(Host) Congressman Peter Welch and a colleague from Texas are praising a decision by Wal-Mart to scrap plans for a new store in Virginia on the site of a bloody Civil War battle.
Welch and Republican Ted Poe of Texas had fought to protect the battlefield from development since Wal-Mart first proposed building the store within the boundaries of the historic site in Orange, Virginia.
More than 1,200 Vermonters were killed at the battle of the Wilderness on May 5th, 1864. That’s 16 percent of the state’s total combat deaths during the Civil War.
In a joint statement, Welch and Poe say the Wilderness battlefield is a sacred site for Vermonters, Texans and all Americans.