Historic battlefield property sold back to Savannah

SAVANNAH - The site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War may be restored after the city of Savannah tentatively agreed to buy the plot from a railroad company that has owned it for more than a century. <br> <br> The lot where 1,000 men died in 1779 is a weed-covered abandoned railyard, and the city - which once gave the land away - wants it back. <br> <br> Savannah officials have a $33.5 million plan to turn the lot into a historical project called Battlefield Park Heritage Center, including a memorial to the battle, and to use it as a cornerstone for redevelopment. <br> <br> Late last week, Savannah City Manager Michael Brown and Norfolk Southern Corp. signed an agreement for the city to buy the 9.5-acre battlefield site, two other pieces of land and a portion of track for $4.3 million. <br> <br> The deal was decades in the making. <br> <br> In the 1960s, a group of Savannah residents tried to get the city to reclaim its land and build a memorial to the colonial soldiers who died there. Then-Gov. Lester Maddox pledged state money and support. <br> <br> But the National Park Service wasn&#39;t interested in the land, deciding the site held more industrial railroad significance than Revolutionary War nostalgia. <br> <br> In recent years, the city and the railroad couldn&#39;t agree who should clean up the hazardous waste buried at the site. <br> <br> ``Every time we got close, they would change lawyers,&#39;&#39; Mayor Floyd Adams said. <br> <br> City officials said the project became a higher priority in recent years as Savannah natives realized the importance of the group assembled in a fruitless attempt to remove the British. <br> <br> The 3,000 freedom fighters included Haitians, Poles, Germans, Frenchmen and Russians. Each army was contending with three or four languages. Whites and blacks fought together on both sides. The British armed slaves. Hundreds of free black Haitian soldiers fought with the continental army. <br> <br> ``I think that this is just indicative of Savannah and the culture of Savannah,&#39;&#39; said Richard Shinhoster, whose Diaspora Marketplace is located a few hundred yards from the battleground. ``Savannah is multi-ethnic, and this just goes to show that&#39;s not a recent phenomenon. It&#39;s been multicultural since the beginning.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Although many Savannah squares are named for men who died in the battle - including Polish Count Casimir Pulaski - local history buffs said the battlefield restoration is long overdue. <br> <br> ``That is huge news. I&#39;ve only been waiting 25 years for it,&#39;&#39; said local historian Preston Russell.