Cultural Landscape Report for Wilderness Battlefield, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP

Auwaerter, John; Mealey, James; Stillwell, Kyle; Curry, George

The Cultural Landscape Report for Wilderness Battlefield presents historic research, site documentation, and analysis to support the management of Wilderness Battlefield, one of four Civil War battlefield landscapes contained within Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Orange and Spotsylvania counties, Virginia. Spread across 2,774 acres, the Wilderness Battlefield park unit preserves a wooded and rural landscape associated with the namesake Battle of the Wilderness (May 1864), as well as portions of two related Civil War battles: the Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1863) and the Battle of Mine Run (November 1863). Ellwood, an antebellum plantation located near the eastern edge of Wilderness Battlefield, is addressed separately in the Cultural Landscape Report for Ellwood, published by the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation in 2010. The cultural landscape of Wilderness Battlefield preserves a substantial portion of the 1864 battlefield, along with scenic roads, markers, and monuments associated with the commemoration of the battle and development of the landscape as a national military park in the early 20th century. Although well maintained, the landscape reflects several issues pertaining to historic preservation, interpretation, and park operations. In addition to intrusion of highway traffic and suburban development in the park’s historic setting, several undeveloped parts of the battlefield remain outside of park ownership. Existing fields and woods do not accurately reflect the historic patterns that influenced lines of battle and troop movement in 1864. Defensive earthworks are hidden beneath vegetation or are undergoing erosion. Signage and wayfinding do not adequately convey the battlefield’s historic sense of place and commemorative purpose, and the historic character of some designed park landscapes has been diminished. This Cultural Landscape Report, which will serve as the park’s primary reference for management of the Wilderness Battlefield landscape, has been developed to support the park’s efforts to address these issues. It follows National Park Service methods in landscape research, documentation, and inventory-evaluation based on the Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques (National Park Service, 1998). The Cultural Landscape Report for Wilderness Battlefield is organized into three chapters: Site History, Existing Conditions, and Analysis and Evaluation, with preliminary treatment recommendations included as part of the report’s Introduction. The project area encompasses the land within the authorized park boundary. Surrounding properties are addressed to the extent they inform the history or existing use and character of the battlefield landscape.

Cultural Landscape Report for Wilderness Battlefield, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP

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