Show parks P caarl k S r preserve Lve serve battle bat ie memories Mer nories i i T historic histon F engagements corn COM mem orated by gat national ional military reservations I 1 washington la view of the ike numerous measures ma which have been introduced in congress during the past several years yeara for the establishment of national military parks national monuments uL or the placing of markers and tablets la in commemoration oi of historic battles which have been fought on the soll soil of the united states it has been I 1 proposed that the war department undertake studies and investigations of all battlefields with the view flew of preparing a general plan as well as detailed projects where necessary for properly commemorating these battlefields end and adjacent points of historic and mill military tary interest congress has bus in the past provided tor for the commemoration of battles in one of three ways first by the establishment of national military parks second by indicating the lines of battle by markers or monuments or both without establishing parks third by single monuments without otherwise marking the field it Is the view of the war department that national military parks should should as a general rule cover a comparatively ively large area of ground probably some thousands of acres and so marked and improved as to make them into real parks available for detailed study by military authorities the battle lines and operations being clearly Ind indicated leate d on the grounds the number of such parks would have to be kept fairly low it Is believed because of the expense of amainte maintenance nance less leos important and extensive engagements gage ments which have nevertheless a definite military and political effect could be properly commemorated according to the scheme of the war department part ment by the placing of a limited number of markers the idea being that small areas of ground on the site of the th battle could be purchased and appropriately marked and the whole aggregation of separate areas designated as a national monument first national military park the first national military park was established by congress on april 10 19 1880 1890 to commemorate the battles of chickamauga and chattanooga this park consists of a main tract of about acres covering the battlefield of chickamauga and detached areas in wauhatchie hatchie valley on lookout mountain on missionary ridge and elsewhere obtained for the purpose purpose of establishing tab lishing the lines of battle on the field of chattanooga the second military park established was that of gettysburg the marking of the battle lines on this field was begun under the act of march 3 1893 but the park itself wad established under the act of february 11 1885 1805 which authorized the secretary of war to accept for this purpose from the gettysburg memorial association about acres fteres of ground since the establishment of the park it has been greatly enlarged and now covers an area of ampro approximately 2830 2530 acres under the act of december 27 congress established the third national military park that of shiloh the act stated that in order that the armies of the northwest which served in the civil war like their comrades of the eastern arales at gettysburg and those of the central west at chickamauga may have the history of one of their memorable battles preserved on the ground where they fought the battlefield of shiloh in the state of tennessee la Is hereby declared a national military park according to the text of the various acts these three military parks were designated by congress not only to preserve for historical and professional study the battlefields themselves but also to serve as an lasting memorials to the groat grat armies of the war the field of gettysburg was to be a memorial to th the union army of the potomac as well as an the confederate army of northern virginia the field of chickamauga a memorial to the union army of the cumberland aud and the confederate army of tonne terme see and the field of shiloh a memorial to the union army of the tennessee and the confederate armies which under various designations op posed pod iti it in western tennessee and in mississippi I 1 military park I 1 As a fitting memorial to the union army of the tennessee the field of shiloh was not considered so BO appropriate as that of vicksburg arg the campaign of vicksburg being the lacost brilliant operation of the army some same years later therefore the vicksburg rational at lonal military park was established by the act of february rebr aary 21 1699 this park has an area of about 1300 acres covering the siege zone about the In trenched camp of 1803 that these national military parks park might be fitting memorials to the grgat great armies engaged and bi be accurately marked tor for historical and professional military study a commission consisting of survivors of the opposing mules artiles was wag appointed for erch park to fix the location of every monument and marker on the field the legislatures of many of the states cooperated in the work by making appropriations for monuments to mark the positions of their regiments and batteries on the field and also to serve ns as memorials to these regiments and batteries these four were the only national parks that were established up to the beginning of this year to cover battlefields of the civil war it Is pointed out that in the four battles marked by thise four existing military parks were represented all the corps of thi the union army but four and practically all the organizations of the confederate army the four union corps not represented were the tenth and eighteenth consolidated in the latter p part art of the war to form the twenty fourth which were on the carolina coast the nineteenth which was near the mouth of the mississippi river and the awen ty third organized sed in kentucky in 1803 1863 and later a part of the army of the ohio one small national military park has been established to commemorate one of the battles of the revolutionary war the history of its establishment Is by the act of february 13 1011 the sum cum of was appropriated tor for erect erection erection lon of a monument nt on the battlefield of GuIt fullford ford courthouse to commemorate the great victory won there on march 15 1781 by the american forces commanded ratin ded by maj gen nathaniel greene and the officers and soldiers who participated in the battle this was fol followed lowid by the act of march 2 1 1917 designating the battlefield as an a na national dional military park to commemorate antietam Antle tam in the sundry civil act of august ad 19 1800 1890 there appeared this item for the purpose of surveying locating and preserving the lines ut battle of the army of the potomac and the army of northern virginia at art ari and for marking the same and for locating and marking the position of 43 different commands of the regular army engaged in the battle of an and for the purchase of sites for tablets for the marking of such positions under this and subsequent legislation of like character the lines of the he battlefield of antietam Antle tam have been satisfactorily marked without the establishment lish ment of a national military park the lines consist of about five miles of improved avenues along which are as a rule placed the monuments and rid markers of the dil different Terent organizations za that took part in the battle A significant indication of state policy Is in seen in the fact that the state of pennsylvania refused to erect a monument on the antietam Antle tam field for any unit already represented by a monument on the battlefield of gettysburg the field of chattanooga la Is marked in a manner similar to that of antis tam as the field lies outside of the main park of chickamauga in this method of marking battlefields there Is less latitude for locating monuments and markers than if greater areas are acquired but it la Is declared to gho ghe very satisfactory results for historical and professional military study at a much smaller expenditure of money for the purchase of land and a much smaller outlay for maintenance te nance single monuments have generally been erected to commemorate battles of tho the revolutionary war ur tm V fw V of 1812 antl and indian wars ware some of these have hare been erected by appropriation mad by bi aare ax re to fund appropriated by tata states or raised b by patriotic associations others have hato beo beau erected by the national govern montalone men ment alono among those of jbv th former titer clasa are the saratoga monument th the princeton battlefield monument the courthouse battlefield monument and d the bennington field monument for the revolutionary war the new orleans battlefield monument for the war of 1812 and the tippecanoe battlefield monument for indian wars revolutionary war memorials memorial among those erected by the united states alone are the yorktown monument at a cost of the gull ford courthouse battle monuments monument at a cost of and ana the kings mountain battle monument mt costing all to comme commemorate engagements of the revolutionary war indian war monuments erected by the government include the point pleasant hattle hattie the fort recovery the lie horseshoe Hora eshoo battlefield and the fort phil kearny monuments according to a study of the battles of the united states made by the army war college with a view to determining ter mining their proper commemoration either through the establishment of rational military parks or the designation of their sites cites as national monuments two engagements of the revolutionary war are deemed worthy of having national military parks created to perpetuate their memory and to preserve their fields for detailed military and historical study these are the battle of saratoga september 19 and october 7 1777 and the siege of yorktown september 28 to october 19 1781 the two decisive events of the revolutionary wars were the surrender of the british army under general burgoyne as a result of hg defeat in the battles variously called saratoga stillwater freemans freemanb Fre emans farm or bemis and the surrender of the british army under general cornwallis its as a result of the siege of yorktown of the importance of these engagements gage ments it Is declared there can be no doubt saratoga brought about the definite intervention of france in favor of the american col colonies nod find Is in listed by cressy creasy is as one of the 16 15 decisive battles of the world yorktown ended the war the surrender of cornwallis Cornwall ls Is commemorated by a monument erected with in his lines at yorktown the surrender of burgoyne Is commemorated by a monument on the site where the surrender took place a few miles from the battlefield tle field in accordance with the scheme proposed both events are regarded worthy of national military parks in none of the later wars of this country except the civil war was any of the battles within the limits of the united states of such major importance as to warrant the establishment lish ment of parks te according recording to this study the four large national mill military parks already existing commemorate the engagements regarded as decisive in the civil war civil war engagements one battle of the war of 1812 and 18 15 b battles a atle 9 of the civil war while not of quite the same importance as an those for which parks parka have been or are proposed to be established are singled out by the army war college as of far reaching importance with either large numbers of troops engaged and losses sustained or great military or political effect these battles it Is thought should be commemorated mem orated by having the battle lines located and indicated by a series of markers or tablets the battle of new orleans fought on january 8 1818 1815 after the treaty of peace ending the war of 1812 had bad been signed d though not confirmed to Is placed in this class blasts due to its unique character the number of troops engaged and its immediate effect in pro teching new orleans from capture the engagements of the civil war classified in this group are the following bull run bun 1861 fort donelson 1802 1862 battles around richmond va 1802 second manassas Manas sag or groveton Oro 1802 1862 fredericksburg va 1882 1862 mur free tenn 1881 1861 chancellors ville vU leVa Vs 1868 the wilderness va 1864 Spott Spottsyl sylvanin vanla va 1864 cold harbor va 1864 battles around atlanta oa 1804 battles around petersburg va 1804 1864 battle of the or winchester va 1864 nashville tenn 1864 and Bent bettonville bentonville onville N 0 1865 |