A Civil War battle site in Warren County will be preserved courtesy of a series of grants.
The National Park Service has awarded Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants of more than $91,000 to protect 90 acres along the banks of the Yazoo River, where Union troops disembarked their transport ships the day after Christmas 1862 to begin pushing toward Vicksburg from the north. This land is known as the Chickasaw Bayou Battlefield.
Funding was awarded through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, alongside an additional matching grant from the Mississippi Historic Sites Preservation Fund and donations made by members of the American Battlefield Trust. The money will be used to protect the land permanently, adding to significant preservation activities that have happened at Chickasaw Bayou in recent years.
“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.
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 a role in the nation’s 250th anniversary this year. The latest round of grant awards also included funding for properties at Glendale and New Market, Va.; Chattanooga and Stones River, Tenn.; Fort DeRussy, La.; and Kennesaw Mountain, Ringold Gap and Rocky Face Ridge, Ga.
“Chickasaw Bayou Battlefield is home to countless stories that deserve to be told for generations to come. I am proud to support the American Battlefield Protection Program in continuing to preserve the power of place,” U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said.
“It is a gift to call the beautiful landscape of Mississippi home and an honor to protect the history of our land. The ongoing success of the Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants Program is a testament to the importance of preserving places like Chickasaw Bayou,” U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) added.
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.
Mississippi has received more than $7 million for the preservation of 3,993 acres.