Central Virginia Battlefields Trust

The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) All Volunteer Board of Directors with One (1) Paid Administrator Between 1862 and 1864, two great armies clashed in the Rappahannock River valley. Their battlegrounds have entered the nation's memory as Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House. it wasn't until 1927 that a portion of this heritage came under the protection of the National Park Service.Today, these historic places are seriously threatened. The strategic location that drew armies to Central Virginia more than 150 years ago now draws residential and commercial development at a staggering pace. A group of concerned citizens in the Fredericksburg Virginia area decided it was time to stand up to the senseless destruction of our heritage and to form a historic lands trust. The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) was incorporated in 1996 and adopted as its mission the preservation of historic battlefield terrain. Our motto became “dirt and grass.” Since then, we have helped to preserve more than 1060 acres of critical ground on the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House as well as Brandy Station. In addition to purchasing land, our mission includes advocacy for battlefield preservation. At the state and federal levels, advocacy is relatively impersonal. At the local level, advocacy unfolds in a manner much more personal, and therefore can become more confrontational. Consequently, CVBT decided early on to work with local governments rather than in opposition to them. Over the years, we have joined in partnership with developers, preservation organizations, and local governments on several projects. We are proud of the solutions that have preserved selected ground. CVBT remains proactive, with several ongoing projects and negotiations, and with a continuing focus on, and commitment to, our mission of battlefield preservation.