Wal-Mart Stores Inc. abruptly dropped plans Wednesday for a new store near a Civil War battlefield in Virginia after two years of opposition from historians and some residents.
Lawyers representing the nation's largest retailer made the announcement in Orange County Circuit Court at the start of a second day of arguments in a lawsuit to block the construction.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart had planned to build a 143,000-square-foot Supercenter near the site of the Battle of the Wilderness, which historians view as a critical turning point when the Civil War started to turn in favor of the North. An estimated 185,000 Union and Confederate troops fought for three days in May 1864, and 30,000 were killed, injured or went missing. The war ended 11 months later.
Sometimes, the good guys win. Huge round of applause to all of the historians and activists who fought to preserve this land.