NEWSLETTER TO TAKE NEW FORMAT – LARGER, QUARTERLY

Since the founding of this organization, we have produced a newsletter monthly. This was generally done late at night after we completed our regular work schedules. Then, the next day, we copied the newsletters at Gary’s office and Gary and his employee, Doris, either mailed or e-mailed newsletters to our membership. As the membership has grown, this has become an increasingly more complex task. Recent concerns about SPAM e-mail have led some ISPs to reject our mail, thinking we were SPAMMERS. That entailed sending additional e-mails to the ISPs or making phone calls. Also, we find that many people change e-mail addresses more often than they do physical addresses, and it is hard to keep up with. Now, it takes almost a full day of time from our business and that is a luxury we realize we can no longer afford.

Given our concerns and the growth of the organization, we requested and the board approved that the newsletter be changed to a quarterly publication that is processed for mailing by a local mail shop. We hope you will consider this to be a smart move. Here are some benefits:

• Everyone (we hope) will receive a newsletter by mail. (We will likely e-mail our international members in the interests of timeliness.)
• Larger newsletter more professional looking publication
• Publication with photos
• Newsletter also posted on the Web site
• New developments posted on the Web site as they occur.

So, you will still have access to timely news on the Web site and will have a nicer publication mailed to you quarterly. We hope you will find this to be a positive development. Your next, new and improved issue should arrive in early July. In the meantime, keep looking on our Web site for any additional developments. If something of major import arises, we will issue a postcard to alert you of critical developments that might require your input and support.

OVERFLIGHT PHOTO VERIFIES EVIDENCE OF DESTRUCTION

The new satellite photo from Digital Globe has arrived. We hear that some have said there was no mining on the battlefield. However, the satellite photo proves there has been and that destruction in the Third Phase north of Louisiana Highway 175 is extensive.  Digital Globe flew the mission on March 9 and we have received both color and black and white images.   They are extraordinary in their clarity.  We thank the Civil War Preservation Trust, the Austin Civil War Roundtable and Digital Globe for assisting us.

WHAT IS YOUR “LEAN”-ING ON THE PRESERVATION ISSUE? SAY IT!

If you are “leaning” on the side of preservation. You need to go to the LEAN (Louisiana Environmental Action Network) and sign the petition regarding the Mansfield Battlefield. Add your name to the others who have joined in from Louisiana and throughout the country. If you belong to a preservation organization, you might want to pass this Web site on to them as well so they can join in. Go to http://www.leanweb.org/.  Our friends at AEP/SWEPCO who are mining the battlefield continue to say their operation is perfectly “legal.”  That statement could be in contention. Watch the Web site for a list of environmental violations against the mining operation. We’ve heard their motto is “pay the fine and continue to mine.”  As soon as this information is available, it will be posted, so continue to check our NEWS section.

STATE INTEREST IN BATTLEFIELD CONTINUES TO GROW

We had hoped to have some substantive information to pass along to you regarding a state summit on the Mansfield Battlefield. For several weeks we have heard that Governor Kathleen Blanco was going to respond to the Attorney General but as  of this writing, the governor has failed to respond.  We thank Attorney General Charles Foti, Jr. and his superb staff for their interest and their continued monitoring of the mining problem. 

The Friends have provided the Attorney General’s office with large format images of the new satellite over flight.  Gary also provided as support to the Attorney General’s office, a technical report about the potential for unmarked burials on the battlefield. The report used official records and eyewitness reports from participants in the battle from both Union and Confederate sources.  The Times Picayune article (see below) focused on the possibility, if not probability, of African American dead from the Corps d’ Afrique Union soldiers remaining in the second and third phases of the battle, directly in the area of mining.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has announced that sometime during the next ten months, they will hold a hearing to determine whether the western portion of the Mansfield Battlefield (that portion not leased for mining) should be excluded from any future mining permits.  This will not save most of Phase One of the fighting from urban development, but it will secure it from the ravages of open pit mining forever.  When this hearing is held, we need every interested person and group to attend.  It is the only way that the State of Louisiana can gauge public opinion about this issue.  As soon as we know the date, we will contact all of our members.  If there is one meeting that all of us who can attend, should voice our concerns, this is it.

WHAT MAKES NEWS IN LOUISIANA DOESN’T MAKE NEWS LOCALLY

During the week of March 20, both the New Orleans Times Picayune and in Baton Rouge The Advocate published stories regarding the Mansfield Battlefield. Obviously, the attention drawn to the battlefield by its being on the Top 10 Most Endangered List of Civil War Preservation Trust and the “summit” of key state officials rattled some newsies. . .except in Shreveport, the media market just 30 minutes from the Mansfield Battlefield. What’s equally interesting is that the Shreveport Times – which consistently insists that it has a focus on “local news”-- was scant in its coverage of the CWPT announcement and totally missing the information regarding the state interest in the “local” battlefield.  The Times Picayune article was particularly strong.  The cover story on the last issue of Louisiana Life has also been widely discussed. The only media outlet to cover the plight of the battlefield has been news radio station KEEL.  

MANSFIELD STATE HISTORIC SITE
RECEIVES RELEVANT DONATIONS

The Enterprise-Interstate Progress, the local weekly in Mansfield, recently noted the donation of a blood-letting knife and photograph of Dr. William Acey Whitlock, a Mansfield surgeon who used the knife during his service following the battle. The knife was the property of his late granddaughter, Mrs. Bessie Whitlock Williams. According to The Enterprise, the great-granddaughters, LaJuana Williams Lee and Norwese Whitlock Carre decided to return the knife to his doctor bag which is on display at the museum. This is an act of generosity to give up a family heirloom – and an act that preserves the artifact for future generations to view and appreciate. Anyone who has artifacts or information relevant to this battle is invited to consider making a donation of the items to the Mansfield State Historic Site. The curatorial support from the Friends of the Mansfield Battlefield will help to assure that they are appropriately curated and preserved for the future.

A FOUNDING “THANK YOU”
We offer a special “thank you” to the Berlin Airlift Veterans Association for its continuing support. They provided the initial membership contribution for this organization. Our thanks to American veterans remembering American veterans of long ago.

A SPECIAL MEMORIAL
We are pleased to recognize several memorial gifts in memory of Tom Ayers. Mr. Ayers authored "Dark and Bloody Ground," a book that helped draw attention to the Battle of Mansfield and other aspects of the Red River Campaign. The memorial contributions by Lovell Hayden III of Monroe, Louisiana, and Dr. William Hayden of Paris, Texas, are a fitting tribute to a man who is so closely associated with this battle. We'd like to remind you that we welcome memorial contributions in memory of those recently deceased or in memory of those who fought in this battle. We are pleased to acknowledge these memorial gifts to family members when the name and address of the person to receive the acknowledgment is enclosed.

PLEASE SEE OUR DONOR LIST ON THE WEB SITE
A list of those who are on our Honor Roll is included on the Web site. These people or organizations have contributed at the $100 level or higher, and we are delighted to recognize them. It is found at the "About Us" button on our home page.