The parcel of land that was placed under conservation
easement in 1994 is 39 acres located in the core of the historic Cross Keys
Battlefield in Rockingham County, Virginia.
It is rolling farmland sloping toward the creeks that flow to the former
site of Goods Mill. The land at the time
the easement was created was documented as having the same topography that
characterized the land in 1862. This
landscape is central to understanding the action that took place between the
Confederate troops and the Union troops in the Battle of Cross Keys, because it
is right in the middle of the line of fire and troop movements of this well
chronicled and much studied battle of June 8, 1862. The land had remained in agriculture since
the 1860s and was purchased by Peter Svenson in 1985. His ownership and farming of the land – and its
historical significance – was documented in vivid and moving detail in Battlefield: Farming a Civil War
Battleground, a book published in 1992 and nominated for a National Book
Award. The book received wide attention and great praise. Two years later, when an
easement was recorded to protect the treasured, historic land “in perpetuity”
the act was heralded as a first and set a precedent that led to over 40,000
acres of privately owned Civil War battlefield land in Virginia being placed
under easement.
"This compelling memoir is by turns charming and chilling. As the artist-author
restores a forty-acre farm field and builds a house in Virginia's Shenandoah
Valley, making the mistakes of a city slicker but somehow bumbling through to
success, he also uncovers the story of the Battle of Cross Keys that was fought
on his land 125 years earlier. Alternating chapters focus contrapuntally on the
1980s and 1860s, keeping the reader glued to these fascinating pages."
-- James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom
-- James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom
