Civil War Protest a Smokescreen for Stop Wal-Mart Drive

Sometimes, splitting hairs is the appropriate course of action, moreso than the broad brush approach. The case of Wal-Mart versus the ghosts of wounded Civil War soldiers is such a time.

The problem is this: Wal-Mart has gained permission to build a big-box store, the thing that the company does best, very near the borders of the national park that commemorates the American Civil War battle of the Wilderness. The key words in that sentence are very near — not inside, not right outside, but very near. The actual distance is more than a mile.

Wal-Mart has done all the right things, according to the local laws. The company has secured permission from the county Board of Supervisors. The special use permit gives the Bentonville, Ark., retailing giant all the permission it needs to build a Supercenter that would create 300 jobs in a county that needs them.

But the National Trust for Historic Preservation has been swayed by some angry local residents and their argument that the Supercenter will be built on some sort of sacred ground.

The Wilderness was a very bloody affair, a three-day gorefest that numbered 30,000 of dead, injured, or missing. The battle ended with neither Union nor Confederacy able to claim a solid victory. The war continued to drag on and grind both sides down for almost another whole year.

The Wal-Mart opponents' argument is that the place where the Supercenter is supposed to go was the site of Union hospital areas, where thousands of wounded soldiers were treated, and that therefore, the area is sacred ground, or some such silliness. This argument seems a bit weak on the surface anyway and gets even weaker when you factor in that a few other retail outlets are already squatting on the sacred ground, even the part that was the headquarters of Union commanding General U.S. Grant.

The Wal-Mart opponents have employed such Civil War luminaries as Ken Burns and James McPherson to stoke up the fires of remembrances past, recalling the glory days of brother versus brother — never mind the hundreds of local people who gave their approval for the Supercenter, knowing full well how "sacred" the ground was.

Really, does protecting the national heritage extend to things like this? There's a rather large national park that encompasses the Wilderness battlefield, filled with exhibits containing all manner of horrific details of how brother killed brother. That national park isn't going anywhere. People who visit that national park won't forget that Grant's headquarters were nearby or that Union soldiers were treated in medical tents very near the battlefield.

No, this classless action is all about stopping Wal-Mart from building a Supercenter. It's an economic stop action request dressed up to look like an appeal to historical legacy.

No one wants to forget the horrors of war — lest we repeat them; however, the building of a Wal-Mart Supercenter on top of a paved area once populated by bleeding, maimed Union soldiers will not make people forget "the last full measure of devotion" — especially when we can still drive a mile down the road and see for ourselves.