U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields State of Missouri Washington, DC March 2011 Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields State of Missouri U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program Washington, DC March 2011 Authority The American Battlefield Protection Program Act of 1996, as amended by the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-359, 111 Stat. 3016, 17 December 2002), directs the Secretary of the Interior to update the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission (CWSAC) Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields. Acknowledgments NPS Project Team Paul Hawke, Project Leader; Kathleen Madigan, Survey Coordinator; Tanya Gossett and January Ruck, Reporting; Matthew Borders, Historian; Kristie Kendall, Program Assistant Battlefield Surveyor(s) Connie Langum, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Respondents Craig Asbury, Kirksville Battlefield; Lois Bowman, Wright County Historical Society; Walter Busch, Fort Davidson State Historic Site; Michael Calvert, Civil War Roundtable of Western Missouri; Janae Fuller, Battle of Lexington State Historic Site; Daniel Hadley and Alinda Miller, Lone Jack Historical Society; Tom Higdon, Russ Hively, and Jim Ridenour, Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association, Inc.; Scott House, Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission; Cindy Lynch, Columbus Belmont State Park; Carole Magnus, Foundation for Historic Preservation; Mary Ellen McVicker, Scholar; Pam Myers, Battle of Carthage State Historic Site; Jeff Patrick and Gary Sullivan, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; Paul Rorvig, Ph.D., University of Central Missouri; John Rutherford, Springfield-Greene County Library; Daniel Smith, Monnett Battle of Westport Fund, Inc.; Melanie Smith, City of Kirksville; Arnold Schofield, Mine Creek State Historic Site. The ABPP would like to thank especially Ted Hillmer, Superintendent of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, William J. Bryan, Director of Missouri State Parks, Natalie Franz of the Midwest Regional Office, National Park Service, and Barbara Wyatt of the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, for their assistance in preparing this report. Cover: Six-pounder guns stand at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, in the approximate position of Captain Henry Guibor's Missouri State Guard Battery during the first Confederate assault against Bloody Hill at the battle of Wilson’s Creek. Photograph by Danny Shortt, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, 2004. Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields Final DRAFT – State of Missouri Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 3 SYNOPSIS ........................................................................................................................ 5 METHOD STATEMENT ................................................................................................... 11 RESEARCH AND FIELD SURVEYS .................................................................................................... 11 QUESTIONNAIRES ....................................................................................................................... 15 SUMMARY OF CONDITIONS OF MISSOURI’S CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELDS .................... 17 QUANTIFIED LAND AREAS ........................................................................................................... 17 CONDITION ASSESSMENTS ........................................................................................................... 19 REGISTRATION ........................................................................................................................... 20 STEWARDSHIP ............................................................................................................................ 22 PUBLIC ACCESS AND INTERPRETATION ........................................................................................... 25 ADVOCACY ............................................................................................................................... 26 INDIVIDUAL BATTLEFIELD PROFILES ........................................................................... 29 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 118 APPENDIX A. CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD LAND ACQUISITION GRANTS .............................................. 118 APPENDIX B. AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD PROTECTION PROGRAM PLANNING GRANTS ........................ 119 APPENDIX C. CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD PRESERVATION ACT OF 2002 ............................................. 120 APPENDIX D. BATTLEFIELD QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................... 123 Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields Final DRAFT – State of Missouri Introduction The information in this report fulfills, in part, the purposes of the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-359, 111 Stat. 3016). Those purposes are: 1) to act quickly and proactively to preserve and protect nationally significant Civil War battlefields through conservation easements and fee-simple purchases of those battlefields from willing sellers; and 2) to create partnerships among state and local governments, regional entities, and the private sector to preserve, conserve, and enhance nationally significant Civil War battlefields. The Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2002 directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) of the National Park Service, to update the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission (CWSAC) Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields. The CWSAC was established by Congress in 1991 and published its report in 1993. Congress provided funding for this update in FY2005 and FY2007. Congress asked that the updated report reflect the following: • Preservation activities carried out at the 384 battlefields identified by the CWSAC during the period between 1993 and the update; • Changes in the condition of the battlefields during that period; and • Any other relevant developments relating to the battlefields during that period. In accordance with the legislation, this report presents information about Civil War battlefields in Missouri for use by Congress, federal, state, and local government agencies, landowners, and other interest groups. Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields Final DRAFT – State of Missouri 3 Figure 1. CWSAC battlefields in Missouri. Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields Final DRAFT – State of Missouri 4 Synopsis There are 29 CWSAC battlefields in the State of Missouri. Historically, these battlefields encompassed nearly 175,000 acres.1 Today, more than 95,000 acres survive (approximately 55 percent), retaining sufficient significance and integrity to make many of the battlefields worthy of preservation.2 At present, only 5,600 acres3 (approximately 6 percent) of the surviving historic landscapes are permanently protected. Federal agencies own and manage nearly half, some 2,400 acres, of the permanently protected battlefield land in Missouri. The largest single federal holding is Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, a unit of the National Park System. The National Park Service owns about 1,970 acres at Wilson’s Creek, but other portions of the battlefield remain unprotected outside of the park’s boundaries. While not designated for their historic value, three other federal holdings have been set aside for conservation purposes and uses compatible with the goals of historic landscape preservation. The US Fish and Wildlife Service manages land at Boonville and Fort Davidson for wildlife conservation, and the USDA Forest Service holds additional land at Fort Davidson within the Mark Twain National Forest. The State protects almost as much historic battlefield land as the Federal Government. Two state agencies, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (through Missouri State Parks) collectively own and manage more than 2,200 acres at seven different battlefields: Carthage, Fort Davidson, Hartville, Kirksville, Lexington I, Lexington II, and New Madrid/Island No. 10. The State of Kentucky owns another 160 acres of the Belmont battlefield, the boundaries of which encompass land on the Kentucky side of the Mississippi River. The Civil War battlefields discussed in this report lie within the boundaries of 25 Missouri counties, and 6 counties in other states. Despite this geographic distribution, few local governments have become stewards of the battlefields in their jurisdictions. The local governments of the City of Cape Girardeau, Jackson County, and Kansas City have set aside a total of 52 acres of battlefield land for public appreciation, all prior to 1993. Only two local governments have acquired Civil War battlefield land since the 1993 release of the CWSAC’s Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields.