Preserving Salem Cemetery Battlefield (Jackson, Tennessee)

Railroad in Jackson, Tennessee, shortly before the 1862 battle in which it played a significant role.

Harpers Weekly, sketch by Alexander Simplot

Recipient: Tennessee Historical Commission

Award Amount: $345,336.95

The December 19th, 1862 Battle of Salem Cemetery, also known as the Battle of Jackson, Tennessee, was a small but significant Civil War skirmish, engaging over 1,000 soldiers in a 2-hour battle. This event was part of Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Expedition into West Tennessee. Forrest spent two months raiding railroad supplies to hinder the Union Army. At the cemetery, Union regiments were able to repulse a Confederate attack, but it was ruse. Forrest used the engagement as a feint while he and the rest of his men destroyed a section of the railroad in Jackson. Overall, while the expedition did slow down the Union Army, it did not prevent Grant from taking Vicksburg six months later.

In 2019, thanks to a Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant from theAmerican Battlefield Protection Program, Tennessee Historical Commission and the American Battlefield Trust (ABT) preserved 120 acres of the battlefield. Nowadays, the location of the battle retains a high degree of historic integrity, but that almost was not the case. The landowner had previously expressed interest in selling the property to a solar energy company to create an industrial scale solar farm. Now, thanks to the work of the commission and ABT, and NPS ABPP’s grant, the site’s Civil War history will be preserved for future generations.

Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants are administered by the National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program in order to permanently protect and preserve historic battlefield lands. Learn more on our website below. In addition, the program administers three other grants: Preservation Planning Grants, the newly authorized Battlefield Restoration and Battlefield Interpretation Grant programs. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.

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Check out the American Battlefield Protection Program's website for more information about various grant offerings and eligibility.

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