|
Military: Civil War
Welcome to the National Park Service Thematic Civil War web site.
This historical theme focuses
on the epic struggle between the North and the South that eliminated
both slavery and the right of secession as a consequential political
theory. Included are all military, political, and diplomatic
activities related to this first of the "total" American wars, and
all other political and social activities of this era not related to
the war.
Subthemes include the following
aspects of the Civil War: The Nation Divides, 1860-1861; War in the
East; War in the West; Naval Action; and Political and Diplomatic
Scene.
Gettysburg
National Military Park |
Located
50 miles northwest of Baltimore, the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
was the site of the largest Civil War battle ever waged in the Western
Hemisphere. The Battle of Gettysburg opened on July 1, 1863 and
closed two days later with the climactic "Pickett's Charge". It
resulted in a Union victory for the Army of the Potomac which successfully
turned back the second invasion of the North by General Robert E.
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Over 51,000 soldiers were killed,
wounded or captured making it the bloodiest battle of the Civil
War. It was also a major turning point in the war. Historians have
referred to the Battle of Gettysburg as the "High Water Mark of
the Confederacy." It was the last major effort by Lee to take the
fighting out of Virginia and into northern states.
The
Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg contains more than 7,000
interments including over 3,500 from the Civil War. It is also the
site of President Abraham Lincoln's immortal Gettysburg Address
delivered during the dedication ceremonies on November 19, 1863.
Post-battle
preservation efforts saved small portions of the battlefield as
a memorial to the Union victory. On February 11, 1895, Gettysburg
National Military Park was established as a national park by an
official act of congress. The park incorporates nearly 6,000 acres,
with 26 miles of park roads and over 1,400 monuments, markers, and
memorials, making it one of the world's largest collections of outdoor
sculpture.
Eastern National Civil War Series
The Civil War: 150 Years-National Park Service Sesquicentennial Commemoration
Video: Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Events
Civil War Parks
Abraham Lincoln
Birthplace National Historical Park, KY
Adams Adams National Historical Park, MA
African American Civil
War Memorial, DC
Andersonville National
Historic Site, GA
Andrew Johnson National
Historic Site, TN
Antietam National
Battlefield, MD
Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park, VA
Arkansas Post National
Memorial, AR
Arlington House, The
Robert E. Lee Memorial, VA
Battleground National
Cemetery (Rock Creek Park), DC
Bent's Old Fort
National Historic Site, CO
Big South Fork National
River and Recreation Area, KY, TN
Blue Ridge Parkway,
NC, VA
Booker T. Washington
National Monument, VA
Boston African American
National Historic Site, MA
Boston Harbor Islands
National Recreation Area, MA
Boston National Historical
Park, MA
Brown
v Board of Education National Historic Site, KS
Brice's Cross
Roads
National Battlefield Site, MS
Buffalo National River,
AR
Cane River Creole
National Historical Park, LA
Cape Hatteras National
Seashore, NC
Castillo de San
Marcos National Monument, FL
Cedar Creek and Belle
Grove National Historical Park, VA
Charles Pinckney
National Historic Site, SC
Chattahoochee
River National Recreation Area, GA
Chesapeake & Ohio
Canal National Historical Park, DC, MD, WV
Chickamauga &
Chattanooga National Military Park, GA, TN
Civil War
Defenses of Washington, DC
Clara Barton National
Historic Site, MD
Colonial National
Historical Park, VA
Cumberland Gap National
Historical Park, KY
Dry Tortugas National
Park, FL
Eisenhower National Historic
Site, PA
Ford's Theatre National
Historic Site, DC
Fort Bowie National
Historic Site, AZ
Fort Caroline National
Memorial, FL
Fort Davis National
Historic Site, TX
Fort Donelson National
Battlefield, TN
Fort Larned National
Historic Site, KS
Fort McHenry National
Monument Historic Shrine, MD
Fort Pulaski National
Monument, GA
Fort Raleigh National
Historic Site, NC
Fort Scott National
Historic Site, KS
Fort Smith
National Historic Site, AR, OK
Fort Sumter National
Monument, SC
Fort Union National
Monument, NM
Fort Vancouver National
Historic Site, WA
Frederick Douglas
National Historic Site, DC
Frederick Law Olmstead
National Historic Site, MA
Fredericksburg &
Spotsylvania National Military Park, VA
George
Washington Carver National Monument, MO
General Grant National
Memorial, NY
Gettysburg National
Military Park, PA
Golden Gate National
Recreation Area, CA
Alcatraz
Island, CA
Fort Point
National Historic Site, CA
Presidio of
San Francisco, CA
Golden Spike National Historic
Site, UT
Governor's Island
National Monument, NY
Gulf Islands National
Seashore, FL, MS
Hampton National
Historic Site, MD
Harpers Ferry National
Historical Park, WV, MD, VA
Homestead National
Monument of America, NE
Hopewell Furnace
National Historic Site, PA
Hot Springs National
Park, AR
Independence National
Historical Park, PA
James A. Garfield
National Historic Site, OH
Jefferson National
Expansion Memorial, MO
Jean Lafitte National
Historical Park and Preserve, LA
Kennesaw Mountain
National Battlefield Park, GA
Little Rock
Central High School National Historic Site, AR
Lincoln Boyhood National
Memorial, IN
Lincoln Home National
Historic Site, IL
Lincoln Memorial,
DC
Lyndon B. Johnson National
Historical Park , TX
Maggie L Walker
National Historic Site, VA
Mammoth Cave National
Park, KY
Manassas National
Battlefield Park, VA
Manzanar National
Historic Site, CA
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller
National Historical Park, VT
Martin Luther
King Jr National Historic Site, GA
Martin Van Buren
National Historic Site, NY
Mary McLeod
Bethune Council House National Historic Site, DC
Minidoka Internment
National Monument, ID
Monocacy National
Battlefield, MD
Natchez National
Historical Park, MS
Natchez Trace Parkway,
AL,
MS, TN
Natchez
Trace National Scenic Trail, MS, TN
Tupelo
National Battlefield, MS
National Capital Parks
East, DC
Carter
G. Woodson National Historic Site, DC
Fort Dupont
Park, DC
Fort Foote,
MD
Fort
Washington Park, MD
Mary
McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, DC
New Bedford National
Historical Park, MA
Nicodemus
National Historic Site, KS
Ocmulgee
National Monument, GA
Overmountain Victory National
Historic Trail, VA, TN, NC, SC
Palo Alto Battlefield
National Historic Site, TX
Pea Ridge National
Military Park, AR
Pecos National
Historical Park, NM
Pennsylvania
Avenue National Historic Site, DC
Petersburg National
Battlefield, VA
Port Chicago Naval Magazine
National Memorial, CA
President's
Park, DC
Richmond National
Battlefield, VA
Rock Creek
Park, DC
Saint-Gaudens National Historic
Site, NH
San Juan Island National
Historical Park, WA
Sand Creek Massacre
National Historic Site, CO
Santa Fe
National Historic Trail, CO, KS, MO, NM, OK
Scotts Bluff
National Monument, NE
Selma to
Montgomery National Historic Trail, AL
Sewall-Belmont House
National Historic Site, DC
Shenandoah National
Park, VA
Shiloh National Military
Park, TN, MS
Springfield Armory
National Historic Site, MA
Stones River National
Battlefield, TN
Timucuan
Ecological and Historic Preserve, FL
Tupelo National
Battlefield, MS
Tuskegee Airmen
National Historic Site, AL
Tuskegee Institute
National Historic Site, AL
Ulysses S. Grant
National Historic Site, MO
Underground Railroad Network
to Freedom
Vicksburg National
Military Park, MS
Wilson's Creek National
Battlefield, MO
Women's Rights National
Historical Park, NY
Yellowstone National
Park, WY, MT, ID
Heritage Areas
Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area
Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area
Atchafalaya National Heritage Area
Augusta Canal National Heritage Area
Baltimore National Heritage Area
Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
Cane River National Heritage Area
Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership
Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor
Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area
Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor
Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area
Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area
Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District
South Carolina National Heritage Corridor
Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area
Wheeling National Heritage Area
Museum Exhibits:
- Vicksburg Siege (Vicksburg NMP)
- Camp Life at Gettysburg (Gettysburg NMP)
- Civil War Flags
- Frederick Douglass (Frederick Douglass NHS)
Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans--Civil War:
Examine conditions of the Civil War's most notorious prison, and learn how inmates were able to cope. (National Park)
Understand how battlefield medical care developed during the Civil War, particularly in the Union Army. (National Historic Landmark)
Discover how the Battle of Glorieta Pass ended the Confederacy's dream of expanding westward to the Pacific Ocean. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Learn how the Civil War created fierce conflicts among American Indian nations who had been moved across the Mississippi River.
Use one of the Civil War's key early battles to understand the conflicts that faced border states such as Kentucky during and after the war. (National Historic Landmark)
Understand the violence of the Civil War through the eyes of young women whose homes were in the midst of an important battle and continuing conflict.
Recall one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles, which raged through the rocky cedar glades of Tennessee, as told in eyewitness and personal accounts. (National Park)
Learn why this home in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was a center of military activity, and consider the impact the war had on those whose property became part of the battlefield. (National Park)
Trace the course of this Civil War battle and consider the wrenching personal choices that were made by soldiers on each side. (National Park)
Follow Barton's remarkable career as a leader of charitable causes, from caring for the wounded on Civil War battlefields to founding the American Red Cross. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Study personal accounts of soldiers who fought in the first battle of the Civil War, and discover how the day set the tone for the many bloody battles to come. (National Park)
Follow Admiral Farragut's attack on Fort Morgan and Mobile Bay, and consider the human reaction to technologies such as ironclads and underwater mines. (National Historic Landmark)
Discover why Fort Pickens was so valuable to both the Union and Confederacy, and follow the actions of the military commanders faced with crucial decisions. (National Park)
Learn how these remote passes in the mountains influenced the course of the westward expansion of the United States. (National Park/Raton Pass is a National Historic Landmark.)
Learn how Abraham Lincoln's belief in freedom and democracy, his eloquence, and the support of family and community propelled him to the White House and uplifted him through the turbulent Civil War. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Learn about the evolution of a system to honor and care for U.S. veterans beginning with the creation of soldiers' homes and national cemeteries during and after the Civil War.
Learn about the history of Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio, and about the federal government's policies guiding the marking of POW graves during and after the Civil War.
Explore President Abraham Lincoln’s life at a country retreat during summer months and examine the work he completed there on the Emancipation Proclamation. (National Historic Landmark)
Related Links:
- A Guide To Readings In American Military History
- African American Sailors in the Civil War
- America's Civil War-Challenges, Perspectives, Opportunities
- Antietam National Battlefield Park - Historical Handbook Series
- Battle of Gettysburg
- Causes of the Civil War
- Causes of the Civil War (Selected Bibliography)
- Cavalry Clash in the Sandhills: The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads North Carolina
- Chickamunga and Chattanoga Battlefields - Historical Handbook Series
- Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the National Civil War Battlefields
- Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
- Conference Proceedings Holding the High Ground II, Richmond, Virginia, March 27-29, 2001
- Custis-Lee Mension: The Robert E. Lee Memorial - Historical Handbook Series
- Fort Sumter National Monument - Historical Handbook Series
- Fort Pulaski National Monument - Historical Handbook Series
- Gettysburg National Military Park Studies
- Gettysburg National Historical Park - Historical Handbook Series
- Holding the High Ground, Principles and Strategies for Managing and Interpreting Civil War Battlefield Landscapes Proceedings of a Conference of Battlefield Managers Nashville, TN August 24-27, 1998
- Index of Civil War Information on the Internet
- Interpretation at Civil War Sites
- Interpreting Slavery and Civil Rights at Fort Sumter National Monument
- Lincoln 200 Years
- Manassas (Bull Run) National Battlefield Park - Historical Handbook Series
- The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion
- Richmond National Battlefield Park - Historical Handbook Series
- Shiloh National Military Park - Historical Handbook Series
- Sunshine and Shadows: A Catalog of Civil War Unit Histories and Personal Narratives in National Park Service Libraries (1986) (pdf)
Civil War Books Online
- Black Dispatches: Black American Contributions to Union Intelligence During the Civil War
- Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant
|
