The 790-acre Mullins Farm, the site of the opening clash of the 1863 battle of Chancellorsville, had become the target for development.  The property was rezoned in 1999 to allow for 225 homes and 600,000 square feet of commercial space.  Later, the county identified it as part of their "Primary Settlement District."  It was also targeted in 2002 by Virginia DOT as the site of a major highway interchange.   In 2002, the Dogwood Development Company announced plans to request a rezoning for the property that would increase its density to 2,300 houses and 2 million square feet of office space.  Although this "mini-metropolis" plan was defeated, the property remained vulnerable to development until a land deal was hammered out in 2004.

Government Partners:   Board of Supervisors, Spotsylvania County, Va.
Business Partners:  Tricord Homes, Fredericksburg, Va.
Nonprofit Partners:  Coalition to Save Chancellorsville Battlefield (composed of:  Civil War Preservation Trust, National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Parks Conservation Association, Central Virginia Battlegrounds Trust, Spotsylvania Preservation Foundation, Battlefields Sierra Group, Spotsylvania Battlefield Education Association, Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield, and other groups).

In response to the Dogwood rezoning proposed, a coalition of national and local groups was formed in July 2002.  In March, 2003, the Coalition to Save Chancellorsville Battlefield successfully defeated the Dogwood rezoning proposal.  At the time, it was referred to as the most significant battlefield preservation victory since the defeat of the DisneyAmerica proposal at Manassas in the early 90s.  Later that year, the very same Coalition worked with local government officials to defeat the Outer Connector bypass proposal (which would have run directly through the Mullins Farm property, and included a major highway interchange).  In 2004, again working with local government officials, a deal was reached with a local, family-owned developer (Tricord Homes), the Civil War Preservation Trust, and Spotsylvania County to set aside 140 acres of core battlefield land.  That property has now become the Lick Run Battlefield Park.