A Madison County site has made the annual list of the 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields.
The Battle of Richmond site was included in an annual report released Thursday by the Civil War Preservation Trust. The report identifies the most threatened Civil War sites and what can be done to protect them.
The report says that although the Battle of Richmond site on U.S. 421 between Richmond and Berea has been well protected to date, future preservation efforts will be complicated by the addition of a new Interstate 75 interchange near the site.
"Since residential and commercial development tend to follow established transit lines, the new roadway has opened the possibility of significant commercial growth in an area that had previously experienced little pressure," the report says. "Already, tracts that may have been potential opportunities for future preservation have been subdivided, and 'for sale' signs have begun to appear, advertising the region's desirability for commercial enterprises."
In the Battle of Richmond, Confederate Maj. Kirby Smith's newly dubbed Army of Kentucky marched north in the soaring heat of August 1862 and encountered a hastily formed Union force led by Maj. Gen. William Nelson.
The Madison County battlefield was among 15 at-risk sites listed by the trust in 2008.
Columbus-Belmont State Park in Hickman County, in Western Kentucky, was also among the endangered sites mentioned in this year's report. Visitors there can see a massive chain and anchor used by the South to block passage of Union gunboats on the Mississippi River.
