8.24.2006
Newtonia, Missouri – Southwest Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt has introduced House bill 5978 to authorize a study by the National Park Service to determine the feasibility of either creating a new Civil War battlefield at Newtonia, Missouri or bringing those battlefield lands under the management of the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield near Springfield. Newtonia is located in eastern Newton County, Missouri.
“The measure I have introduced is the necessary first step to determine if the federal government should spend funds to preserve the Civil War battlefields at Newtonia,” Blunt said.
“I believe the study will find that the two Civil War battles at Newtonia hold a unique place in American history and are worthy of protection in the National Park Service,” Congressman Blunt explained. “House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (CA) is planning to hold a hearing, perhaps as early as next month in Washington, on the Newtonia Battlefields.” Blunt, who has taught Civil War history at the high school and college levels and is an avid reader on the subject, has long supported adding the Newtonia Battlefields to the National Park Service.
“Two important battles were fought around the Ritchey Mansion property during the Civil War,” Blunt said. “Ritchey Mansion served as a headquarters and hospital during the battles. The first, at the end of September 1862, involved 8,000 troops and saw regimental American Indian units—Union and Confederate--fight each other. It was the largest of the rare engagements where Native Americans fought on both sides in the Civil War. Two years later the last battle of the Civil War west of the Mississippi was fought at Newtonia as Confederate forces withdrew from Missouri after their defeat at Westport, near Kansas City.”
The Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association has spearheaded preservation efforts at Newtonia. In 2002, the Association acquired 11 acres of the battlefield along with the Ritchey Mansion, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, for nearly $300,000. In 2003 Congressman Blunt delivered a $146,050 ceremonial check from the American Battlefield Protection Program to reimburse the Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association nearly half of the purchase price of the property. The rest of the financing came from private loans.
The National Park Service rated the 1864 battlefield as a Priority I for preservation and the 1862 site as a Priority II. A review by the National Park Service found the 1864 battlefield faced a greater threat from development. The not-for-profit Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association was formed in 1994 to work on funding to preserve the battlefields. The National Park Service has provided archeological and historical surveys and assessments of the battlefields.