Untitled Document

Four National Park Service designations use "military" or "battlefield" in their name. All these categories are combined here. Some forts or battlefields are called "National Monuments" or "National Historical Parks," and appear on other pages in this project.
As I have another project that "rates" Civil War sites, I dug out my dad's slides of our six-week family trip from our home in California, to the East Coast in June–July 1967. The ostensible reason for the trip was for my dad to attend a medical convention in New Jersey, but we saw much of America enroute. We took a southern route eastwards and a northern route home. My dad drove the Buick, pulling our pink-and-white trailer (photos: on the road and in camp).
My dad let me pick some sites along the way. I chose mostly Civil War battlefields, becoming interested during the Civil War centennial. My father liked to pose me in photos, so 15-year-old Don, and sometimes 13-year-old sister Cheryl, appear among his battlefield photos from that trip.

Order of
visits

Park

State

Photo

Visits [photo]

Vicksburg National Military Park

MS
LA

June 1967, Mar 1997

General Grant equestrian statute at dusk, overlooking Vicksburg (June 1967, BBR photo)

Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site

Jun 1967, Mar 1997

battlefield site in 1997, when it was just 1 acre in size (Mar 1997). The Civil War Trust has acquired >1450 acres since then, and obviously I need to see the expanded preserved battlefield

Shiloh National Military Park

June 1967, Mar 1997

"Bloody Pond" at Shiloh, with 15-year-old Don (June 1967, BBR photo)

Stones River National Battlefield

June 1967, June 1997

Visitor Center sign and cannon (June 1967, BBR photo)

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga Battlefield

June 1967, June 1997

view from Lookout Mountain with Don & Cheryl at cannon (June 1967, BBR photo)

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

Chickamauga Battlefield

June 1967, June 1997

Chickamauga with cannons & Don (June 1967, BBR photo)

Petersburg National Battlefield Park

June 1967, Aug 1997

mineshaft entrance at "Battle of the Crater," with Don (June 1967, BBR photo)

Richmond National Battlefield Park

Seven Days
Battles (1862),
Mechanicsville

June 1967, Aug 1997

interpretive sign, Mechanicsville
(Aug 1997)

Richmond National Battlefield Park

Cold Harbor (1864), Battlefield

June 1967, Aug 1997

Confederate trenches with teenage Don
(June 1967, BBR photo)

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Memorial National Military Park

Fredericksburg Battlefield

June 1967, Aug 1997

battlefield interpretive art, view from Marye's Heights (June 1967, BBR photo)

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Memorial National Military Park

Chancellorsville Battlefield

June 1967, Aug 1997

T.J. Jackson monument, Chancellorsville battlefield (June 1967, BBR photo)

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Memorial National Military Park

Spotsylvania Battlefield

June 1967, Aug 1997

"Bloody Angle" memorial, with Don (June 1967, BBR photo)

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Memorial National Military Park

Wilderness Battlefield

June 1967, Aug 1997

edge of "The Wilderness," with Don (June 1967, BBR photo)

Manassas National Battlefield Park

June 1967, Sep 1985, Dec 1993, June 2009

Henry House on Henry Hill at First Manassas battlefield (June 1967, BBR photo)

Antietam National Battlefield Maryland

June 1967, Sep 1985, June 2009

"Burnside Bridge," tiny red dot is Don (June 1967. BBR photo)

Gettysburg National Military Park

June 1967, Dec 1986, Dec 1994

"High Water Mark," Pickett's Charge, with memorials & cannon
(June 1967, BBR photo)

Wilson's Creek National Battlefield

Mar 1997

view of Wilson's Creek (Mar 1997)

Pea Ridge National Military Park

Mar 1997

Elkhorn Tavern with cannon (Mar 1997)

Fort Donelson National Battlefield

Dec 2002

Gun emplacement overlooking the Cumberland River at
Ft. Donelson
(Dec 2002)

These have been the battlefields I've visited that are preserved by the National Park Service under categories that use the word "Battlefield" or "Military" in their titles. Additional sites are operated by the National Park Service as National Monuments (mostly forts), National Historical Parks (some are battlefields, some are forts, some a mix of battle sites and other historical locations), and even portions of National Parks (e.g., Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park). A fine selection of battlefields are operated as State parks and battlefields. Some are operated privately as museums or historic sites. Many battlefields are now preserved by the American Battlefield Trust (formerly the Civil War Trust); the Trust often transfers preserved land to the National Park Service or the State parks, enlarging the land owned by the American people. All Civil War sites, no matter what entity manages them, are considered in my "Top 50 Civil War sites" project.