What made the Battle of Shiloh significant? Fought in April 1862, Shiloh marked the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War to that time with more than 20,000 casualties, and the narrow Union victory paved the way for Grant to ultimately secure the railroads and the Mississippi River which greatly hampered the Confederacy. Shiloh National Military […]
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Category: Civil War
Chickamauga and Chattanooga
Preserved alongside Gettysburg, Shiloh and Vicksburg in 1890, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park preserves sites from two battles fought near this area in late 1863 which spelled what one soldier called the “death knell of the Confederacy.” While the Confederates won the first battle in September, they allowed the Union army to escape to […]
Stones River
The Battle of Stones River might be the most important battle of the Civil War that you’ve never heard of. Pitting 80,000 men against each other, General Rosecrans’ costly Union victory over General Bragg here at Murfreesboro, Tennessee as 1862 turned to 1863 gave teeth to the Emancipation Proclamation and established a Union foothold in […]
Pecos
Pecos National Historical Park sits just a couple of miles from the busy I-25 corridor near Glorieta Pass, New Mexico, but it feels like a world apart. Surrounded by juniper forests and mountains, Pecos NHP is a beautiful place, but it’s not its beauty that makes it part of the National Park system. First declared […]
Fort Union
New Mexico is rich in history, and many of its National Park units protect this history, both Native American sites and sites which speak to the United States’ westward expansion. Fort Union was perhaps the most important fort in the Southwest because it not only protected the important Santa Fe Trail, but it was a […]
Andersonville
Walking around the site of the Civil War prison at Andersonville, one can’t help but envision the horrid conditions of more than 30,000 men crammed into a 26-acre pen left mostly to fend for themselves against the environment, hunger and rampant sickness. Andersonville serves as a somber reminder of one of the most grim aspects […]
Kennesaw Mountain
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia preserves the site of the last major battle in the defense of Atlanta from Sherman’s advancing forces during the American Civil War. Despite being outnumbered 2:1, Johnston’s Confederates held out against Sherman’s forces in two separate attacks in June of 1964. While it was a tactical victory for the […]
Mount Vernon Trail
Do you like to bike? Then you should try Mount Vernon Trail in Washington, D.C. Mount Vernon Trail is an 18-mile long trail that extends from George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate to Arlington National Cemetery. It was first opened in 1972 as a multi-use path after biking became popular along the nearby George Washington Parkway. […]
National Capital Parks East
National Capital Parks-East is a collection of National Park Service sites on the Maryland side of D.C. The sites include open spaces, homes of historical figures, boardwalks and piers, old forts, and even farms. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Visit. I visited the southernmost of the National […]
Gettysburg
Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania preserves the site of the largest battle ever fought in North America and the turning point of the U.S. Civil War. The battle involved more than 160,000 troops and marked the end of General Robert E. Lee’s excursion into the North. The park surrounds the small town of Gettysburg, […]
Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, at the corner of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, protects an area full of rich US history. George Washington chose this area as the location for a major US arsenal, Thomas Jefferson marveled at the beauty of the mountains rising from the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, Meriwether Lewis […]
Richmond
Richmond National Battlefield Park, Virginia, consists of several units in and around Richmond, Virginia which protect the locations of key Civil War battles and defensive positions which protected the Confederate capitol of Richmond in two campaigns in 1862 and 1864. The park is also home to the historic Tredegar Iron Works, a civil war-era hospital […]