National military park

National Military Park, National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, and National Battlefield Site are four designations for 25 battle sites preserved by the United States federal government because of their national importance. The designation applies to "sites where historic battles were fought on American soil during the armed conflicts that shaped the growth and development of the United States...."^[1]

There are eleven National Battlefields (NB), nine National Military Parks (NMP), four National Battlefield Parks (NBP), and one National Battlefield Site (NBS). The National Park Service does not distinguish among the four designations in terms of their preservation or management policies.

Seventeen sites are from the American Civil War, four from the American Revolutionary War, one from the War of 1812, one from the French and Indian War, and two were attacks on Native Americans. Big Hole is the only site in the Western United States.

In 1890, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was the first such site created by Congress. Originally these sites were maintained by the War Department, but were transferred to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. The different designations appear to represent Congressional attitudes at the time of authorization of each individual site, although "park" appears to be reserved for the larger sites. Only Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site, which is small, still bears that designation; others have since been redesignated. Some battlefields are designated as National Monuments, such as Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument, and ten forts, several of which saw battle; National Historical Parks, such as Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park; or National Historic Sites, such as Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

As with all historic areas in the National Park System, these battle sites are automatically listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

List of areas

Name	Location	Type	Established^[2]	Area^[3]	Conflict	Battle(s)	Website
Antietam	Maryland 39°28′13″N 77°44′17″W / 39.47028°N 77.73806°W / 39.47028; -77.73806	NB	August 30, 1890	3,228.89 acres (13.1 km²; 5.0 sq mi)	Civil War	Antietam	[1]
Big Hole	Montana 45°38′15″N 113°38′37″W / 45.63750°N 113.64361°W / 45.63750; -113.64361	NB	June 23, 1910	975.61 acres (3.9 km²; 1.5 sq mi)	Nez Perce War of the Indian Wars	The Big Hole	[2]
Brices Cross Roads	Mississippi 34°30′22.0″N 88°43′44.0″W / 34.506111°N 88.728889°W / 34.506111; -88.728889	NBS	February 21, 1929	1.00 acre (0.0040 km²; 0.00156 sq mi)	Civil War	Brice's Cross Roads	[3]
Chickamauga and Chattanooga	Georgia, Tennessee 34°56′24″N 85°15′36″W / 34.94000°N 85.26000°W / 34.94000; -85.26000	NMP	August 19, 1890	9,523.48 acres (38.5 km²; 14.9 sq mi)	Civil War	Chickamauga Chattanooga	[4]
Cowpens	South Carolina 35°08′12″N 81°49′05″W / 35.13667°N 81.81806°W / 35.13667; -81.81806	NB	March 4, 1929	841.56 acres (3.4 km²; 1.3 sq mi)	Revolutionary War	Cowpens	[5]
Fort Donelson	Tennessee, Kentucky 36°29′14″N 87°51′39″W / 36.48722°N 87.86083°W / 36.48722; -87.86083	NB	August 10, 1933	1,319.00 acres (5.3 km²; 2.1 sq mi)	Civil War	Fort Donelson Fort Henry	[6]
Fort Necessity	Pennsylvania 39°48′55″N 79°35′22″W / 39.81528°N 79.58944°W / 39.81528; -79.58944	NB	March 4, 1931	902.80 acres (3.7 km²; 1.4 sq mi)	French and Indian War	Fort Necessity	[7]
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania	Virginia 38°17′35″N 77°28′09″W / 38.29306°N 77.46917°W / 38.29306; -77.46917	NMP	February 14, 1927	8,405.46 acres (34.0 km²; 13.1 sq mi)	Civil War	Fredericksburg Chancellorsville The Wilderness Spotsylvania Court House	[8]
Gettysburg	Pennsylvania 39°48′31″N 77°14′12″W / 39.80861°N 77.23667°W / 39.80861; -77.23667	NMP	February 11, 1895	6,032.07 acres (24.4 km²; 9.4 sq mi)	Civil War	Gettysburg	[9]
Guilford Courthouse	North Carolina 36°7′53″N 79°50′47″W / 36.13139°N 79.84639°W / 36.13139; -79.84639	NMP	March 2, 1917	253.54 acres (1.0 km²; 0.4 sq mi)	Revolutionary War	Guilford Court House	[10]
Horseshoe Bend	Alabama 32°58′15″N 85°44′18″W / 32.97083°N 85.73833°W / 32.97083; -85.73833	NMP	July 25, 1956	2,040.00 acres (8.3 km²; 3.2 sq mi)	Creek War of the Indian Wars	Horseshoe Bend	[11]
Kennesaw Mountain	Georgia 33°58′59″N 84°34′41″W / 33.98306°N 84.57806°W / 33.98306; -84.57806	NBP	February 18, 1917	2,913.63 acres (11.8 km²; 4.6 sq mi)	Civil War	Kennesaw Mountain	[12]
Kings Mountain	South Carolina 35°8′16″N 81°23′22″W / 35.13778°N 81.38944°W / 35.13778; -81.38944	NMP	August 10, 1933	3,945.29 acres (16.0 km²; 6.2 sq mi)	Revolutionary War	Kings Mountain	[13]
Manassas	Virginia 38°48′46″N 77°31′18″W / 38.81278°N 77.52167°W / 38.81278; -77.52167	NBP	November 14, 1936	5,073.44 acres (20.5 km²; 7.9 sq mi)	Civil War	First Manassas Second Manassas	[14]
Monocacy	Maryland 39°22′16″N 77°23′31″W / 39.37115°N 77.39208°W / 39.37115; -77.39208	NB	June 21, 1934	1,646.88 acres (6.7 km²; 2.6 sq mi)	Civil War	Monocacy	[15]
Moores Creek	North Carolina 34°27′29.6″N 78°06′37.1″W / 34.458222°N 78.110306°W / 34.458222; -78.110306	NB	June 2, 1926	87.75 acres (0.4 km²; 0.1 sq mi)	Revolutionary War	Moore's Creek Bridge	[16]
Pea Ridge	Arkansas 36°27′15.″N 94°02′04.9″W / 36.45417°N 94.034694°W / 36.45417; -94.034694	NMP	July 20, 1956	4,300.35 acres (17.4 km²; 6.7 sq mi)	Civil War	Pea Ridge	[17]
Petersburg	Virginia 37°13′10″N 77°21′41″W / 37.21944°N 77.36139°W / 37.21944; -77.36139	NB	July 3, 1926	9,368.34 acres (37.9 km²; 14.6 sq mi)	Civil War	Petersburg campaign	[18]
Richmond	Virginia 37°25′45″N 77°22′25″W / 37.42917°N 77.37361°W / 37.42917; -77.37361	NBP	March 2, 1936	8,168.87 acres (33.1 km²; 12.8 sq mi)	Civil War	Peninsula campaign and the Seven Days Battles Overland campaign Petersburg campaign	[19]
River Raisin	Michigan 41°54′49″N 83°22′42″W / 41.91361°N 83.37833°W / 41.91361; -83.37833	NBP	October 22, 2010	42.18 acres (0.2 km²; 0.1 sq mi)	War of 1812	Frenchtown	[20]
Shiloh	Tennessee, Mississippi 35°08′12″N 88°20′26″W / 35.13667°N 88.34056°W / 35.13667; -88.34056	NMP	December 27, 1894	9,323.70 acres (37.7 km²; 14.6 sq mi)	Civil War	Shiloh	[21]
Stones River	Tennessee 35°52′34″N 86°25′51″W / 35.87611°N 86.43083°W / 35.87611; -86.43083	NB	March 3, 1927	709.49 acres (2.9 km²; 1.1 sq mi)	Civil War	Stones River	[22]
Tupelo	Mississippi 34°15′20.4″N 88°44′13.2″W / 34.255667°N 88.737000°W / 34.255667; -88.737000	NB	August 11, 1933	1.00 acre (0.0040 km²; 0.00156 sq mi)	Civil War	Tupelo	[23]
Vicksburg	Mississippi, Louisiana 32°21′55″N 90°50′32″W / 32.36528°N 90.84222°W / 32.36528; -90.84222	NMP	February 21, 1899	2,524.11 acres (10.2 km²; 3.9 sq mi)	Civil War	Vicksburg campaign	[24]
Wilson's Creek	Missouri 37°6′56″N 93°25′12″W / 37.11556°N 93.42000°W / 37.11556; -93.42000	NB	April 22, 1960	2,407.79 acres (9.7 km²; 3.8 sq mi)	Civil War	Wilson's Creek	[25]