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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Blue and Gray: Bill Noyes shows a photo of his great, great uncle, who fought on the Union side during the Civil War.
Public Citizen
Civil War Games
Bill Noyes and the local Civil War Preservation Committee work to help save historic battlefields
By Moryt Milo
There's a modern day cavalry in Campbell, and Bill Noyes, chairman of the Civil War Preservation Committee, leads the charge. Calling himself "a historical character," Noyes and the members of the South Bay Civil War Roundtable assemble once a month to listen to various speakers, usually authors and historians, who lecture on Civil War history.
It is a movement that caught Noyes' attention through his interest in genealogy. While he was researching his past, he uncovered a great-great grandfather and two great-great uncles who fought in the Civil War, all on the Union side.
"I didn't know anything about them so I started looking into it," says Noyes. He learned about the battles they fought in and the wounds they received, and when he saw a notice about the Civil War Roundtable he was anxious to go to a meeting and learn more.
What he discovered was a group of "very literate fellows" who had a special interest in Civil War history and its battles. He was also moved by the group's interest in promoting the purchase of battlefield land to preserve its natural state. After that first meeting he was hooked, and has returned every month for the past five years.
Bill Noyes and his wife, Judy, have lived in Campbell since 1977. He is the current chairman of the preservation committee, an honorary position he held once before.
Says Noyes: "I'm like the calvary. The early warning system. I get an email from a [preservation group]. Then I assess it and see what's going on. If it's something that involves us out here in California, we discuss it at our meeting."
The group raises money to assist in purchasing battlefield land. The funds are raised through book auctions, donations and a portion of their dues. The South Bay group, which has more than 40 members, sends between $1,500 to $2,000 to various organizations yearly.
Noyes says there's still quite a bit of land out there that comes up for sale. Much of it is farmland or forest that is now being threatened with development.
He stresses the importance of preserving these lands in their natural states, emphasizing how it offers historians a visual way of looking back on history and gives them a chance to analyze specific battle strategies.
As land comes up for sale, members of the Preservation Committee sit down and discuss which battlefields are a priority and how to allocate funds. Noyes says, "When the land is gone, when its bulldozed over or covered with cement, whatever was there, a valuable fact someone needed to know about that battle, is destroyed."
The group is determined not to let that happen. Noyes and his group recognize that "it's hard to get people interested in the preservation of Civil War land because people look at it as long ago." But he wants people to remember how "the history during that period is still so very important to this country."
The Civil War Preservation Committee meetings are held the last Tuesday of every month at Coco's restaurant at 330 E. Hamilton Ave. Meetings start at about 7 p.m. For more information, call 408. 374.1541.
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Campbell, California
