Orange County officials asked a judge Tuesday to dismiss an attempt to block Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from building a Supercenter near a Civil War battlefield. The filing by the Board of Supervisors contends preservationists and residents who filed the legal challenge have no standing in the issue and defended the county’s Aug. 25 vote approving the store near the Wilderness Battlefield.

Preservationists and residents filed a legal challenge yesterday to block construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter near a famed Civil War battlefield. The legal action is aimed at an Aug. 25 vote by the Orange County Board of Supervisors approving the store near the Wilderness Battlefield. The battlefield where 30,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were injured or killed 145 years ago is considered one of the nation’s most endangered Civil War sites, according to preservationists.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of a Wal-Mart, but the fight over the store isn’t over yet. Later yesterday, after the board’s 4-1 vote at 1 a.m. to grant a special-use permit to allow the retailer to build a 133,481-squarefoot store near a Civil War battlefield, a loose-knit coalition of opposition forces was busy regrouping.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of a Wal-Mart, but the fight over the store isn’t over yet. Later yesterday, after the board’s 4-1 vote at 1 a.m. to grant a special-use permit to allow the retailer to build a 133,481-squarefoot store near a Civil War battlefield, a loose-knit coalition of opposition forces wasbusy regrouping.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted early this morning in favor of a long-debated Wal-Mart store near the Wilderness battlefield. A special-use permit was approved 4-1 just before 1 a.m.

As about 400 people crowded the Orange County High School Auditorium last night, more than 80 speakers took turns at the microphone to talk about a proposed Wal-Mart store near a Civil War battlefield. Most identified themselves as local residents, and most favored building the store. The five members of the county Board of Supervisors sat mostly silent on stage at the public hearing, after which they were to vote on whether to allow the store to be built near the battlefield.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors will hold its final public hearing on a proposed Walmart tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the county high school. The board probably will decide on an application for a special-use permit to allow construction of the 138,000-squarefoot store, though a vote could be pushed back to Tuesday if the hearing goes late.

With two members absent, the Orange County Planning Commission voted 4-4 last night on whether to recommend that a special use permit be granted to build a Walmart store near a Civil War battlefield. The tie goes down as a no vote.

Supporters and opponents of a Wal-Mart planned for a site near a Civil War battlefield learned yesterday that they have at least three more weeks to prepare their arguments. About three hours before the scheduled beginning of a public hearing to discuss the proposal, the Orange County Board of Supervisors called off the meeting after discovering that an earlier hearing conducted by the Planning Commission may have occurred illegally.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and House Speaker William J. Howell have asked Orange County officials to consider finding a new site for a Wal-Mart Supercenter planned for development near a Civil War battlefield. In a letter dated Monday and received by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, the two wrote, “We believe that the Wal-Mart project presents a unique opportunity to bring the interests of battlefield preservation and smart development effectively into balance.“

Preservation Virginia yesterday joined a growing opposition that says a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter near the Wilderness Battlefield threatens the Civil War site where nearly 29,000 troops were killed or injured 145 years ago. The private nonprofit preservation group sided with a who’s who of historians, congressmen and celebrities who have taken a stand against the proposed 138,000-square-foot store in Orange County.

Actor Robert Duvall, who is related to Robert E. Lee and portrayed the Confederate general in the movie “Gods and Generals,“ has some credentials when it comes to the Civil War. Duvall, 78, drew upon those connections yesterday to make the case against a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter within a mile of the Wilderness Battlefield—where Lee and his Union counterpart, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, first fought in a battle 145 years ago today that historians said hastened the South’s fall.

Vermont lawmakers are contemplating intervening in a Wal-Mart project in Orange County near a Civil War battle site. Howard Coffin, a Civil War historian, asked lawmakers Wednesday to pass a resolution urging the Orange County Board of Supervisors to reconsider the proposed Wal-Mart planned for land in Locust Grove outside the Wilderness Battlefield. He said it threatens the area near a monument that honors the 1st Vermont Brigade, which held the ground for the Union Army.