The Loudoun County Historical Society, The Mosby Heritage Area Association and the Citizens Committee for The Battles of Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville met on October 2 at Llangollan Farm to receive a brand new series of highly detailed maps representing the areas where those Civil War battles were fought from June 17 through 23, 1863.

While the maps will be eagerly sought out by historians and Civil War buffs, their primary purpose is to help the county preserve its Civil War historic sites from the inroads of 21st century development.

David Lowe, well known Civil War historian and cartographer, completed the maps, funded by a generous grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program. Lowe has been with the National Park Service for 14 years and during that time has been involved in the mapping of 60 different battlefields.

More than four years ago, on May 15th the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors appointed Paul Ziluca of Upperville to the position of Chairman of The Citizens Committee for the Historic Cavalry Battles of Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville. The Committee's mission was not only to preserve the history, but honor the memory of ". . the Horse Cavalry, especially the men and the boys of Blue and Grey who rode through the Loudoun Valley in June of 1863". The new maps will contribute significantly to that work.

In his formal remarks, Robert O'NEIL, author of THE CIVIL WAR BATTLES OF ALDIE, MIDDLEBURG & UPPERVILLE, gave special tribute to the late John Devine former resident of and historian of Loudoun County for his insight and help on the project. O'Neil himself is not only the author of the best-known monograph on the battles, but responsible for producing a popular audio-tape driving-tour guide of the Mosby Heritage Area. He is especially well known and respected for his insight into the tactics of the three battles and his detailed knowledge of the movements of all the military units engaged.

Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville are critical to any real understanding the Battle of Gettysburg, said O'Neil. The battles were fought as part of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart's successful attempt to prevent the Union Army from finding and attacking Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia as it moved north, hidden from Union view, down the Shenandoah Valley towards Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the bloody three-day fight of July 1, 2 and 3, 1863.

From Aldie, along the Snickersville Turnpike (Rte. 734) and the road to Ashby's Gap (Rte. 50) Stuart's cavalry and men engaged and successfully delayed attempts at forcing the passes by Union Cavalry Generals John Buford and David Gregg. More than 18,000 troopers were eventually engaged in the fighting.

"The key to these battles was terrain," O'Neil noted, and without good maps the battles are almost impossible to understand. David Lowe's wonderful new maps will make it infinitely it easier to visualize and comprehend the scope and scale of the fight.

The maps show clearly, for example, that "the key to the Loudoun Valley was the gap at Aldie Gap" and that "Ashby's Gap and Snicker's Gap were the keys to the Shenandoah." To screen Lee's Army Stuart had no choice but to fight, and fight pretty much when and where he did. On June 21 alone some 6,000 Confederate Cavalry confronted more than 7,000 Union troopers doing their best to push across the mountains to find Lee's Army. O'Neil's detailed descriptions of events, amplified by Lowe's wonderful new maps, were the highlight of the afternoon.

O'Neil also noted how the maps gave new life to other aspects of the campaign. He read several first-hand accounts from letters written by soldiers on both sides of the fight, describing the difficulties encountered in just moving around not worrying about fighting and shooting." Using the new maps to imagine long lines of men and horses, breaking holes in stone walls to avoid having to jump them, often moving under fire, brought the battlefields and back lanes of the 1860's to life.

Jim Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust spoke to the special importance of the maps in helping to preserve the region's Civil War heritage. Lighthizer estimates that we are losing 8,000 to 10,000 acres critical to the understanding of historic battlefields each year . . . and noted pointedly that the resource is not only unique, but finite. "There are only around 290,000 acres still really available for preservation," he noted, "and 4-5% a year is being lost." Lighthizer's goal is to raise $90 million in the next five years to save 25,000 acres.

"I was taken by the beauty of your area as I drove here today as a visitor, and how uplifting it was," he told the assembled crowd. "The big old stone barns, the magnificent brick Georgian mansions, the hay in the fields rolled up for horses and cattle. It dawned on me how fragile what you have here is. A few wrong decisions by your County Government officials and its all over. Lack of attention by you as citizens who live in this area and it's up. So you know as well as I do the tremendous challenge we face to ward off population growth and density sprawl. We think that the way to prevent that is to make a real concentrated effort to get people to be appreciative of Civil War history, and history here is as rich as anyplace in the United States."

For copies of the new maps contact the Citizens Committee for The Battles of Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville. Email Pziluca@aol.com