Pending Legislation Would Protect Hallowed Ground at Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Vicksburg
Gettysburg | Petersburg | Vicksburg
Vicksburg National Military Park
HR 2083; S. 265
You Can Honor the Sacrifices of the Civil War!
Legislation currently in Congress would protect additional battlefield lands at Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Vicksburg, and would create new parks to honor the fallen soldiers at the Battle of Mill Springs, KY and would protect the legacy of one of America’s greatest heroes, Harriet Tubman. Please ask your members of Congress to co-sponsor these bills and use this important anniversary to thank those who made America the nation it is today.
Vicksburg, Mississippi was the last Confederate-controlled city on the Mississippi River. Both armies knew that if the Union were to gain control over the river, the Confederacy would be split in half and the Union would be able to move men and supplies throughout the middle of the country without opposition. The fall of Vicksburg came just one day after the Union victory at Gettysburg, and the two events together struck a blow from which the Confederacy was never able to recover.
H.R. 2083 introduced by U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson (MS-2), and S. 265, introduced by U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker (MS) and heard in the Senate National Parks Subcommittee in July 2011, would authorize the National Park Service to acquire approximately 10,000 acres significant to the preservation of historic battlefield sites in the Vicksburg Campaign. This core battlefield land at Port Gibson, Raymond, and Champion Hill is important to understanding the strategic military campaign and 41-day Union siege of Vicksburg. The Union siege and Confederate defense lines at Vicksburg National Military Park were marked by Union and Confederate veterans who fought at Vicksburg, making it one of the most accurately marked military parks in the world.
For more information about the National Parks Conservation Association’s advocacy to protect these and other Civil War sites, please contact:
- Pamela Goddard, Chesapeake and Virginia Program Manager, 202.604.3781, or email: pgoddard@npca.org
- Emily Jones, Senior Program Manager, 865.335.4666, or email: ejones@npca.org
- Alan Spears, Legislative Representative, 202.454.3384, or email: aspears@npca.org
- Cinda Waldbuesser, Senior Pennsylvania Program Manager, 215.327.2529, or email: cwaldbuesser@npca.org
- Nicholas Lund, Civil War Associate, 202.454.3319, or email: nlund@npca.org
Gettysburg | Petersburg | Vicksburg
Learn more about Civil War resources at National Parks.
