Re-Enactment Will Raise Awareness for Jamestown Protection (VA)

January 9, 2006, Jamestown, VA: The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national nonprofit land conservation organization, announced today it will be a major sponsor of the 225th Anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Green Spring re-enactment, which will take place July 15-16, 2006 near Jamestown.

The event, hosted by the 2d Virginia Regiment, a Revolutionary War living history organization, will raise awareness as well as funds for TPL’s purchase of the 198-acre Jamestown Campsites and Yacht Basin properties that contain part of the original battlefield. The event will feature hundreds of re-enactors who will bring the Battle of Green Spring to life through interpretive programs and battle recreations both days. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience the everyday life of the soldiers of the American Revolution up close and witness a battle recreation.

In April 2005, TPL announced an agreement to purchase 198 acres, including a portion of the Green Spring battlefield for $12.5 million. Earlier this month, a deposit of $3 million was made toward this purchase thanks to a $2.9 million commitment by the James City County Board of Supervisors. Funds raised from the event will be donated to TPL and added to financial support from local, state, and federal sources for the purchase.

The July 6, 1781 battle was the last major clash between roughly 1,000 Continental troops under General Anthony Wayne and 2,000 British, Loyalist and German soldiers commanded by British General Lord Cornwallis, who would ultimately surrender at Yorktown in October 1781. Often lost in the “Historic Triangle” of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, the Battle of Green Spring is an important reminder of the larger Virginia Campaign that began in January 1781 with battles throughout the Commonwealth, and ending in victory for the Americans in Yorktown.

“When the Battle of Green Spring took place, the fate of the American Revolution was yet to be determined.” said Todd Post, president of the 2d Virginia Regiment. “George Washington, most of the Continental Army, and our French allies were hundreds of miles away to the north, and all that stood between the British and Virginia was a vastly outnumbered detachment of Continentals and Virginia militia. Battles such as Green Spring set the stage for the eventual surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown and America’s independence.”

Currently, there is no preserved battlefield where the Battle of Green Spring took place and the area is only marked by a few historical markers. TPL’s efforts to purchase and conserve the historic property will not only preserve the battlefield, but its Jamestown colony connections and the environmental resources along the James River.

“This collaboration between TPL and the 2d Virginia Regiment will engage the pubic in the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect this strategically located property while offering them the chance to learn first-hand about the Revolutionary War history of the site and the area,” said Debi Osborne, senior project manager for The Trust for Public Land. “We call upon other organizations and individuals to join us in sponsoring this critical event in the history of our nation and the future of this irreplaceable property.”

For more information about the event, go to www.battleofgreenspring.org.