Top 5 Civil War Sites in America

Fought on September 17th, 1862, this battle is noteworthy for a number of reasons. It was the a battle caused by General Lee's famous "Lost Orders," and the last battle fought by Federal commander George B. McClellan. However, it was most famous as being the single bloodiest day in American history, producing 23,000 casualties. The battle also created the political climate in which President Abraham Lincoln could promulgate the Emancipation Proclamation. The modern battlefield park is easily the best preserved Civil War battlefield in the East. The park protects virtually every inch of historic ground, and the monuments present are informative but (excepting the observation platform) unobtrusive. This is a place where it is very easy to imagine that you are looking at the ground exactly as it was in 1861 or 1862, before it became a scene of such terrific carnage.

2. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Battlefield
Fort Oglethorpe, GA
www.nps.gov/chch

September 19th and 20th, 1863 saw the failure of the Confederacy's last chance to turn the tide of the war at the Battle of Chickamauga. Although they won this battle, it was at great cost and yielded no decisive results. The park encompasses ground that was fought over both at Chickamauga and later at the siege of nearby Chattanooga, but it is the 5,500 acres of the former that are the star of the park. Set aside in 1890, the Chickamauga Battlefield is also another place where it is easy to imagine what the country was like during the war.

3. Fort Sumter
Charleston, SC
www.nps.gov/fosu

Despite the damage, Fort Sumter is a good example of a Third Series fortress, one of the many brick artillery fortifications that were built in antebellum America to protect the country from foreign invasion. Instead of achieving that purpose, however, Sumter became either a bastion of legitimate authority amid a sea of rebellion, or a bastion of enemy occupation, depending on how you look at it. On April 12th, 1861, Confederate forces fired the first shots of the Civil War, and subjected the island fort to a 34 hour bombardment that compelled its surrender.

4. Gettysburg National Battlefield
Gettysburg, PA
www.nps.gov/gett

The three day battle fought here from July 1st to 3rd, 1863 produced more casualties than any engagement in the history of the United States. In turning back Lee's second invasion of the North, it is often looked at as the turning point of the war (and combined with Grant's capture of Vicksburg on July 4th, it was certainly the beginning of the end). In dedicating the battlefield's cemetery, Abraham Lincoln authored one of the great masterpieces of the English language in the Gettysburg Address. The modern battlefield park encompasses all of the relevant ground, and is certainly well-equipped. However, it's fame has led it to becoming literally strewn with monuments that often spoil its sense of authenticity. While it is the most popular of all of America's Civil War sites, it lacks the simple and unspoiled virtues of Chickamauga or Antietam.

5. Shiloh National Military Park
Shiloh, TN
www.nps.gov/shil

This was the first major battle of the West, the first truly bloody battle of the war, and one that was narrowly won by a rising General Grant. The modern park was created at the behest of Tennessee farmers, who had grown weary of local pigs constantly unearthing the remains of fallen soldiers in the area. They demanded the government do something about it, and so the government responded by creating the park. The area preserves much of the rough terrain, allowing a visitor to easily imagine what a confused tangle of a battle Shiloh must have been. This is so much the case that local Boy Scouts actually have a hiking program dedicated for the area.