CWPT conference
‘Battle for Bluegrass’ attended
by 350 Civil War enthusiasts

Nearly 350 Civil War buffs from 35 states, the District of Columbia and Mexico discovered what Kentucky has to offer where War-between-the-States history is concerned.

These were the enthusiasts who attended the Civil War Preservation Trust’s annual conference in Lexington June 3-6. The “Battle for the Bluegrass” event was the first CWPT conference held in Kentucky.

In addition to presentations and preservations awards, conferees made tours of battlefield sites in Perryville, Mill Springs, Richmond and Munfordville and field tours of the raids of John Hunt Morgan.

Nationwide, conferees attended from California to Connecticut.

At Richmond, some 100 visitors toured Battlefield Park June 4-5, including sites of pre-battle engagements in Southern Madison County.  A special tour of Frankfort was an optional event.

Lexington attorney and Civil War author and historian Kent Masterson Brown was a featured lecturer. His presentation on “The Civil War in Kentucky” was followed by a panel discussion focusing on his remarks. Preservation and history lectures plus a book show and organization fair also were featured.

With 55,000 members, CWPT, founded in 1987, is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States. Its mission is to preserve America’s endangered Civil War battlefields and to promote appreciation of those hallowed grounds. CWPT has preserved more than 29,000 acres of battlefield land across the nation, including more than 1,500 in Kentucky.