Battlefield Preserved

Battlefield Preserved. . American nationalism surged in the 1890s, prompting the creation of many museums, monuments, memorials, and statues. Civil War veterans, seeking to enhance the national memory, pushed to establish national parks on some of the most momentous battlefields, one of these was Shiloh., Battle veterans, Union and Confederate, rallied to preserve this site and honor deceased comrades. They created the Shiloh Battlefield Association in 1893 to acquire land options and lobby for a national park. Their efforts succeeded when Congress established Shiloh National Military Park on December 27, 1894. The following April, Secretary of War Daniel Lamont appointed a War Department commission of Shiloh veterans to return to the battlefield and develop the park. Nearly forty years later, on June 10, 1933, the park was transferred to the National Park Service., Shiloh National Military Park commemorates one of the crucial battles of the Civil War and the largest land battle fought during the 1862, 1863 campaign for military control of the Mississippi River., (captions) , Major David W. Reed fought at Shiloh as a private with the 12th Iowa Infantry. He was appointed secretary and historian of the Commission, and served as the Commission Chairman from 1910 until 1916., The War Department developed and administered the park through an appointed Commission. The Commission included veterans from the one Confederate and two Union armies engaged at Shiloh.