National Military Park, National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, and National Battlefield Site are four designations for battle sites preserved by the United States federal government because of their national importance.

In 1890, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was the first such site created by Congress. Originally these sites were maintained by the War Department, but were transferred to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. The different designations seem merely to reflect the mood the Congress at the time of authorization of each individual site, although "park" appears to be reserved for the larger sites. Only Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site bears that designation — others previously had, but have since been redesignated. To further confuse matters, some battlefields are designated as National Monuments (such as Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument) or National Historic Sites (such as Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site). The National Park Service does not distinguish among the four designations in terms of their preservation or management policies.

As with all historic areas in the National Park System, these battle sites are automatically listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

See also

• List of National Military Parks
• List of National Battlefield Parks
• List of National Battlefields

External links

• Designation of National Park System Units

National Battlefields and Military Parks of the United States | National Register of Historic Places | Protected areas of the United States