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Lake Currents – 11/18/11

Civil War Study Group to Display 1864 Wilderness Battle Relics

by Doug Crain, Member, Civil War Study Group, CWSG

The Lake of the Woods Civil War Study Group is purchasing a display case to be placed in the Lake of the Woods Clubhouse to display Civil War relics found in and around Lake of the Woods proper. The artifacts were primarily left by the troops engaged in the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. Messrs. Dan Hartwick, Dave Francis, and Bill Woods have been responsible for finding some of the relics by metal detecting on Association property. On occasion owners have been generous and offered up their properties to be searched as well. All relics found by these gentlemen are, by signed agreement, to be placed in the LOW display case. If any readers of this article would like to share their relic treasures on a loan or donation basis, it would be very much appreciated. Many LOW residents were living here when they could just walk across their yards and adjacent lots and find so many great items just lying on the ground or against a tree. Those were the days, never to be seen here again. In addition to the permanent articles, the CWSG plans to have revolving exhibits, with people lending their items for display for a defined time period.

Lake Currents – 11/18/11

LOW Civil War Study Group Places Historical Signs

From left, LOWA maintenance workers Mike Margrave and Rod Ahlfield, with Civil War Study Group members Bob Johnson, Joe Rokus, Curtis Abel, Craig Rains, and Doug Crain place the first of three Civil War historical markers furnished by the study group to be erected within Lake of the Woods. This sign is located in the Woods Center parking lot. Other signs will be placed in Spotswood Park and at Cornwallis Beach.

Lake Currents – 08/12/11

Board Minutes, Aug 6, 2011

17.1 Consideration of Historical Signs on LOWA Property.

Motion by McKee, passed unanimously, that the Board approve installation of interpretivehistorical signs designed by the Civil War at LOW Study Group on Association property at Spotswood Park, the Maintenance/Woods Center parking lot area, and Cornwallis Beach.

Motion by McKee, that the Board direct the LOWA facilities organization to purchase, erect and maintain Civil War interpretive signs designed by the Civil War at LOW Study Group at Spotswood Park, Maintenance/Woods Center parking lot area, and Cornwallis Beach. The purchase and erection would not be performed until LOWA receives a payment of $2,400 to cover the cost.

Motion by Meier to amend the motion by deleting the last sentence. Vote: Yea: Meier and Rowland. Nay: Kelly, McKee, Darby and Shope. Motion failed.

Motion by Kelly that the Board rejects the request of the LOW Civil War Study Group to pay for the costs of designing, procuring and installing the three (3) interpretive historical signs. The funding of such a project shall be the sole responsibility of the Study Group. Motion failed for lack of a second.

Vote on the original motion: Yea: Rowland, Meier and McKee. Nay: Shope, Kelly and Darby. President Flynn voted “Nay” to break the tie. Motion failed.

Lake Currents – 07/29/11

Board Minutes, July 22, 2011

15.2 Discussion of Historical Signs on LOWA Property.

Peter Rainey, President of the Civil War at LOW Study Group, asked the Board to consider approval of the installation of three educational, interpretive signs in LOW at specific locations that depict important sites of the Battle of the Wilderness. The cost of the signs would be about $2400, funding sources to be determined. The Board agreed to put this item on the agenda for their next meeting on August 6, 2011.

Lake Currents – 07/01/11

The Civil War at LOW

by Curtis Abel, Communications, LOW Civil War Study Group

Anne Roach stated, “The present generation pays little attention to things which happened in the past, or to stories or happenings which have been related to them.” Who was Anne Roach? She was the first resident of Lake of the Woods. She lived on the life estate property at the mailbox station in Section 9 for several decades before the dedication and plat of Lake of the Woods, and for a few years thereafter. Her house was over twenty years old when her grand-uncle, as a child, sat on the porch and watched the Battle of the Wilderness.

Unless you look into the woods behind the mailboxes, you will not see any evidence of an antebellum house. Similarly, unless you look very carefully you will not find any evidence of the Battle of the Wilderness inside of our community. In fact, very much happened here. The Civil War Study Group has been researching our history for almost a year. Members have located the old trails that tens of thousands of Union troops fought their way through. The story of how the two armies engaged at Saunder’s Field is only the middle of the story. The beginning of the story is about how both sides entered and skirmished within LOW. It also is about establishing a field hospital in section 14. The end is about the last hours of May 6 when thousands of Confederates formed up in Sections 7, 8 and 9 and battled tens of thousands throughout Sections 1 to 4, the hospital at Section 14 was evacuated and the Union army moved out of LOW to behind Section 13.

We would like to pay attention to these things and pass on the stories which relate to them. To do that, we have been designing interpretive signs of the size and quality of the signs in the National Park Service battlefield. If you are interested in this research about Civil War activities in the LOW area, please join us at our next meeting at 10:30 AM in the Woods Center on July 22.

Lake Currents – 06/17/11

Tips from the Pro –Rea Hargraves, LOW Golf Pro

On May 27, we had the Wilderness Battle Memorial Golf Tournament at Lake of the Woods. They had 48 players participate. Lake of the Woods was in the middle of the Battle of the Wilderness during the Civil War. This tournament raised funds to conduct educational programs and construct interpretative panels about events that took place inside LOW during the Battle of the Wilderness in May, 1864. Enough money was raised to pay for one plaque, but more money is needed for three more plaques which are planned. This event was sponsored by Bill Wilson.

Lake Currents – 05/06/11

First Battle of Wilderness Golf Tournament

by Doug Crain, Publicity, Golf Tournament

The Lake of the Woods Civil War Study Group is hosting a “Battle of the Wilderness Golf Tournament on Friday, May 25. A portion of the Battle of the Wilderness was fought over Lake of the Woods land, including the Golf Course. The Study Group is trying to reconstruct what happened here in May 1864, which was the first time General Grant and General Lee met in battle. The tournament is designed to remember the sacrifices of the men of both armies and will also raise funds to precisely locate and mark key locations of the battles, events and sites in Lake of the Woods. The sites will be marked with informational signs with art and narrative description of the site and its import.

The tournament will pit a foursome at each hole with two Rebels in one cart and two Yankees in another cart. Each team plays a two-person scramble. The team that wins the hole wins one point. Whichever side, Rebels or Yankees, holds the most points wins the tournament. There will also be prizes for other situations or events. Registration is 8 –8:45 AM with a shotgun start at 9 AM. So, get a team or teams together and come out for a day of fun, with prizes and braggin’ rights.

This is the first event the club will sponsor to generate funds for design and fabrication of the signs as well as a display of artifacts at the Clubhouse. This study will provide precise location of key events and sites based on the best information available from available literature and verified using state of the art technology. For example, the Culpeper Mine Road, which was an important part of the battle terrain

can be traced to certain holes on the golf course. It is anticipated that this study will make a significant contribution to body of knowledge of this key battle.

Lake Currents – 03/25/11

New Civil War Study Group Plans Golf Tournament

by Dwight Mottet, Member, LOW Civil War Study Group

Residents of Lake of the Woods, who are interested in Civil War history, joined together last fall to form a study group to illuminate Civil War actions that took place on LOW property. The Civil War at Lake of the Woods Study Group began with 18 members. Lake of the Woods covers 2,600 acres, almost half of which are inside the core area or the study area of the Wilderness Battlefield as designated by

the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission in 1993.

The group elected the following officers: Pete Rainey, President; Bill Wilson, Vice-President and Treasurer; and Joe Rokus, Secretary.

In addition to educating residents of the Lake of the Woods about the Civil War events that happened in the LOW geographic area, there are replacement and improvement projects planned, which will require funding. To raise funds for these projects, the Study Group is sponsoring the Wilderness Memorial Golf Tournament on Friday, May 27, at the LOWA Golf Course. The fee for playing this 18-hole tournament is $50. Contact the LOWA Golf Pro Shop at 972-2230 to register by Wednesday, May 18. Some of the projects proposed are:

To restore two Battle of the Wilderness interpretive panels inside LOW, which depicted the trench lines of the Federal and Confederate forces in the battle of the Wilderness. The panels, which had been on Lakeview Drive for more than 20 years, have been temporarily removed because the weather has damaged them beyond repair.
To erect other Civil War-related historical/educational interpretive signs in LOW.
To provide and install display cases displaying Civil War artifacts found in the LOW area at public locations, such as the LOWA Club House and the Woods Center;
To compile a narrative of the Civil War events that happened within the Lake of the Woods area, with emphasis on the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864, and
To conduct special events to draw attention to the LOW-area military activities during the Civil War Sesquicentennial from now through 2015. Among the projects the study group will research are mapping the original Culpeper Mine Run Road that the Federal Sixth Corps used to enter the battle, the Sixth Corps hospital that covered the grounds around the Spotswood home, which was near the entrance to LOW, the Gordon flank attack, which began on LOW land and the various Confederate and Federal units that utilized the area in May 1864.

The organization is open to all residents of LOW and meets at10:30 AM on the

fourth Friday of each month at the Woods Center. For more information, contact

Dwight Mottet at dwightmottet@aol.com, or Joe Rokus at rokus@comcast.net.