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Veronica Garabelli // March 24, 2015//
Anheuser-Busch has donated 65 acres of Civil War battlefield in Williamsburg to the Civil War Trust, according to a release issued by Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office. Anheuser-Busch, which makes Budweiser and Bud Light, is based in St. Louis but has a brewery in Williamsburg.
According to the release, the property played a pivotal role in the 1862 Battle of Williamsburg. It is the largest part of Williamsburg Battlefield ever set aside for preservation and the only piece of the property protected from development.
The Civil War Trust, a nonprofit that preserves battlegrounds in the U.S., hopes the property will anchor a future battlefield park. Meanwhile, the site will be overseen by the Williamsburg Land Conservancy.
The Battle of Williamsburg took place on May 5, 1862. Fighting between more than 70,000 soldiers broke out as Confederate troops were retreating from Yorktown following a month-long siege by the Union Army. Close to 4,000 soldiers died, and the battle ended indecisively, the news release states.
