If it wasn’t enough that Wal-Mart already has one of these monstrosities every 5 miles along every major highway and dirt road, they now want to put one immediately next to the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County, Virginia.  A formal application for the project was filed on Friday, December 5, 2008. 

     A group of 253 historians have sent a letter to Wal*Mart’s CEO Lee Scott urging him to reconsider their plans to build the 138,000 square-foot store in that location.  Among the historians signing the letter are documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and Nation Park Service Chief Historian Edwin C. Bearss.

     An article on the website of the National Civil War Preservation Trust is quoted as saying

“Although many individual historians have previously voiced opposition to Wal-Mart’s Wilderness proposal, such a large and diverse group uniting in this cause demonstrates how important the Wilderness is to our nation’s heritage, noted Lee White, executive director of the National Coalition for History (NCH), one of the eight groups making up the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition, which circulated the letter.”

     It is feared that the building of the store will increase traffic and promote other development that will only further encroach on the Wilderness Battlefield.

“The Wilderness Battlefield is the biggest tourist destination in Orange County,” remarked Craig Rains of the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield. “A store this large, set amid a nearly pristine rural landscape, threatens to overshadow the experience of the tens of thousands of visitors who come to the battlefield each year. Moving the store, even just a short distance, can prevent that” said Historian Edwin Bearrs.

     The Battle of the Wilderness was fought over the course of two days in May of 1864 and was one of the most significant engagements of the Civil War.  This battle was also important because it was the first meeting of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Union General U.S. Grant in the war. Almost 29,000 combatants were killed, wounded or captured during the struggle of The Wilderness.

   I strongly encourage our visitors to visit www.wildernesswalmart.com and lend their support to The Wilderness Battlefield Coalition to prevent this degradation of one of our nations treasured battlefields.