Restore and Preserve the Civil War Battlefield at Pussy Willow Creek

We the undersigned are writing to urge you to earmark funds to restore the Civil War battlefield at Pussy Willow Creek and to designate the site a National Military Park, in accordance with the American Battlefield Protection Program Act of 1996.

The Battle of Pussy Willow Creek (also known as The Battle of Morgans Meadow) was waged on July 2nd, 1863 on Meeker Morgans farm outside the town Bent Fork in Virginias Shenandoah Valley. The forces involved were the Thirteenth Rhode Island Infantry Regiment, a small Federal regiment under the command of Colonel Jonathan Franklin Hale, and The Richmond Special Legionnaires, an overwhelmingly superior force comprised of predominantly of British mercenaries. Largely overshadowed by the Battle of Gettysburg (which took place concurrently) the Battle of Pussy Willow Creek was nevertheless the more pivotal event, as the Thirteenths victory therein thwarted a sneak attack on Washington. Had this attack been successful it would have irreparably damaged the Norths will to fight, likely resulting in a suit for peace with the Confederacy.

The site of the Battle of Pussy Willow Creek has already been cruelly desecrated. In 1933 a section of it was purchased by Pennywitts Grocery and built over. Although Pennywitts folded in 1955, commercial development of the site did not end but rather escalated with purchase of the battlefields remaining acreage by the Bent Fork Development Company, which constructed a large-scale shopping plaza on the land. Today nearly the entire site has been paved over and built upon, the result being that one can now get a mani-pedi, order a pizza, or rent Grand Theft Auto IV right on top of the graves of the fallen.

Although little recognizable remains of the hallowed ground upon which patriots on both sides of the conflict fought and died for their beliefs (or in the case of the mercenaries, for the money that was paid to them to fight in lieu of said patriots), the battlefield at Pussy Willow Creek remains an indispensable piece of our national heritage and is of vast historical import. We therefore implore you to acquire through legitimate purchase (or worst case scenario, through eminent domain) the entire site upon which this momentous chapter in our history was played out. We further implore you to allocate funds to restore this sacred ground to its pre-1933 condition so that the memory of the Battle of Pussy Willow Creek does not fade from this earth, and so the ghosts of its dead heroes can finally rest in peace.