National Park Service awards $160,552 to protect 18.71 acres of a Maryland battlefield

News Release Date: April 29, 2019

Contact: NewsMedia@nps.gov

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service today announced a $160,552.50 grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program to help protect 18.71 acres of America’s battlefields in Maryland threatened with damage or destruction by urban and suburban development. This grant will be used to acquire a portion of the South Mountain Battlefield, a significant Civil War Battlefield.

“Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants allow for the permanent protection of lands associated with historic battles in our country’s history,” National Park Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith said. “The grants enable communities to partner with public, private, and non-profit organizations to preserve and provide access to meaningful places that connect us to our past.”

In September of 1862, mislaid communications led to the Battle of South Mountain. Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s plans to split the Army of Northern Virginia, sending half into western Maryland and half to capture the Federal garrison at Harper’s Ferry, landed in the hands of Union Commander Major General George B. McClellan. McClellan responded to this intelligence by sending his forces to South Mountain to destroy the Confederate forces and divide Lee’s vulnerable Army. While the Union was successful against the Confederate forces at South Mountain, Confederate resistance allowed Lee to reunite and concentrate his forces setting the stage for the Battle of Antietam three days later. 

The American Battlefield Protection Program’s Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant program provides up to 50% in matching funds for state and local governments to acquire and preserve threatened Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War Battlefield land through the purchase of land in fee simple and permanent, protective interests in land. Eligible battlefields are listed in the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’s 1993 “Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields” and the 2007 “Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States.”

For more information about program, including these grants, please visit: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/2287/index.htm. 
 

State	Grantee	Amount
Maryland	Frederick County: South Mountain Battlefield, Brandenburg Trust Tract, 18.71 acres (Fee Simple) Project Partner: American Battlefield Trust	$160,552.50