More Unison Battlefield News

I’ve mentioned the preservation efforts at Unison, here in Loudoun County a couple of times before.  In the slow pursuit from Antietam in the fall of 1862, Federal and Confederate cavalry clashed in Loudoun Valley in a series of engagements that included Unison.   The site is on my “Needs a marker” list.

Preservation efforts at Unison are again in the news, with an article in yesterday’s Leesburg Today.  Historians working with the Unison Preservation Society are applying to enlarge the boundry of the battlefield historic district.  If approved, the district will extend from Philomont on the Snickersville Turnpike (CR 731) down to U.S. Highway 50 near Upperville.  The proposed change also extends west to Paris and Asby’s Gap.

If approved, this new boundary no only includes sites related to the  1862 fighting, but also parts of the June 1863 cavalry fighting associated with the Gettysburg campaign. The boundary change is not a solid assurance of preservation, however.  Local zoning rules still apply.  But if approved at least additional checks would exist to (hopefully) prevent rampant development, which is the often cited ill of Northern Virginia.

The current district is defined a 2003 application to the Department of the Interior for National Register of Historic Places inclusion.  The application is available on the Virginia Department of Historic Resources site (PDF).  The Unison Preservation Society offers a copy of the National Park Service report on the battle, for a $25 donation, on their web site.