{"id":1314,"date":"2025-03-22T17:07:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T21:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvbt.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=1314"},"modified":"2025-05-14T15:16:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T19:16:17","slug":"working-blog-copy-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvbt.org\/working-blog-copy-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving CVBT’s Witness Trees Sentinels of the Battlefields"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Saving CVBT’s Witness Trees Sentinels of the Battlefields<\/h1>\n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n
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Witness Trees – Brompton – Fredericksburg  – 1863<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Witness Trees \u2013 Sentinels of the Battlefields<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cOnce Civil War soldiers march on to their next battle, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

a witness tree remains as a biologically tenacious symbol of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confirmed witness trees are precious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Witness trees are a living connection to the people and momentous events of the American past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They stand as mute observers of enormous change over time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

linking numerous generations through their continued existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CVBT Witness Tree Protection Program<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one piece of preserved CVBT battlefield, the “Jackson Flank Attack1” parcel, there are Civil War witness trees, possibly up to eleven, which is an extremely rare amount in one location. Imagine what those trees saw while standing near the Orange Turnpike during that one day alone. Gen. Joseph Hooker rode by them to check on XI Corps troops and their line early that morning. That evening, as the attack commenced, some Federal soldiers fled precipitously, while others attempted to stem the power of the assault, including Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Hubert Dilger and his Ohio artillerists. Gen. Thomas Jonathan \u201cStonewall\u201d Jackson also passed these trees, twice; once going east among the flow of his massive assault force, and later, after being wounded by his own troops going west to receive medical attention near Wilderness Tavern. These trees witnessed it all and should receive all the protection and care they can to help them survive and thrive as living connections to these momentous events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Protecting CVBT Witness Trees<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an effort to help identify and protect these aged and admired timbers, organizations and governmental agencies have worked to ensure their safe and continued growth into the future so new generations can experience their power of time and place. Several elderly-arbor-care efforts at a number of historic sites and battlefields like Gettysburg, Antietam, Manassas, and Fredericksburg allow visitors to stand beside an actual living thing where history happened.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Caring for Witness Trees Does Not Come Without Expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Period checkups for tree health, nutrition treatments, and preventive maintenance trimming, along with lightning prevention apparatus and other care measures, by professional arborists, costs thousands of dollars to do properly and have a continuous annual cost as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bRecently, an oak tree on one of CVBT\u2019s Chancellorsville Flank Attack battlefield properties\u2014estimated by arborists to be over 200 years old\u2014fell victim to a powerful windstorm. While it is tragic to lose such a treasured veteran tree that witnessed the pivotal events of May 2, 1863, it also serves as a call to action.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA witness tree begins its life like any other tree. It sprouts. It grows. And then it\u2019s thrust into the spotlight, playing an involuntary part in a significant historic event.\u201d  – Mike Yessis<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Help CVBT Protect our Living Sentinels of the Battlefield<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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