The Golden Age of Battlefield Preservation: The Decade of the 1890s and the Establishment of America’s First Five Military Parks
By Timothy B. Smith
(November 2008 Civil War News)

Illustrated, maps, appendix, endnotes, bibliography, index, 294 pp., 2008. University of Tennessee Press, 110 Conference Center, 600 Henley St., Knoxville TN 37996-4108, $38.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: David F. Riggs
David F. Riggs is a museum curator at Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown. He has a BA in history from Lock Haven University and MA in history from Penn State. His publications include Embattled Shrine: Jamestown in the Civil War and Vicksburg Battlefield Monuments

Review:
 Battlefield preservation has been a major topic in the Civil War community for the last two decades. However, all topics are enriched by knowledge of their origin, and Timothy B. Smith skillfully fills the void for this subject.

 Dr. Smith is well-acquainted with Civil War battlefields.  Not only is he editor and author of outstanding battle narratives of Shiloh and Champion Hill, respectively, but he also has written definitive works on Shiloh National Military Park.

 Monuments, cemeteries and small parcels of land were the extent of commemoration in the first quarter century after the war. As a spirit of reconciliation blossomed between the former adversaries, the first five Civil War battlefields were established in the 1890s.

 Chickamauga-Chattanooga, Antietam, Shiloh, Gettysburg and Vicksburg were created in that order and became the cornerstone of battlefield preservation.

 The tone of the book is set, appropriately, with a foreword by Edwin Bearss and by background chapters that provide perspective on the era’s preservation movement.  The majority of the book consists of individual chapters devoted to each park’s early history.

 The cast of characters, the challenges they faced, and their dedication are as intriguing as the war they sought to commemorate.  Smith tells the story well, distilling the business and legalities into an informative yet very readable tale.

 Veterans’ organizations that were motivated to memorialize their deeds and their fallen comrades capitalized upon having a Congress that likewise had veterans in its ranks.  Still, many legislators required persuasion, as did the War Department, which had the parks placed in its custody for public use.

 Despite the War Department’s ability to use the parks for training and mobilization, administrative costs became a burden.  The parks were shuffled about from bureau to bureau in the early 20th century like unwanted stepchildren until their transfer to the National Park Service in 1933.

 When established, each park was administered by a three-man commission which included at least one Union and one Confederate veteran.  The commissioners developed unique ways to mark each park with troop markers, monuments and artillery which remain in place today.

 There was a dominant figure on each park’s commission. Henry V. Boynton of Chickamauga-Chattanooga cast the largest shadow and is now known as the “father of the national military park.”  His influence extended to two other parks as well, although his actions were considered intrusive by the recipients.

 Aside from initiating battlefield preservation, one of the great legacies of the 1890s was the establishment of two major categories of parks.  Chickamauga, the first park, sought to obtain and preserve the entire battlefield.  In contrast, Antietam sought only minimal land for roads and lines of battle.

 What became known as “the Antietam plan” set the tone for the 13 parks established in the early 20th century.  Hence Smith’s conclusion that the 1890s were a golden age, when land was available, affordable and eagerly purchased under the guidance of veterans.

 Smith has performed a service for preservationists, park employees and anyone who desires a greater appreciation of the hallowed ground we cherish.