The 2024 AGM will vote on a proposal to dotate towards signage for the Bermuda Campaign Battlefield site. Here is some further information.
This series of battles took place in May 1864, just outside Richmond, Virginia. The campaign derives its name from the fishing village of Bermuda Hundred, located at the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers. Union General Benjamin Butler, commanding the Army of the James, posed a threat to Richmond from the east but was ultimately stopped by forces led by Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard. Interestingly, one of Beauregard's subordinates was Gen. George Pickett of Pickett's Charge fame. Butler's expedition, however, ended in failure.
Nearly a decade ago, the Blue and Gray Education Society sponsored the placement of over 40 high-quality interpretive signs, bringing much-needed attention to this lesser-known yet important Civil War campaign. Today, these vibrant signs are beginning to show their age, and many now need replacement.
Since their installation, thousands of tourists, school groups, historians, and local citizens have relied on these signs to better understand the events that unfolded on this land. Replacing these signs—and possibly adding new ones—is a critical task that Blue and Gray Education Society's Executive Director, Len Riedel, is committed to completing.
In Len's words: "BGES has a long-standing policy of maintaining what we sponsor. As these signs reach the 10-year stage of their deployment, installing new signage is a cost-effective and strong statement of BGES’s commitment to 'Helping Save America’s Civil War History by Revealing our Past for Our Future.' The expansion of the 40+ sign interpretation with several new signs is further testament to the enduring public interest in these sites and an opportunity to reach even more people."
The goal for this project is $7,000. We invite you to participate in preserving American history and assisting the Blue and Gray Education Society by contributing to this important initiative.
Finally, as Union General U.S. Grant once wrote about the Bermuda Hundred Campaign and General Butler: "He [Butler] sketched the locality, remarking that the position was like a bottle, and that Butler's line of entrenchments across the neck represented the cork; that the enemy had built an equally strong line immediately in front of him across the neck; and it was therefore as if Butler was in a bottle. He was perfectly safe against attack; but, the enemy had corked the bottle and, with a small force, could hold the cork in place."
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