Hello Battlefield Members and Supporters, 

We have several important items to present.  Firstly, we’d like to sincerely thank the long-term commitment of outgoing Officer Ms. Cindy Feeser and departing Board of Director Ms. Pam Underhill.  Your contributions have been essential over the last couple of years, and we thank you for your volunteer efforts on behalf of the battlefield.  

We are excited to announce that Dr. Tom McGrath will be joining the SBPA Board of Directors.  We know Tom well as a Professor and Author, as well as a long-time battlefield supporter and educator.  His bio is below.  He has already agreed to lead a tour on April 26 Park Day and present a talk that evening at 7 pm at the Opera House.  Both are focused on the movements of the Confederate (AP Hill) Pender’s Brigade during the Battle of Shepherdstown.  I am really looking forward to both the tour and talk as this subject area has not previously been presented in a formal, public manner.  Welcome Dr. McGrath.

We have a new Secretary, Ms. Stephanie Unger, a long-time educator at the Shepherdstown Middle School.   Her bio is below.  She is a committed battlefield supporter who lives off Trough Road in the core of the battlefield.  She is looking forward to working with our membership to catalyze volunteer activities, fundraising and dispersing new educational information. 

Thirdly, we have a new Treasurer, Ms. Elizabeth Nicholson of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission.  Her bio is below.  As you can see, she is a valuable addition to our staff with extensive expertise in items that are directly relevant to the battlefield at this time.   As HLC member, she has already agreed to lead the Cement Mill work group during Park Day on April 26.  She is also spearheading a Graffiti Removal Workshop at the Cement Mill structures on Saturday, May 17.  So, she is quite committed to our cause already.  Her position on the HLC allows the SBPA to further develop ties to one of our primary partners in battlefield preservation and development.  As SBPA Treasurer, she can help distribute the rental income from the Osbourn Farm (~$30k annually) in agreement with our organizations’ common goals.

Lastly, one of my most enjoyable activities each year occurs in January.  I work with the ABT, Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board and the JC Historic Landmarks Commission to tabulate the acres of core battlefield that have been protected.  As each organization has their own accounting and presentation methods, this is more challenging than might be thought.  We just completed this January’s exercise with key input from Kathy Robertson, ABT, and Jason Adams, Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board.

     The grand total for January 2025 is: 1,066 acres. I have been hoping for years that we’d see our efforts going over 1,000 acres protected and NEVER expected it this soon.  We have the momentum and are actually establishing a new battlefield!  A huge congratulations to SBPA members and battlefield supporters.   

Thanks to all the SBPA members and battlefield supporters for your continued commitment to preserving the Shepherdstown Battlefield.   The new officers and Board member provide us with an improved tool set of skills and expertise as we move forward with the exciting events already planned for 2025.  Please welcome our new Officers and Board member.  

Regards,

Mike Nickerson, Ph.D.
President
Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association

Dr. McGrath Bio for the Board of Directors

Born and raised near Boston, Dr. Tom McGrath received his Bachelors Degree in History from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  He has a Masters in Civil War Studies from American Military University and a Ph.D. in History from the State University of New York at Albany.

He is the author of Shepherdstown: Last Clash of the Antietam Campaign, September 19-20, 1862.  He has written numerous articles for a variety of publications including “Gettysburg Magazine” and “Blue and Gray.”  Tom served as Chief Historian for the National Park Service’s Special Resource Study of the Shepherdstown Battlefield.  He is currently Associate Professor of History and Humanities at North Country Community College in Ticonderoga, NY.

Stephanie Unger Bio for Secretary

This year marks my 25th year of teaching at Shepherdstown Elementary and Middle Schools, currently teaching 8th grade WV History.  I have been enjoying my 3rd year on the board of Historic Shepherdstown where I am the Marketing chair and on the Archives, Museum, and Events committees.  For 10 years I co-owned Earth Vibe Productions and Events helping to put on community events including The Panhandle Earth Day Celebration at Morgans Grove Park.  I am a mother of 2 grown children and grandmother of 3 rambunctious grandchildren.  I currently live on Trough Road and have enjoyed taking part in the preservation of the Battle of Shepherdstown as well as volunteering for the various activities they sponsor in our community.  I look forward to continuing my commitment to the SBPA as your secretary.

Elizabeth Nicholson Bio for the Treasurer

Elizabeth Nicholson is a preservationist and museum professional dedicated to safeguarding historic sites and engaging communities in heritage conservation. With a BA in history from SUNY New Paltz and a Master of Design Studies in Historic Preservation in progress at Boston Architectural College, she has worked extensively in collections management, monument conservation, and historic site stewardship. Through roles with the National Park Service, local historic commissions, and museums, Elizabeth has developed expertise in preservation treatments, grant writing, public programming, and community outreach. As an AmeriCorps member with the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, she continues to advocate for the protection and appreciation of local history.

Schedule for Park Day at Shepherdstown Battlefield hosted by SBPA:

9:00 A.M. :  Park Day volunteers meet at Riverside park at the intersection of River and Trough Roads.  Off road parking available.

• President of SBPA, Mike Nickerson, will greet volunteers and give us a rundown of the day.  
• Volunteers will break into two groups: Union and Confederate.

9:15 A.M. :  Leave Riverside park for clean up assignments

• Union Group will stay at the river to clean up and around the Cement Mill.  
• Confederate Group will head to the Osbourn Farm to clean up along the house, barn, and driveway.  

11:00 A.M. :  Trough Road Clean up by both Union and Confederate Groups

• Trashbags will be available, gloves and trash grabbers are recommended.
• Litter bags drop off locations – Intersection of River Road and Trough Road, Trough Bend, and Osbourn Farm Driveway

12:00 P.M : Lunch courtesy of SBPA at the Osbourn Farm

12:45 P.M : Gather for tour led by Dr. Tom McGrath – Tour will begin at 1 P.M. 

5:30 P.M. : Join us for dinner with Dr. Tom McGrath at Bistro 112 (please confirm if you are joining us so we may add you to our reservation)

7:00 P.M. :  Opera House Lecture by Dr. Tom McGrath about the Battle of Shepherdstown

9:00 P.M. : After-party is at the Mecklenburg Inn

Sponsored by: Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association, Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission, Historic Shepherdstown Museum and the Shepherdstown Opera House

Download our printable flyer

Park Day: Battle of Shepherdstown Clean-up

Saturday, April 26 9 am – noon Riverside Park

Meet at the Riverside Park on River and Trough Roads below town next to Boteler’s Cement Mill by 9 am. We will form 2 groups led by SBPA and JCHLC staff to clean up the Cement Mill (Union) and the Osbourn Farm (Confederate).

At ~11 am, each group will pick up trash on Trough Road to see who can advance the furthest North or South. Snacks and water will be available at the Osbourn Farm.

Battle of Shepherdstown Tour

Saturday, April 26 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Osbourn Farmhouse

Meet at the Farmhouse at 1901 Trough Road by 1 pm. Be prepared for an epic Battlefield Tour by Professor and Author Thomas McGrath. Subject: “The Fire of the Enemy was Appalling: Pender’s Brigade at the Battle of Shepherdstown.” If you’ve ever thought about it, IT IS GO TIME to experience the battle with the author for several hours and several miles. Totally worth it! Dress appropriately.

Battle of Shepherdstown History Talk

Saturday, April 26 7 pm Shepherdstown Opera House

Author Thomas A. McGrath

The Fire of the Enemy was Appalling: Pender’s Brigade at the Battle of Shepherdstown

Reference: T.A. McGrath (2007) Shepherdstown: Last Clash of the Antietam Campaign.

Upcoming events to add to your calendar:

Saturday, May 17 10 am Graffiti removal workshop at the Boteler’s Cement Mill on River Road.

Saturday, June 28 11 am – 5 pm SBPA booth at the Shepherdstown Streetfest.

Saturday, September 20 10 am – 4 pm Crossing the Potomac River at Packhorse Ford led by Kevin Pawlak, then a cookout on the Osbourn Farm. Special guests are the descendants of the 118th PA regiment.

January 2, 2025 article by Ryan Fitzmaurice published in The Northern Virginia Daily:

New sign tells Medal of Honor stories at Fisher’s Hill

Shenandoah County is reshaping local Civil War storytelling with a focus on personal narratives, recently showcased by the installation of a Civil War Trails sign recognizing five Medal of Honor recipients from the Battle of Fisher’s Hill.

Located at 3124 Battlefield Road near Strasburg, the sign invites visitors to connect with the past through the individual stories of these soldiers, reflecting a broader initiative to humanize local history.

The sign highlights the actions of five U.S. soldiers. According to their Medal of Honor citations, each soldier was honored for extraordinary bravery on Sept. 22, 1864, during one of the Civil War’s pivotal battles.

Private James Connors, Company E, 43rd New York Infantry: Captured a Confederate flag.

Private John Creed, Company D, 23rd Illinois Infantry: Captured a Confederate flag.

Private George G. Moore, Company D, 11th West Virginia Infantry: Captured a Confederate flag.

Sergeant Sylvester D. Rhodes, Company D, 61st Pennsylvania Infantry: Led the skirmish line that drove the enemy from their first entrenchment, was the first to breach the breastworks, and turned a captured gun on the enemy.

First Lieutenant Edward Newton Whittier, Battery 5, Maine Light Artillery: Rode with the assaulting column to seize enemy artillery, turning it against Confederate forces.

“These five soldiers’ names haven’t been lost to time, but certainly they deserve to be better recognized,” said Drew Gruber, executive director of Civil War Trails, Inc. “We are humbled to help elevate their stories, and we hope as you stand in their footsteps, you find yourself inspired to dig into their lives in more detail.”

The sign is part of Shenandoah County’s deliberate effort to shift Civil War history from grand battles and strategies to individual and civilian experiences.

“The important element in this is we want to tell more stories of the people, not only of the soldiers, the everyday people that were here during the Civil War,” said Brenda Black, the county’s tourism development manager.

Black said the Shenandoah County is working hand in hand with the Civil War Trails organization and other partners to bring more stories to light of residents, women, children and the many others who participated in the war.

Gruber echoed the importance of uncovering the experience of the individual during the war.

“Oftentimes events of the past seem so foreign, but in exploring the lives of these five soldiers we are reminded that history is incredibly relevant and the people of the past are oftentimes just like you and me.”

The project was made possible through partnerships with a private donor, local historians, archivists and property owners.

“Partnerships are essential and at the core of our mission,” Gruber said. “Without the property owner and private donor, we wouldn’t have had the chance to put visitors in the footsteps of these soldiers.”

Shenandoah County, in coordination with the Civil War Trails organization, has reviewed and updated 14 markers across the region to incorporate broader narratives, with additional signs planned for the future, Black said.

The Civil War Trails sign at Fisher’s Hill is already featured on Virginia Civil War Trails map-guides, distributed to travelers worldwide. Efforts are also underway to include the site on the national Medal of Honor Valor Trail, a partnership between the American Battlefield Trust and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

“This new Civil War Trails site adds another amenity for travelers exploring Shenandoah County and also helps point visitors to the nearby battlefield park, encouraging them to stay longer,” Gruber said. “We know that our visitors tend to spend 2.5 days when they travel with the majority of their dollars spent going back into the hands of service industry employees at local restaurants, breweries and lodgings.”

For more information about Civil War Trails or to request a free brochure, visit civilwartrails.org. To explore Shenandoah County’s history and outdoor amenities, visit visitshenandoahcounty.com.

Dec 22/24 Battlefield Supporters:

Another volunteer activity has been scheduled in the Shepherdstown Battlefield. The American Battlefield Trust Park Day is Saturday, April 26, 2025.

We clean up the Cement Mill, Riverside Park, Trough Road and the Osbourn Farm from 9 am – noon. Then the SBPA hosts a light lunch at the Osbourn Farm house and an afternoon, expert-led battlefield tour!

Pencil it in! Last spring was an epic 3-hour tour led by Professor and Author Tom McGrath.

Visit the site to learn the history behind this 29th Annual Park Day

December 21, 2024

Only hardcore battlefield supporters out on the tour today! Dr. Nickerson was honored to host the great, great, great grandson of a soldier (Marker) who fought with the 118th PA. He survived the fighting on the ridge, the retreat down the cliffs, the friendly fire at the Cement Mill kiln and the dam crossing under intense fire back to Maryland.

Also members of the Ledden family from Shepherdstown. Thank you for your continued support of the Shepherdstown Battlefield!

December 20, 2024

Hello SBPA Members and Battlefield Supporters, 

We are planning a graffiti removal effort at the Historic Boteler Cement Mill in May. This will be led by JC Historic Landmarks Commission Intern Elizabeth Nicholson. If interested in participating, let Dr. Nickerson know at [email protected] and we will send additional details closer to spring. May is a lovely time at the Mill in the Battlefield!  

This is the first volunteer activity to be scheduled this coming year and we look forward to additional events in 2025! Thanks for your support for these preservation efforts!

December 18, 2024

A warm welcome to the staff from the American Battlefield Trust. Battlefield tour days are always special. Our 3-hour tour included the Confederate Generals’ camps for the first time!

Visit the link below to listen to the Antietam and Beyond Podcast‘s episode #27 on December 12, 2024 with SBPA President Dr. Mike Nickerson.

The Antietam and Beyond Podcast | Dr. Mike Nickerson on Battle of Shepherdstown

Hello Battlefield Supporters,

Hope this note finds you well and enjoying the holidays. We had a fantastic year for the battlefield and expect this momentum to continue in new and exciting activities in 2025. I hope you agree after reading this note and consider renewing your annual membership and / or making a tax-deductible donation to the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association (SBPA).

As volunteers we have many accomplishments to be very proud of. One that stands out in 2024 is the transfer of the Osbourn Farm deed from the American Battlefield Trust to the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission. Thus, we have completed a key goal in our 20+ years of efforts to preserve the battlefield. Our partners have been working diligently as well resulting in a new farmland preservation easement on the remainder of the Aspen Pool Farm which straddles Trough Road. This is where A.P. Hill formed his men before the advance on Union troops across Engle Molers Road en route to the Osbourn Farm and Potomac River. What we have accomplished is nothing short of amazing: 820 acres have now been preserved in the core of the battlefield through a combination of purchased properties (~180 acres), Farmland Preservation Easements and Land Trust Easements.

This year, we have continued to follow our mission with focus and commitment. We have supported our battlefield partners, especially the WV Farmland Preservation Board and the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission, provided premier battlefield tours and promoted public education about the battle at local events. We have renewed and strengthened our collaborations with partners including the Civil War Trails and American Battlefield Trust, and built new bridges with the Historic Shepherdstown Museum, Antietam Institute, Americana Corner and the Spirit of Jefferson Advocate newspaper. Specifically, tour leaders were Kevin Pawlak, Professor Tom McGrath, Dr. Jim Broomall and myself. We sponsored a talk at the Opera House by Tom McGrath, author of Shepherdstown: Last Clash of the Antietam Campaign, provided interviews and a tour to a new history reporter at the Spirit of Jefferson newspaper, and presented educational displays at the Shepherdstown Opera House, Shepherdstown Earth Day Celebration, Shepherdstown Streetfest, the local Tomato Jam Festival and the Antietam Institute Fall Conference. We had a very successful Spring Cleanup day, with many SBPA volunteers partnering with the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission and the American Battlefield Trust to clean up the Riverside Park and Cement Mill, Trough Road, and the Osbourn Farm. We made it fun by dividing into ‘Union’ and ‘Confederate’ groups respectively that worked at the river (Union) and Osbourn Farm (Confederate). The cleanup groups then met on Trough Road in the middle of the battlefield where the fighting was most intense, and a successful cleanup was achieved.

Surprising new information about the battle and battlefield continued to emerge this year! We reviewed and edited our maps of the battle thanks Tom McGrath, Kevin Pawlak, Tom Clemens and myself+; and have now expanded to 4 maps showing troop movements and artillery on September 17-18, September 19, September 20 early morning and September 20 late morning. This revealed that Confederate General Ewell’s troops were in fact commanded by Jubal Early during the battle. Then, upon my deep dive into the after-action reports available on Antietam online, General Early provided a key detail about his and A.P. Hill’s camp from September 19-21 at ‘a school and cemetery.’ Other reports showed this location to conclusively be the Smoketown Cemetery (and former school) on the Opequon Creek off Route 45. Further, we confirmed the location of Stonewall Jackson’s camp on the Rocky Marsh Run at Billmyer Mill with a unique account discovered by Kevin Pawlak in the 1922 Shepherdstown Register. Both of these locations are newly discovered and complement the previously known location of Robert E. Lee’s camp on the Rocky Marsh Run off Rt. 480 near Rock Spring Farm. Thus, we now have planned a ‘Confederate Generals Camp Tour’ that complements our efforts in battlefield education.

The SBPA is at an exciting moment of transition heading into 2025. Our first 20 years have been incredibly successful in promoting awareness of the battle and preventing development in the core of the battlefield. However, just this year we lost 40 acres to houses built off Trough Road near River Road where regiments fought above and downstream from the Ford. This is a terrible, permanent outcome given our mission and shows the fight for preservation is not over! In 2025, we will begin our transformation into a ‘Friends of the Battlefield’ group to support transition of the battlefield to the National Park Service. As the NPS virtually requires an active and participatory ‘Friends’ group for the establishment of any new battlefields, we are in the unique position to provide these essential services and enthusiastic volunteers.

We plan to host more events that allow volunteers to participate in the battlefield promotion beyond the Spring and Fall Park Day cleanups, likely one each quarter led by a senior SBPA member. Events will be designed to provide participants unique access to the battlefield, promote fundraising and attract additional members. The types of events we are considering are based on member suggestions and successful similar events at other Parks and battlefields. These include battlefield bluegrass at the Osbourn Farm (maybe with re-enactors and a cookout), renewing the crossing of the Ford, a luminary car tour with lights near sites where soldiers died (similar to Antietam but with 670 lights), initiate visits by local school groups, a corn maze with history stops, a bonfire night on the battlefield, Brews in the Battlefield and/or a related History Happy Hour, and hosting an evening event that includes a speech by an elected official. These exciting events will give our volunteers diverse opportunities to showcase the battlefield to the public, attract new members and catalyze donations.

As we close out 2024, your renewed support of the SBPA will help fund these exciting events and help preserve the battlefield. We continually demonstrate that this is ‘History Worth Learning.’ Renew your membership today and please forward this to friends and family to grow our impact.

I hope you and your family have very Happy Holidays!

Regards,
Mike

Dr. Mike Nickerson
President

Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association
P.O. Box 1695
Shepherdstown, WV 25443

Cell: 304-995-6975