The Wal-Mart Wilderness fray is officially over. Civil War preservationists hailed a Monday announcement from the retail giant that it would build a superstore three miles west of a previously selected Orange County, Va., site, which was on historic land next to the Wilderness Battlefield National Park. “By honoring its public commitment to choose an alternate site in Orange County, Wal-Mart has demonstrated that preservation groups and retailers can work together to find universally beneficial resolutions,” said Jim Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust. Facing a court challenge, Wal-Mart in January abandoned plans for the site near the battlefield where Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee first met in battle. – David Sherfinski
