WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of its commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial and coinciding with events marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh, the National Park Service has launched a Civil War themed website atwww.nps.gov/civilwar that provides an overview of the war, with special emphasis on the Civil War sites administered and preserved by the National Park Service.

The website features a wide range of richly-illustrated content, including stories of the Civil War, ranging from causes of the conflict to its consequences; biographies of notable individuals associated with the war, both military and civilian; places within the National Park System that interpret the Civil War; and information on the ways in which the National Park Service preserves Civil War battlefields, objects, landscapes and other historic resources. New content will be added regularly, so visitors are encouraged to check back to the site often.

Submitted by NPT Staff on November 7, 2011

This Google-generated map shows the location, in green, of the 1.4 acres the Civil War Trust acquired to preserve as part of the Wilderness Battlefield. The darker landscape, and the light-colored tracts, mostly lie within the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Another vital piece of the Wilderness Battlefield -- the site of the daytime field headquarters of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant -- has been preserved near Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park thanks to the efforts of the Civil War Trust.

The Trust last week announced that it had reached its fund-raising goal to acquire the 1.4-acre tract, which is surrounded by the military park. Private donations to the Trust, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Civil War battlefields, were augmented by matching funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia, notably a $108,000 Transportation Enhancement Grant.