Va. county facing court challenge for approving Walmart Supercenter near Civil War battlefield

Planned Walmart near a Va. battlefield challenged

RICHMOND, Va. — Preservationists and residents are going to court to challenge a Virginia county that approved a Walmart Supercenter near a famed Civil War battlefield.

The legal action announced Wednesday targets an Aug. 25 vote by the Orange County Board of Supervisors approving the store in Locust Grove, less than half a mile from the Wilderness Battlefield.

The place where Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant first met in battle 145 years ago is considered one of the nation’s most endangered Civil War sites.

The legal challenge to be filed later Wednesday in Orange County Circuit Court contends the supervisors’ 4-1 ruling was “flawed in numerous respects.”

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has said the store will be out of view of the battlefield.