Confederate Monuments at Gettysburg NMP

Confederate Monuments
Link to NPS webpage

Gettysburg National Military Park preserves, protects, and interprets one of the best marked battlefields in the world. Over 1,325 monuments, markers, and plaques, commemorate and memorialize the men who fought and died during the Battle of Gettysburg and continue to reflect how that battle has been remembered by different generations of Americans.

Many of these memorials honor southern states whose men served in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. These memorials, erected predominantly in the early and mid-20th century, are an important part of the cultural landscape.

Across the country, the National Park Service maintains and interprets monuments, markers, and plaques that commemorate and memorialize those who fought during the Civil War. These memorials represent an important, if controversial, chapter in our Nation’s history. The National Park Service is committed to preserving these memorials while simultaneously educating visitors holistically about the actions, motivations, and causes of the soldiers and states they commemorate. A hallmark of American progress is our ability to learn from our history.

Many commemorative works, including monuments and markers, were specifically authorized by Congress. In other cases, a monument may have preceded the establishment of a park, and thus could be considered a protected park resource and value. In either of these situations, legislation could be required to remove the monument, and the NPS may need to comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act before removing a statue/memorial.

Still other monuments, while lacking legislative authorization, may have existed in parks long enough to qualify as historic features. A key aspect of their historical interest is that they reflect the knowledge, attitudes, and tastes of the people who designed and placed them. Unless directed by legislation, it is the policy of the National Park Service that these works and their inscriptions will not be altered, relocated, obscured, or removed, even when they are deemed inaccurate or incompatible with prevailing present-day values. The Director of the National Park Service may make an exception to this policy.

The NPS will continue to provide historical context and interpretation for all of our sites and monuments in order to reflect a fuller view of past events and the values under which they occurred.

Confederate Flags

In a June 25, 2015 statement, then National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said, “We strive to tell the complete story of America. All sales items in parks are evaluated based on educational value and their connection to the park. Any stand-alone depictions of Confederate flags have no place in park stores.”

Jarvis said the murders of nine church members at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, which is near Fort Sumter National Monument, galvanized a national discussion that includes symbols and relics from our nation’s past such as the Confederate Battle Flag.

“As that discussion spread across the country,” Jarvis said, “one of our largest cooperating associations, Eastern National, began to voluntarily remove from the park stores that it manages any items that depict a Confederate flag as its primary feature. I’ve asked other cooperating associations, partners and concession providers to withdraw from sale items that solely depict a Confederate flag.”

This affected 11 out of 2,600 items in the bookstore at Gettysburg National Military Park’s Museum and Visitor Center.

In the telling of the historical story, Confederate flags have a place in books, exhibits, reenactments, and interpretive programs. Books, DVDs, and other educational and interpretive media where the Confederate flag image is depicted in its historical context may remain as sales items as long as the image cannot be physically detached. Confederate flags include the Stainless Banner, the Third National Confederate Flag, and the Confederate Battle Flag.

Previously Unknown Map Showing Engagement's Aftermath Amounts to 'Rosetta Stone" for Battle of Antietam

Mary Koik, mkoik@battlefeilds.org
Andrew Dalton, director@achs-pa.org

June 17, 2020

(Sharpsburg, Md.) — Without a doubt, the battlefield at Antietam, site of the September 17, 1862, clash that still represents the bloodiest day in American history, is hallowed ground. Antietam National Battlefield protects landscapes associated with the Union victory that gave Abraham Lincoln the opportunity to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. Now, a period map, uncovered by happenstance by researchers primarily concerned with a different engagement, is shedding new light on the human toll of war by showing the locations where more than 5,800 Americans were buried on that field, often just feet from where they fell.

“Looking at this map, there can be no doubt in the truth of the statement that a battlefield is ‘hallowed ground,’ made so by the blood of soldiers,” said American Battlefield Trust President Jim Lighthizer. “The landscape at Antietam was turned into one vast cemetery, sacred to the memory of those who lost their lives in the struggle.”

More than this symbolic value, the map unleashes a host of interpretive opportunities for historians. “This discovery reveals truths about the Battle of Antietam lost to time” said Trust Chief Historian Garry Adelman. “It’s like the Rosetta Stone: by demonstrating new ways that primary sources already at our disposal relate to each other, it has the power to confirm some of our long-held beliefs — or maybe turn some of our suppositions on their heads.”

Although residing in the collection of the New York Public Library and digitized by that organization nearly two years ago, this map was wholly unknown to experts in the field, including the National Park Service staff at Antietam National Battlefield, until this spring, when researchers from the Adams County Historical Society (ACHS) in Gettysburg, Pa., happened upon it. They were looking for information on the mapmaker, Simon G. Elliott, who is renowned in Civil War history circles for a similarly detailed and often cited study of the Gettysburg Battlefield. ACHS Executive Director Andrew Dalton had begun looking for more details about the somewhat mysterious cartographer, who has a checkered reputation from his work on railroads in California and Oregon. As Dalton looked into what, precisely, brought Elliott east, his colleague Timothy H. Smith scoured other digital collections to compare minor differences in printed copies of the Gettysburg map, hoping to determine the original versus subsequent revisions.

“The New York Public Library has an excellent map collection,” said Smith. “I searched for ‘S.G. Elliott’ and ‘Gettysburg,’ then downloaded the results, so I could look at them in detail. When I opened up the file, I was utterly taken aback and knew I was looking at something extraordinary.”

In addition to alerting his colleague, Dalton, Smith swiftly reached out to the Trust’s Adelman, a close friend and longtime collaborator, looking to corroborate the significance of the discovery. Adelman confirmed the instincts of ACHS’s Gettysburg experts and shared word of the find with Antietam National Battlefield park ranger historian Brian Baracz, who was, likewise, totally unaware of the map’s existence.

“One of the beauties of working with the public is that you never know what’s going to come in the door,” said Baracz. “We have visitors bring us new letters and diaries from participants on a regular basis and those enrich our understanding. But this find exceeds all that — it is on a fundamentally different level.”

The Antietam Elliott Map, like its Gettysburg counterpart, shows significant detail about how the battlefield appeared in the aftermath of fighting. The two maps were likely made at approximately the same time — autumn of 1864, when Elliott came east to lobby Congress on a railroad bill. Although they were recorded a year (in the case of Gettysburg) or two (in the case of Antietam), after the battle, they show precise locations for burials of Union and Confederate soldiers (differentiated by the icon used), as well as horses, because they were based on surveys done immediately following the fighting.

The Battle of Antietam saw some 23,000 total casualties, with the National Park Service interpreting that between 4,000-5,000 of those are individuals who died on the day of the battle. Although historians are still performing analysis of the map, more than 5,800 soldier burials are individually recorded, typically in groups associated with a particular regiment, also noted on the map. Field burials often saw soldiers interred by comrades, very close to where they fell, meaning that the map confirms the locations where units were engaged on the field.

“In some ways, this Antietam map is even better than the Gettysburg one,” said ACHS’s Dalton. “On the latter, Elliott identified 18 soldiers by name when he marked their graves, but at Antietam, he was able to do that for more than 50. And for each of those, we can tell a story.”

This type of detail opens up remarkable interpretive opportunities, especially when paired with other documentation of the battle, like diary entries describing the work of burial crews and the aftermath photographs taken by Alexander Gardner, the echoes of which can be found in the Elliott Map. Likewise, the visual representation of exactly where men died and were buried — although the number of burials made at Antietam National Cemetery demonstrates the vast majority of these internments have been moved off the field, occasional discoveries of human remains do occur at Antietam and other sites — have major implications on battlefield preservation initiatives. The Elliott map shows that dozens of men were once buried in the immediate vicinity of the national park’s visitor center. The 461 acres that have been protected by the American Battlefield Trust show evidence of more than 600 burials.   

“I have no doubt that this is going to change the way we understand and preserve Antietam,” said Tom Clemens, president of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation, one of the country’s top battlefield friends organizations. “Knowing where that sacred ground lies is vital to us as preservationists. It underscores the urgency of our task”   

Those interpretive shifts will become evident, as the National Park Service is making plans to integrate the Elliot Map, both visually and interpretively, into exhibits at the Antietam National Battlefield Visitor Center.

Organized in 1888, the Adams County Historical Society preserves over one million historic items from the Gettysburg area. Its headquarters is also home to the Battle of Gettysburg Research Center, a library and archive assembled by and for students of the Civil War with an emphasis on the roles played by local civilians before, during, and after the Battle of Gettysburg. Learn more at https://www.achs-pa.org.

The American Battlefield Trust is dedicated to preserving America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educating the public about what happened there and why it matters today.  The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has protected more than 50,000 acres associated with the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War. Learn more at www.battlefields.org.

New Preservation Efforts At Elmira Civil War Prison Camp

June 13, 2020 by Emerging Civil War

This week Friends of the Elmira Civil War Prison Camp announced two new successes for their preservation and interpretation efforts in New York. Two vacant houses adjacent to replicated prison and near the original site had recently been purchased, and this Tuesday the structures were safely removed, free of charge by a local demolition company.

Martin Chalk, president of the Friends of the Elmira Civil War Prison Camp, spoke enthusiastically in an interview about getting access to the lots and open fields while helping the community by removing the two houses which were in bad condition.

Although most of the prison camp buildings were dismantled after the war, one was disassemble and saved. It was been reassembled and completed in 2016. The following year the preservation friends group constructed a replica barracks building and has been pursuing opportunities for historical education and more preservation moments. Further expansion and fundraising efforts are planned for the future, but details have been delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The original news article is available here: https://www.stargazette.com/story/news/local/2020/06/09/elmira-civil-war-prison-camp-plans-major-expansion-facility/5325849002/

To learn more about Elmira Prison Camp and the Confederate soldiers who were held there, check out Derek Maxfield’s new book in the Emerging Civil War Series: Hellmira

GBPA Announces Summer Event Schedule Including Reenactment

The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association (GBPA) has announced new dates for several of the historic events held in Adam’s County, including the 2020 Battle of Gettysburg Reenactment.

The Gettysburg Reenactment, an annual event that has attracted over 500,000 visitors, has been scheduled for August 22-23, and will be held at the historic Daniel Lady Farm on Hanover Street. The house and barn was converted into a field hospital during the historic battle of Culp’s Hill, and will also be open for tours on event weekends. Campsites on the farm will also be open for scout groups and reenactors, as permitted under state orders and guidelines. 

The Fall Skirmish, as well as the Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg, is still scheduled for September 12-13 on the Daniel Lady Farm. The Annual Civil War Artifact Show, typically held in June, has been rescheduled for September 26-27 at the Eisenhower All Star Complex. The event is being closely monitored by Brendan Synnamon, GBPA Vice President of Administration and show coordinator, in order to enforce state COVID-19 health guidelines. Other events are being planned for Fall 2020, in addition to the current lineup.

All events and activities continue to depend on the reopening status of Adams County, as well as any orders and guidelines issued by Governor Tom Wolf. the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the U.S. Center for Disease Control.

“We are aware of the multiple cancellations of Civil War events around the country and are doing everything possible to provide reenactors and the public with Civil War events as we begin to recover from the COVID 19 crisis,” said GBPA President Michael Cassidy.

While managing the reenactments will require additional planning, Kirk Davis, GBPA Vice President of Operations, says that “The fact that these events are being held outdoors on the Lady Farm’s 148-acre site, gives us confidence that we can offer enough room to adhere to social distancing regulations and hold these events as safely as possible.”

For further information, reenactors, ticket holders, and the general public can visit www.gbpa.org/events. The GBPA is a 501c3 non-profit organization that serves to educate the public through the preservation of its battlefield and other historic monuments.

Gettysburg NMP Goes Green!

Gettysburg National Military Park Is Modifying Operations To Comply with Green Phase

Gettysburg, PA – Following guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities, Gettysburg National Military Park is increasing access and services. The National Park Service (NPS) is working service-wide with federal, state, and local public health authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and using a phased approach to increase access on a park-by-park basis.

  Beginning June 12, 2020, Gettysburg National Military Park, in response to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s move to Phase Green for Adams County, will continue to allow Licensed Battlefield Guide operations, commercial operators, and special park uses. Licensed Battlefield Guides, permits, and special park uses are to comply with state reopening guidance and public health guidance which include limiting gatherings to less than 250 people and maintaining social distancing. Park Rangers will provide informal interpretation services through intermittent roves, or visits, to different areas of the battlefield. Public restrooms will begin to reopen throughout the battlefield. Portable toilets are also available throughout the battlefield (see map below) at the following ten locations:

1.     10 at McMillan Woods Campground

2.     1 at Weikert Farm

3.     6 at the Park Amphitheater

4.     1 at Slyder Farm

5.     2 at Big Round Top Parking area

6.     2 at Wheatfield Road near Little Round Top

7.     2 at the PA Monument

8.     2 at the South End Comfort Station

9.     2 at the West End Guide Station

10. 1 at the National Cemetery Comfort Station.

·       The Museum and Visitor Center will remain closed while operational plans are developed to ensure compliance with public health guidance and operational and engineered controls. We are adopting a phased in plan for re-opening, and an announcement detailing our plans and reopen date will be forthcoming.

·       Interpretive programs with Park Rangers will not be offered and the Eisenhower Home and Reception Center remain closed. There is no public parking available at Eisenhower NHS.

·       The David Wills House, observation towers, and the Pennsylvania Memorial observation level remain closed.

·       Gettysburg NMP grounds, roads, trails, and parking areas remain open to the public. Park gates will be opened and closed at their normal times. Formal, scheduled interpretive programs with Park Rangers may be offered in the future where gatherings can be kept under 250 people.

·       The 157th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg will be comprised of a series of free VIRTUAL guided walks and talks that discuss, explore, and reflect on this important chapter in our nation’s history. Further details will be released soon.

The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners continues to be paramount. At Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site, our operational approach will be to examine each facility function and service provided to ensure those operations comply with current public health guidance and will be regularly monitored. We continue to work closely with the NPS Office of Public Health using CDC guidance to ensure public and workspaces are safe and clean for visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners.  

While these areas are accessible for visitors to enjoy, a return to full operations will continue to be phased and services may be limited. When recreating, the public should follow local area health orders for Pennsylvania State Phase Green, practice Leave No Trace principles, avoid crowding and avoid high-risk outdoor activities.

The CDC has offered guidance to help people recreating in parks and open spaces prevent the spread of infectious diseases. We will continue to monitor all park functions to ensure that visitors adhere to CDC guidance for mitigating risks associated with the transmission of COVID-19 and take any additional steps necessary to protect public health.  

We have amazing virtual tours of Gettysburg NMP and Eisenhower NHS available on our web site for people who are still home schooling or not traveling at this time.

·       Gettysburg NMP Virtual Tour

·       Eisenhower NHS Virtual Tour

Details and updates on park operations will continue to be posted on our website at https://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htmand social media channels. Updates about NPS operations will be posted on www.nps.gov/coronavirus.

Battlefield “Red Patch” House to be Restored by Jeff and Stephanie Shaara

Battlefield “Red Patch” House to be Restored by Jeff and Stephanie Shaara

“Red Patch” in 1900

June 4, 2020 by Stephanie Shaara, Jeff Shaara, and Charles Stangor

Gettysburg native Stephanie Shaara and her husband, well known historical author Jeff Shaara, are tackling an enormous project that will restore a 120-year old home to its original glory.

The historic home known as “Red Patch,” which sits next to the former Gettysburg National Guard Armory on Southwest Confederate Avenue at the top of Red Patch Avenue in west Gettysburg, towers over the neighborhood below and provides views across the borough to the round tops.

“We’re cleaning out the house,” said Stephanie.

The prior owners, Gail Prezioso and her late husband Sal, bought the house in the late 1990s. When Ms. Prezioso sold the house to the Shaaras, “she left behind an enormous collection of Italian travel and art books that we’re donating to Gettysburg College. There were nearly thirty cases of Civil War books that we have donated to the Adams County Historical Society, and at least ten cases of books have been donated to the Adams County Library,” said Stephanie.

The most recent renovation was by Sharen and John Miller, who owned the house between 1985 and 1997. “The look of the house today, the paint and carpet, and the layout of many of the bedrooms were by the Millers. They did a beautiful job of restoring the home, but now it’s time to do it again. Our goal is to restore the home to its appearance in 1900, when it was built,” said Stephanie

“The things we threw away were not historically relevant, and were certainly not part of the original home. We have given away anything that was salvageable and worthy of donating. A collection of civil war prints has gone to the American Battlefield Trust,” said Stephanie.

Stephanie met her husband when she was managing the Greystone History Emporium on Steinwehr Avenue in 1994. “Jeff was just starting his writing career, and had come to town for the release of the movie ‘Gettysburg’ on video. As the years passed, he would visit Gettysburg every summer for book signing events, and we became friends,” said Stephanie.

Construction on Red Patch was started by Union Brevet Major General H.T. Collis in 1898, based on a design of a house in Somerville, NJ. “We have a copy of the January 1894 edition of ‘Carpentry and Building’ magazine featuring the house in Somerville as well as the original contract between General Collis and his local Gettysburg builder, Merville E. Stallsmith,” said Stephanie. “The house was started in 1898 and completed in 1900. General Collis died in 1902.”

Collis is buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery. “He has a large white marble marker and the bust of him faces Red Patch,” said Stephanie. “Collis referred to Red Patch as his summer home and club house. Supposedly he had some interesting guests and big parties.”

The house has had several owners, including Elmer Dillman, who used the house as an antique store until 1975. Stephanie remembers shopping there with her father, and her parents still own a few antiques purchased there. When Mr. Dillman died, his family sold the home to the National Park Service, who owned it until 1985.

Jeff and Stephanie intend to restore the house to its original look with clapboard siding on the ground floor and shingle siding on the second and third stories, while also modernizing the interior.

The work will be done by Shawn Smith, owner of the local construction company Knight Builders, Inc. “I’ve known Shawn since high school, and he built a home for us several years ago,” said Stephanie.

Construction will include a new roof, siding, windows, kitchen. and bathrooms. The front porch will be rebuilt and the railings will be replaced. The stone foundation will be repointed and the colors of the original house will be used. The original pine floors throughout the house will be sanded and preserved, and the four original fireplaces will be restored.

“We’ll keep the loop driveway, adding a pebble surface that will be more period,” said Stephanie. “We have a photo of the house from 1900. That will be the look of the property. We’re hoping that when the work is completed, that it will not only be our home, but will also be included on the National Registry of Historic Places. Red Patch deserves that,” said Stephanie.

The attic will be converted to Jeff’s office space and library. The space has original wood beams, a tall peaked ceiling, as well as windows and a balcony with a spectacular view of the battlefield.

The Shaaras have been living close to Philadelphia for the past two years, but when Stephanie saw the home listed for sale on realtor.com they knew it was the right thing to do.

“It’s a piece of land that’s significant to the town and the battlefield. The Millers added so much to the home, but not much has been done since then. It needs some TLC. Maintaining the historical integrity of the home is the highest priority for us. But it will also be our home. I think General Collis would be happy,” said Stephanie.

Virginia governor announces removal of Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond

June 3, 2020
By Barnini Chakraborty | Fox News

story link

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday the removal of one of the country's most iconic monuments to the Confederacy — a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee along Richmond's bucolic tree-lined Monument Avenue.

"We are here to chart a new course in Virginia's history," Northam said. "We are here to be honest about our past and talk about our future."

Northam said Virginia had set "high ideals" in the past 400 years about freedom and equality but had "fallen short" of them.

Taking down the Lee monument is an extraordinary victory for civil rights activists who have long called for its removal. Several efforts in the past to remove the statue have been fought bitterly and failed.

Ahead of the governor's announcement, hundreds gathered around the Lee monument.

Lee's statue will be sent to a storage facility.

157th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg - Virtual Events

July 1-3, 2020

The three day Battle of Gettysburg marked a turning point not only in the course of the American Civil War, but also for the future of the United States of America. Join Park Rangers, Historians, and Licensed Battlefield Guides during the 157th Anniversary for a series of free VIRTUAL guided walks and talks that discuss, explore, and reflect on this important chapter in our nation’s history. These virtual programs will offer visitors unprecedented access to locations and historic structures that have previously never been featured during the Battle Anniversary.

All programs will be streamed LIVE on the Gettysburg National Military Park Facebook Page.

Full schedule details will be updated soon.

Last Person to Receive a Civil War-Era Pension Dies

Last Person to Receive a Civil War-Era Pension Dies

Michael M. Phillips/The Wall Street Journal
June 2, 2020

Irene Triplett, the last person receiving a pension from the U.S. Civil War, has died at the age of 90.

Ms. Triplett’s father, Mose Triplett, started fighting in the war for the Confederacy, but defected to the North in 1863. That decision earned his daughter Irene, the product of a late-in-life marriage to a woman almost 50 years his junior, a pension of $73.13 a month from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Ms. Triplett, who suffered from mental disabilities, qualified for federal financial support as a helpless ((CQ)) adult child of a veteran. She died Sunday from complications following surgery for injuries from a fall, according to the Wilkesboro, N.C., nursing home where she lived.

The Triplett family was the subject of a Page One article in The Wall Street Journal in 2014.

Pvt. Triplett enlisted in the 53rd North Carolina Infantry Regiment in May 1862, then transferred to the 26th North Carolina Infantry Regiment early the following year, according to Confederate records. He fell ill as his regiment marched north toward Gettysburg and remained behind in a Virginia military hospital.

He ran away from the hospital, records show, while his unit suffered devastating losses at Gettysburg. Of the 800 men in the 26th North Carolina, 734 were killed, wounded or captured in the battle Pvt. Triplett missed.

Now a deserter, he made his way to Tennessee and, in 1864, enlisted in a Union regiment, the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry. Known as Kirk’s Raiders, the 3rd North Carolina carried out a campaign of sabotage against Confederate targets in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. The unit was named after Tennessee-born commander Col. George Washington Kirk.

After the war, former Kirk’s Raiders were despised in areas of the former Confederacy. Pvt. Triplett, by then a civilian with a reputation for orneriness, kept pet rattlesnakes at his home near Elk Creek, N.C. He often sat on his front porch with a pistol on his lap.

“A lot of people were afraid of him,” his grandson, Charlie Triplett, told The Wall Street Journal.

Pvt. Triplett married Elida Hall in 1924. She was 34 when Irene was born in 1930; he was 83. Such an age difference wasn’t rare, especially later, during the Great Depression, when Civil War veterans found themselves with both a pension and a growing need for care.

Both mother and daughter suffered from mental disabilities. Irene Triplett recalled a tough childhood in the North Carolina mountains, beaten by teachers at school and parents at home.

“I didn’t care for neither one of them, to tell you the truth about it,” she told The Wall Street Journal in 2014. “I wanted to get away from both of them. I wanted to get me a house and crawl in it all by myself.”

Pvt. Triplett died in 1938 at age 92, days after attending a reunion of Civil War veterans, attended by President Franklin Roosevelt, on the fields of Gettysburg.

Ms. Triplett and her mother lived for years in the Wilkes County poorhouse. Irene later moved through a number of care homes, her costs covered by Medicaid and her tiny VA pension.

She saw little of her relatives. But a pair of Civil War buffs visited and sent her money to spend on Dr Pepper and chewing tobacco, a habit she picked up in the first grade.

“She’s a part of history,” said Dennis St. Andrew, one of Irene’s supporters and a past commander of the North Carolina Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. “You’re talking to somebody whose father was in the Civil War, which is mind-bending.”

The number of what the group calls true sons and daughters of Civil War soldiers is fast heading toward zero. Mr. St. Andrew expects that as word spreads of Ms. Triplett’s death, the Sons of Union Veterans will, as is customary, declare a 30-day mourning period. Members will wear a black band on their membership badges.

Write to Michael M. Phillips at michael.phillips@wsj.com

Two Gettysburg Land Parcels Move to Park Service

Map by Curt Mussleman

May 22, 2020 by Gettysburg Connection

During a visit to Gettysburg National Military Park (GNMP) last week, U.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt awarded a $573,000 Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) to acquire two tracts for the park.

“The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) funding will enable the PHMC and project partner American Battlefield Trust (ABT) to acquire the East Cemetery Hill tract and the Vermont tract portions of the Gettysburg battlefield. The tracts were previously held by a private property owner,” said GNMP representative Cynthia Hernandez.

The East Cemetery Hill Tract consists of .7 acres along Baltimore Pike and is contiguous with land previously preserved through ABPP funding awarded to the PHMC. “The Trust plans to restore the property to its 1863 appearance to enhance the public’s understanding of the military actions that occurred there. The land will be protected in perpetuity with a conservation easement held by the Land Conservancy of Adams County (LCAC),” said Hernandez.

The 47 acre Vermont Tract in the south part of the park abuts the Gettysburg National Military Park on two sides and its acquisition will prevent development that might obscure views of Big Round Top.

ABT will acquire the tracts with the funding awarded to PHMC. The Commonwealth will work with ABT and the Land Conservancy of Adams County (LCAC) to create a permanent preservation easement that will protect the historic resources of this nationally significant property in perpetuity.

The goal of ABPP is to “assist citizens, public and private institutions, and governments at all levels in planning, interpreting, and protecting sites where historic battles were fought on American soil during the armed conflicts that shaped the growth and development of the United States, in order that present and future generations may learn and gain inspiration from the ground where Americans made their ultimate sacrifice,” said Hernandez.

“If for some (highly unlikely) reason the ABT decided to sell the property in the future, LCAC has an obligation to make sure that future owners understand and comply with the terms of the conservation easement, keeping it as intended by the Trust,” said LCAC spokesperson Sarah Kipp.

“Battlefields such as Gettysburg are sacred sites where Americans gave the last full measure of devotion,” said Bernhardt. “These grants enable us to partner with communities and organizations to preserve these places and connect visitors with their historical importance.”

“ABPP grants create partnerships among state and local governments and nonprofit organizations to act quickly and proactively to preserve and protect nationally significant battlefields, such as Gettysburg,” said National Park Service Deputy Director David Vela, exercising the authority of the director.