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• Park Manassas National Battlefield Park Spectators and reporters competed for a good view of the first major battle between Union and Confederate soldiers at Manassas in July of 1861. Before the battle, most Americans thought the war would be one short skirmish; the deaths of 900 soldiers shocked the nation into realizing otherwise. Soldiers fought a second battle over the same fields at Manassas a year later that helped clear the way for Lee’s first invasion of the North. Today, visitors can take walking tours through the primary battlegrounds. There is also a 13-mile, self-guided driving tour of that stops at various locations, including Stone House Tavern, a structure that was used as a Union field hospital.
• Park Vicksburg National Military Park More than 100,000 troops waged battle on this Civil War site from March 29 until July 4, 1863 in a campaign that proved crucial to the Union victory. High atop the Mississippi River, Jefferson Davis referred to Vicksburg as “the nail head that held the South’s two halves together.” After a 41-day siege and Confederate surrender at Vicksburg, the town would not celebrate the Fourth of July for 81 years. Today, the park includes a 16-mile auto tour around the battlefield, the restored ironclad ship USS Cairo, and Vicksburg National Cemetery, the final resting place of 17,000 Civil War soldiers.
• Park Shiloh National Military Park Shiloh National Military Site is a stark reminder of the terrible cost of war. A total of 23,746 men were wounded, captured, or killed during the two-day Civil War battle of Shiloh in April 1862—more than were lost during the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, and the Mexican-American war combined. At the time, it was the worst battle in U.S. history. Yet eight costlier battles were yet to come in the war. The park encompasses the 5,000-acre battlefield, as well as 21 acres surrounding a railroad junction in Corinth, Mississippi, the site of a later siege. A 12.9-mile driving tour highlights 20 key sites; visitors can also watch films about the conflicts and explore exhibits about the implements of war.
• Park Harpers Ferry National Historical Park As a vital early American town, Harpers Ferry has been the site of a number of historical events. It was a point of supply for Meriwether Lewis’s Corps of Discovery, the site of John Brown’s abolitionist raid in 1859, a key Civil War battlefield, and the meeting place for the Niagara Movement, a 1906 gathering of civil rights leaders. Its position at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers not only set the stage for such historic events but also makes the park a haven for rare native plants.
• Blog Post Haunted Parks: 6 Ghostly Getaways Oct 2021 | By Vanessa Pius Ghost stories might scare your campfire circle. They can also offer hyperlocal histories for travel destinations around the country. Learn about a few spectral park visitors — if you dare — including kidnapped sailors and a skinny-dipping conservationist. 
• Magazine Article In the Crosshairs Fall 2014 | By Heidi Ridgley What happens when a national park has too many deer?
• Blog Post Prehistoric Sharks Discovered at Mammoth Cave, Among Other Scientific Surprises Oct 2020 | By Christa Cherava Paleontologists uncover remarkable findings at three separate park sites, with potential for more new discoveries

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