The National Park Service has awarded Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants of nearly $4.8 million to protect a 37-acre parcel associated with the Confederate attack on the Union right flank at the Battle of Stones River, on New Year’s Eve, 1862. The engagement, near Murfreesboro, which included a second day of fighting on Jan. 2, is remembered as having the highest casualty percentage of the Civil War.

Thanks to the $4,797,276 grant awarded via the City of Murfreesboro, plus a nearly-equal matching grant from the Tennessee Civil War Sites Preservation Fund (administered by the Tennessee Wars Commission, a division of the Tennessee Historical Commission), a major landowner donation, coupled with donations from its generous members, the American Battlefield Trust will purchase the 37-acre site in the coming months.

“Every acre of hallowed ground that we preserve is an opportunity for us and for future generations to have a better understanding of the formative conflicts that have shaped our nation,” said David Duncan, president of the American Battlefield Trust. “As we approach America’s 250th, it is ever more important to protect and secure historic battlefield land.”

The American Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants Program promotes preservation of America’s most historically significant battlegrounds associated with the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War, all of which will play an essential role in the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026. This latest round of grant awards also included funding for properties at Chickasaw Bayou, Miss.; Glendale and New Market, Va.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Fort LaRussy, La.; and Kennesaw Mountain, Ringold Gap, and Rocky Face Ridge, Ga.

Funds from the American Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants Program have been used to save approximately 36,000 acres in 20 states, including some of the most famous battlefields in American history: Antietam, Md.; Appomattox and Fredericksburg, Va.; Gettysburg, Pa.; Charleston, S.C.; Princeton, N.J.; Saratoga, N.Y. and Shiloh, Tenn. included. Tennessee has received $26.2 million in grants awarded for land at 13 battlefields, saving 2,537 acres of hallowed ground.

Legislation is currently pending in both houses of Congress to reauthorize this grant program, ensuring its ability to protect ground for the next decade.

The American Battlefield Trust is dedicated to preserving America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educating the public about what happened there and why it matters today. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has helped protect more than 60,000 acres associated with the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War across 160 sites in 25 states.

Learn more at battlefields.org.