Shiloh National Military Park

It was just about a year ago that the Civil War Trust embarked on the first year of the sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War. During that year, the Trust was able to save more than 2,000 acres of hallowed ground.

You'll no longer be charged to visit Shiloh National Military Park. You read that right. The park administration has decided to do away with entrance fees because of the multiple entry points in the park.

Though Shiloh National Military Park was designated to preserve a poignant Civil War battlefield, the landscape harbors many other resources, such as flowering trees and wildflowers. To help visitors appreciate these other resources, rangers will be leading wildflower tours by bicycle next week.

Through the course of the next five years the National Park Service will be rolling out a series of programs to both help commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and highlight its impact on the Civil Rights movement in this country.

Kids who visit a handful of Civil War-era units of the National Park System will be able to earn a special Junior Ranger patch, one that recognizes them as Junior Civil War Historians.

Here's a photo contest for all you amateur Civil War buffs. Sponsored by the Civil War Preservation Trust, the Center for Civil War Photography, and History, the deadline to get your images in for consideration is August 31.

A report released by the NPS Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs offers a summary of park-related actions by the 110th Congress, which ended its work last month.

Established on December 27, 1894, Shiloh National Military Park was transferred to the NPS in 1933. Some Civil War buffs have a very special way of visiting this park and honoring those who fought there.

The first major land engagement of the Civil War was fought 147 years ago this month. The ensuing four-year struggle entailed more than 2,000 battles or skirmishes and cost more than 600,000 American lives. This quiz tests your knowledge of Civil War national parks and the battles they commemorate. Answers are at the end. No peeking.