More Than $1.2 Million In National Park Service Grants Aimed At Protecting Battlefields

Battlefields that date from 1634 are the beneficiaries of more than $1.2 million in grants from the National Park Service to be used on preserving and protecting battlefield lands.

The funds, from the Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Protection, will be spread out aross 76 battlefields, dating to the grounds on which the Pequot War was waged in 1634 between the Pequot Indians and English colonists.

“These grants help safeguard and preserve American battlefield lands,” said Park Service Director Jon Jarvis. “It is important to protect these lands as symbols of individual sacrifice and national heritage for present and future generations.”

Other battlefields that will benefit include some from King Philip's War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, various Indian wars, and World War II, according to a Park Service release.

Awards were given to projects in 24 states or territories entailing archeology, mapping, cultural resource survey work, documentation, planning, education and interpretation.

Winning projects include a National Register nomination and management plan at the War of 1812 Battle of Bladensburg in Maryland; an archeological assessment of Creek War battle sites in Alabama; a preservation plan for the Civil War Battle of Lone Jack in Missouri; a digital, web-based tour of the Civil War Battles in Saltville, Virginia; archeology for resource identification at the Revolutionary War Battle of Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky; public interpretation and educational activities at Pequot War battlefields in Connecticut; and a nomination project for seven Nez Perce and Cheyenne-Great Sioux Wars in Montana.

Priority was given to those groups submitting applications for nationally significant battlefields. The majority of awards were given to battlefields listed as Priority I or II sites in the National Park Service’s Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields and the Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States.