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Protection trust buys Manassas battle site

MANASSAS - In what could be called the third battle of Manassas, the preservationists have prevailed, and without firing a single shot.

To the victor goes the so-called Davis Tract, a 136-acre swath of land where Union and Confederate troops clashed in bloody fighting during the Battle of Second Manassas in 1862.

The Civil War Preservation Trust, working closely with a group of anti-sprawl advocates, announced yesterday it has bought the land, just west of the Manassas National Battlefield Park, for $650,000, with the intention of permanently protecting it from development and making it part of the park.

"Surrounded by sprawl, Manassas remains one of the most endangered of this nation's Civil War battlefields," said James Lighthizer, president of the trust. "It is indeed a pleasure to be able to snatch such a historic piece of real estate from the jaws of development. This saves an extremely important piece of a Civil War battlefield, and we are also making a small crimp in suburban sprawl by saving 136 acres of open space."

But the trust - a nonprofit group formed to fight plans by the Walt Disney Co. to build a theme park near Haymarket - could not have won the Davis Tract battle without the help of a group of determined homeowners who feared the land could soon become just another Prince William County subdivision or strip mall.

Led by 41-year-old Gregory Gorham, the Sudley Mountain/Stony Ridge Civic Association raised $130,000 toward the purchase of the land and enlisted the help of the trust to acquire it. Some residents were even willing to mortgage their properties for the cause.

"I was amazed that some of these people were willing to take out mortgages on their property to save this land," said Robert Sutton, superintendent of the Manassas park. "These people were serious."

It was a matter of historic preservationists and slow-growth advocates finding common ground and using government and private money to achieve their goal. The state of Virginia contributed $200,000.

Although about 4,500 acres in and around the historic park are protected from development, another 2,500 adjacent acres are not protected. The Davis Tract was considered among the most historically significant of these properties, said historian John Hennessey, author of a book on Second Manassas.

It was there, on Aug. 29, 1862, that Union forces briefly drove back the Confederate lines, only to be scuttled by forces led by Jubal Early. About 2,000 men were killed or wounded during the assault, he said.

"Though this land is outside the boundaries of the park, it is blood-soaked land," Hennessey said.

While the two Civil War battles that took place near Manassas resulted in 27,000 casualties, Gorham said he knew little of the historical value of the Davis Tract when he first saw it in 1998. He had bought some property nearby and planned to build a house. He was concerned about the future of his neighborhood and thought the vacant land was ripe for development. Development probably was still years away, because the area has no sewer service, but Gorham was undaunted.

"I wanted to be sure I was moving to an area that wouldn't change," he said. "I didn't know it was historical land until I looked into it."

Gorham did some digging, contacted the trust and shared his plans. A movement to save the land began in earnest. It did not hurt that residents of the area had been battled-tested by their scrap with Disney and by an earlier, successful fight to block a shopping mall from being built on land that is now part of the park.

"We are battle-scarred," said Brad Bradshaw, a veteran of the Disney fight who headed fund-raising efforts on the Davis Tract. "We've been through the wars, and we know how to fight."

The successful effort could serve as a model for others wanting to save historic property, Hennessey said.

"This really is a case study of how everything outside the boundaries of our battlefield parks will be preserved," he said. "Over the next 40 years, this is how it will be done, involving residents, historical preservationists and the government."