Video
The Importance of Battlefields
Transcript
Hello and welcome to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. My name is Ranger Amanda and today I'm standing in a field at the base of Cheatham Hill and the field is actually surrounded by wooded area. On the top of the hill, of Cheatham Hill, is actually the Illinois Monument. It's in the shadows, so you might not be able to see it through our film today, but it is a 25 foot tall white marble statue, monument actually, with a federal eagle on top with its wings spanned. And then on the face of the monument is three life-size individuals. In the middle is a Union soldier and he is flanked by two women in Greek robes, in portraying liberty and even peace or the state of Illinois. Of course, that is the Illinois Monument. Now today I come to you to talk a little bit about the importance of battlefields and why we need to preserve those battlefields. And here at Kennesaw Mountain we are just one of a few that are designated in preservation of that area. But there's so much more that takes place in preservation and preserving a battlefield. Now according to Marion Webster's dictionary, "a battlefield is a place where a battle is fought or an area of conflict or disagreement" and so the National Park Service actually has 25 designated battlefields that is listed as part of its units and those have a variety of names. There are the Military Parks, the National Battlefield, National Battlefield Parks, and even National Battlefield Sites. And there's 25 park units, Kennesaw being one of those 25 that's designated as such. The thing is is just because there are only 25, it doesn't mean that we don't have other battlefields that we preserve. One of which is actually out in Wyoming and it is the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument and also Paulo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site. So some of the locations that don't have that designation in their name are still a battlefield, where a conflict with American soldiers or Native Americans have taken place throughout the years and is a incredibly important part of our history. Now a lot of people might think there's so many different names why are they differently classified. Well some of them depend upon the importance of that location. So military parks are actually the largest of those parks and they have very important designation in our history and the battles that took place during that time. So those are kind of at the top of the level after that it depends upon the size and the space and the importance that the battle that took place is in our history. In addition to that, it could be the culture of the day and how Congress might have felt it was important to designate them. So there's a variety of reasons why you have different classifications for a battlefield or a site of conflict within our nation's history. Now a lot of people think, "Well what's the importance?, Why, Why do we do this? Why do we preserve, um, doesn't it demonstrate violence or promote violence?, Do we really want to make sure that we talk about that?, or is it just beautiful landscapes? What is the true importance of a battlefield?" Well the big thing is, is we can learn from those sites of course. Battlefields are sacred places where thousands have died over the years to paint upon the locations. You have people who are willing to sacrifice everything for what they believe, but it also teaches us the importance of how far we've come in our history. And so we can learn from those before us. In addition, military locations, military parks and battlefields have been set up and have used, been used, by our United States military as training grounds. So they can even learn from their predecessors. In the military, of how they're going to be able to take those tactics and techniques. And perhaps use them to become better leaders or even how to look at the terrain around them in order to make good strategic decisions. Now the first battlefields that were preserved were Civil War sites and those are the top four are first started with Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Then you have Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Shiloh. Those are the two, are the four, top four parks that we have within, that they were the beginning. And that started in 1890, when Chickamauga Chattanooga was established and after that they knew the importance of preserving, that of honoring those who had died, and those locations and learning from those strategies that took place at those spots. When you visit those parks you're actually going to see a lot of monuments that you might not see at other places. And the reason for that is because the veterans actually came back and did these establishment of those locations and so they were able to put in monuments at each one of those sites. And they have hundreds of monuments amongst them to note different units and regiments and states and just a variety of different soldiers at those locations. Here at Kennesaw Mountain its a little bit different. Yes, the first 60 acres that were preserved here were done so by veterans, United States soldiers, U.S. veterans that fought here, at on Cheatham Hill specifically, and the first 60 acres were at this location. They thought this was where they saw the heaviest fighting of their entire careers and they had been through several bloody, bloody battles. But they wanted to preserve here and make sure that they remembered those who fell and their friends who had died at this location and to preserve this spot. They also wanted to eventually make it into a military park or a battlefield that was owned by the United States government. Now during the 1890s and early 20th century, this property did not belong to the National Park Service. Again Kennesaw Mountain was privately owned by a veterans group. Other locations similar, the top four parks, that I just mentioned, they were owned by the War Department and managed by the War Department. Eventually Kennesaw Mountain will transfer over to the War Department as well. The soldiers that bought the first 60 acres even raised money to try to have monuments put into place. They were unable to get all the funds that they needed. And so what they're going to do is actually go to the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to receive funds. They only received funds from Illinois, hence the Illinois monument, and they knew the importance of that. Eventually, as time went on they were able to transfer the property over to the United States government and it was under the control or property management was done by the War Department. In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt is going to transfer those properties from the War Department over to the National Park Service. Now Kennesaw Mountain was only a site by this point in time and they're going to actually expand to almost the current boundaries that we have. We had a Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was here and a lot of those young men helped further the preservation of the park. As it extended into other areas and so by 1935, Congress officially designated Kennesaw mountain as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. So many different steps of preservation took place. Now you might think well, "What are you doing today?, How is preservation taking place today?" Well, we have a variety of things that take place here. With us, we'd like to educate people and talk about what they can do to help preserve. Of course, you can always keep the battlefield clean and pick up after yourself, not climb on our earthworks. We have special projects in place in order to preserve our earthworks and that type of history. We have different projects in place to further the education and preservation of some of the historic buildings that are around on the property. And so we're doing different things in order to help preserve Kennesaw even to today. Now the National Park Service is not the only people solely responsible for that. And so you have the American Battlefield Trust, you have state and local organizations that give money to help preserve. We're unable to preserve every battlefield because our country is growing but we still need to remember and preserve some of that. So you have private citizens who are also willing to get involved. So this is completely a unity, a community event in which we work together to remember those who have come behind us or before us, I'm sorry, so that those who come after us and behind us will learn from the mistakes of those before them. And so that they can remember those who are willing to sacrifice it all for everything that they had. The federal government has even enacted various types of laws to help preserve and protect not just battlefields but other historic sites that are either Native American, Archaeological importance so that we can continue to preserve our heritage and to work together to remember those who have come before us. We hope you've enjoyed our time here at Kennesaw Mountain and enjoyed learning a little bit about why battlefields are so important but other historic sites as well. And if you like us please like our social media pages, Facebook, Youtube, other social media sites so that we can provide you with so many more great programs about Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. I hope you've enjoyed it and we look forward to having you join us again soon. Bye!
Description
Join Ranger Amanda as she discusses the importance of protecting and preserving battlefields. This video also discusses the differences in NPS battlefield sites, the history behind the first National Military sites, the establishment of Kennesaw Mountain NBP, and how the NPS and others work together to help preserve and learn from our nation's history.
Duration
11 minutes, 36 seconds
Credit
NPS / Amanda Corman
Date Created
05/21/2021
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