Development at site of famous battle riles history buffs

FREDERICKSBURG, Va.-- More than 140 years after the famous Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville, a new fight is brewing over a proposal to build a town on the land that gave Confederate general Robert E. Lee his greatest victory.

The Spotsylvania County Planning Commission voted 5-2 in favor of building the new town in northern Virginia, a rapidly growing region that was also the epicenter of the Civil War. The final decision rests with the county's sharply divided Board of Supervisors.

James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust, which has worked to preserve some 15,000 acres of Civil War battlefield over the years, called the skirmish "one of the biggest fights we've ever had."

Jim Campi, a spokesman for the trust, said more than 10,000 letters, phone calls and e-mails have been sent to the seven-member Board of Supervisors.

"Chancellorsville is a national name, right up there with Gettysburg, Antietam, Vicksburg," Campi said. "A lot of times people become involved in these fights because of environmental concerns. In this case, both locally and nationally, a lot of people are involved because of the history."

Last month, voters in the county district that includes the battlefield elected a new supervisor who opposes the development. He won with 64 percent of the vote and says the development was "absolutely the overriding issue" in the campaign.

The 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville is a textbook example of military ingenuity -- Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf cited the battle as inspiration for his plans during the Gulf War. Lee's outnumbered troops whipped Union forces in a three-day battle that resulted in 30,000 casualties on both sides.

The victory emboldened Lee to invade Union territory, leading to his defeat at Gettysburg a few months later.

Developer Ray Smith, of Dogwood Development Group in Reston, initially proposed a 2,350-home development with about 2 million square feet of commercial space -- the rough equivalent of 10 Wal-Mart stores -- on an 800-acre parcel. He has since scaled back his plans to include 1,995 homes.

The development is proposed for land next to the existing national park that preserves land from the Chancellorsville battlefield and from other nearby battles, including Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania Courthouse and Wilderness.

There is no current town of Chancellorsville, nor has there ever been. In 1863, Chancellorsville was merely a crossroads and a tavern. But Smith envisions his new town looking like those that dotted Virginia in Civil War times -- self-sufficient, with residents living in homes inspired by 19th-century architecture, able to walk to schools and shops in a town center.

The development would also include three hotels and other tourist-friendly amenities that Smith says would boost attendance at the existing national battlefield park, which has been declining in recent years.

In addition, Smith said his plan would preserve about 55 acres that are the most historically significant on the parcel and make it a battlefield park.

"The preservationists have stirred people up, but I'm not quite sure why," Smith said. "Where the fighting happened, we're preserving it."

Lighthizer's group commissioned a poll showing that 66 percent of county residents opposed the development. Smith disputed the poll's findings, saying a majority of county residents support the project because of its potential to add millions of dollars to the tax base of a rapidly growing county that needs to pay for new schools and other services.

Lighthizer, while insisting that local opposition is strong, said national sentiments should not be ignored. Smith acknowledged that national opposition is also mounting.

"The preservationists from around the country have become involved at a much greater level than I expected," Smith said.

Sandy Rives, a spokesman for the National Park Service, said the park is concerned that the development will increase traffic on a busy highway that cuts through the battlefield. But Rives is optimistic that a solution can be reached.

"Are there ways the project can continue and the battlefield can be protected? I think there is a way to figure something out," he said.

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On the Net:

http://www.townofchancellorsville.com

http://www.civilwar.org