Walmart near battlefield heads to court

Civil War history will be played out in a rural Virginia courtroom this week when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. defends a planned store near a hallowed site where Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant first met on the field of battle in 1864.

The trial in Orange County Circuit Court pits preservationists and residents against the world's largest retailer and the local officials who approved the Supercenter.

The store is planned near the Wilderness Battlefield about 60 miles southwest of Washington.

Both sides are scheduled to argue motions Tuesday that have the potential to derail the bench trial.

If the trial moves forward, it is expected to include testimony from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson and the descendants of Civil War soldiers.