Ox Hill Battlefield Park, Chantilly, Va.
Kelly Schneider
Preservation History
Americans' evolving effort to safeguard their battlefields
In 1987, a Civil War academic scholar, five National Park Service historians and two Civil War buffs convened the first meeting of the organization that has grown to become the American Battlefield Trust. But this is just the modern incarnation of work begun before the Revolutionary War had even ended. Learn more about the how efforts to save hallowed ground across the centuries.
Explore Preservation History
What Might Have Been: Spring Hill, Tennessee
There is no better way to get an accurate sense of what the Trust has accomplished in the last 30 years than by examining sites that could have been...
Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Preservation
The first Revolutionary War preservation efforts began before the war even ended. Congress authorized a monument commemorating the victory at Yorktown...
Preservation of the Second Day's Battlefield
On the afternoon and evening of July 2, 1863, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac engaged in an awful struggle...
Jim Lighthizer’s First Victory
This page details a major victory for the American Battlefield Trust and it's President, Jim Lighthizer: the acquisition of the Widow Pence Farm at...
Civil War | Inspire
Culpeper Battlefields State Park
Piece by piece, private preservation efforts saved a critical mass of the endangered battlefields at Brandy Station, Cedar Mountain, Kelly's Ford and...
About the Trust
A Short History of the Battlefield Preservation Movement
A brief summary of the battlefield preservation movement and outlines the history and purpose of the American Battlefield Trust.