means that the job is ours and ours alone -- by the time our children or grandchildren grow up, it will be too late.
CWPT receives funds for battlefield preservation in three ways -- through government funding, membership contributions and major donors.
As the cost land acquisition climbs, government funding is virtually frozen and extremely unlikely to go up. That means we have to do the job by growing our membership and seeking out more major donors.
This is where you come in. If you have any friends or family members who you think might be interested in joining or supporting our mission, please email our Director of Membership and Development, David Duncan, at dduncan@civilwar.org.
If you know of anybody who might be able to help us in a significant way, I'd love to hear from you. My direct dial telephone number is 202-337-8068. I'll await your call.