
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, October 17, 1994                   TAG: 9410170088
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VERMONT GIVES $15,000 TO PRESERVE BATTLEFIELD

The heavy fog 130 years ago masked the early-morning approach of 7,000 Confederate soldiers. Their sudden attack at Virginia's Cedar Creek devastated the Union Army, leaving hundreds dead and the rest scattered and dazed.

But it is the stuff of legend how Gen. Philip Sheridan, hearing the fighting from 20 miles away, mounted his great black horse, Rienzi, and galloped toward the battlefield, his presence alone inspiring the retreating troops to regroup and reclaim the Shenandoah Valley from the Confederacy.

As Capt. Squire Howard of Vermont claimed, ``Never since the world was created was such a crushing defeat turned into such a splendid victory.''

It is the stuff of legend as well how the victory would not have been possible without the Vermont troops. A stone monument at the Middletown battlefield honors the 8th Vermont Regiment.

So it is fitting perhaps that on Sunday, as thousands of Civil War buffs re-enacted the fateful battle, Vermonter Howard Coffin presented the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation with a check from the state of Vermont for $15,000.

The Vermont Legislature appropriated the money this year to help preserve 150 acres of the Cedar Creek battlefield that has been purchased by the foundation.

Coffin, a Civil War historian whose great-grandfather, Elba Jillson, fought in the Civil War, has been one of the leaders in the effort to preserve the battlefields, some of which are being swallowed by developments and shopping malls.

``Vermont is the first state to donate money to preserve this battlefield,'' Coffin said. ``It is a huge battlefield, and this 150 acres is just a small part, but it is a start.''

by CNB