The National Park Service has awarded Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants of nearly $1 million to protect a critical 30-acre parcel associated with the October 27, 1863, Battle of Wauhatchie or Brown’s Ferry.
Union troops besieged inside Chattanooga were running short of food and fought to create a bridgehead on the western bank of the Tennessee River to establish the so-called “Cracker Line” to remain a viable fighting force.
The American Battlefield Trust will purchase the 30.72-acre site in coming months for preservation, thanks to the $973,526.70 American Battlefield Protection Program Grant grant awarded via the City of Chattanooga, along with nearly $450,000 in matching funds from the Tennessee Civil War Sites Preservation Fund, administered by the Tennessee Wars Commission, a division of the Tennessee Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Office, and a major landowner donation, and donations from the Trust’s generous members.
“Every acre of hallowed ground that we preserve is an opportunity for us and for future generations to have a better understanding of the formative conflicts that have shaped our nation. As we approach America’s 250th, it is ever more important to protect and secure historic battlefield land,” said David Duncan, president of the American Battlefield Trust.
“These Land and Water Conservation Fund grants help communities preserve the places where our nation’s history was shaped,” said Jessica Bowron, Comptroller, Exercising the Delegated Authority of the Director of the National Parks Service. “Through strong partnerships with states, local governments and nonprofit organizations, we are protecting these important landscapes so future generations can learn from and experience them.”
The American Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants Program promotes preservation of America’s most historically significant Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War battlegrounds, which will play an essential role in the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026. This latest round of grant awards also included funding for properties at Chickasaw Bayou, Miss., Glendale and New Market, Va., Stone’s River, Tenn., Fort DeRussy, La., and Kennesaw Mountain, Ringold Gap and Rocky Face Ridge, Ga.
Funds from the American Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants Program have been used to save approximately 36,000 acres in 20 states, including some of the most famous battlefields in American history: Antietam, Md.; Appomattox and Fredericksburg, Va.; Gettysburg, Pa.; Charleston, S.C.; Princeton, N.J.; Saratoga, N.Y. and Shiloh, Tenn.
Tennessee has received $26.2 million in grants awarded for land at 13 battlefields, saving 2,537 acres of hallowed ground. Legislation is currently pending in both houses of Congress to reauthorize this successful program, ensuring its ability to protect hallowed ground for the next decade.
The American Battlefield Trust is dedicated to preserving America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educating the public about what happened there and why it matters today. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has protected more than 60,000 acres associated with the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War across 160 sites in 25 states.
Learn more at www.battlefields.org.