“Nation Makers” by Howard Pyle captures the spirit of the American Revolution in this 1906 painting inspired by the events at Brandywine Battlefield.

The National Park Service has awarded $2,289,880.56 in Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants through the American Battlefield Protection Program to protect 155.39 acres at Civil War battlefields in Mississippi and Virginia, as well as 16.2 acres at a Revolutionary War battlefield in Pennsylvania.  

State and local governments spearhead the projects funded by American Battlefield Protection Program grants to protect significant battlefield landscapes that are vital to the shared history of their communities and the nation. The Land and Water Conservation Fund makes these awards possible by reinvesting revenue from offshore oil and natural gas to help strengthen conservation and recreation opportunities across the nation. 

The awards are to: 

• Chadds Ford Township, Pa. -- $1,838,388.62 for preservation of 16.2 acres at Brandywine Battlefield in Delaware County, Pa. 
• Mississippi Department of Archives and History -- $73,616.00 for preservation of 4.45 acres at Chickasaw Bayou Battlefield in Warren County, Miss.
• Mississippi Department of Archives and History -- $36,645.00 for preservation of 0.39 acres at Chickasaw Bayou Battlefield in Warren County, Miss.
• Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation -- $132,077.41 for preservation of 11.72 acres at Boydton Plank Battlefield in Henrico County, Va.
• Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation -- $209,153.53 to complete preservation of 138.83 acres at Deep Bottom I and II Battlefields in Henrico County, Va.  

Chadds Ford Township will use its grant to partner with the North American Land Trust to protect an area that was a crucial part of General George Washington’s main defensive line and site of action at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777. Washington sought to block British advances toward Philadelphia, then the seat of the federal government.

British General William Howe and his men overran Washington’s right flank while General Wilhelm von Kynphausen’s Hessians attacked American forces near the Quaker Meeting house at Chadds Ford. While the British eventually prevailed, Nathanael Greene’s rear guard held off the British, allowing the Continental Army to retreat and regroup. An estimated 30,000 troops fought that day throughout the extensive Brandywine Battlefield.  

Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants empower preservation partners nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened battlefields on American soil. In addition, the National Park Service administers three other grant programs: Preservation Planning, Battlefield Interpretation and Battlefield Restoration Grants. Financial and technical assistance support sustainable, community-driven stewardship of natural and historic resources at the state, Tribal, and local levels.