Findings and purposes

(a) Findings The Congress finds and declares as follows: (1) It is fitting and helpful for Americans to remember the Civil War, 1861–1865, and to reflect upon, and learn from, the storied history, valor, heartbreak, and suffering of both sides in this tragic war that so divided and scarred the young Nation, but that also served as a crucible for the Nation to secure itself as the United States and preserve the Union, abolish the injustice of slavery, and become the beacon of hope as a democracy that it has become for the world. (2) The significance of the Civil War to the future of the United States is incalculable. The war’s lessons and meaning to the history of the United States, what it stands for, and its place in the world today must be remembered and conveyed to future generations. The war pitted family against family, brother against brother, friend against friend, Blue against Gray. Its battlegrounds were consecrated with blood that was shed by many who gave their last full measure of devotion. The reunited democracy that emerged, after such a heavy loss of life on both sides and the difficult decades of healing that followed, made the United States stronger. It helped the Nation advance toward achieving the inalienable rights and noble goals and values its founders sought, but had not fully achieved, in their lifetimes. (3) The defenses of Washington played a key role in the outcome of the Civil War. They were constructed at the beginning of the war in 1861 as a ring of fortifications in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and northern Virginia, to protect the Nation’s capital. By the end of the war, these defenses included 68 forts, 93 unarmed batteries, 807 mounted cannon, 13 miles of rifle trenches, and 32 miles of military roads. (4) The major test of the Civil War defenses of Washington came with the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 when Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early marched from Richmond to Lynchburg, Virginia, and through the Shenandoah Valley to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and Frederick, Maryland. His major objective, as directed to him by General Robert E. Lee, was to attack the Nation’s capital from the north, causing Union Forces to be withdrawn from threatening Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. He was delayed by Union Major General Lew Wallace at the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864, and was stopped at the northern edge of the District of Columbia at the Battle of Fort Stevens on July 11–12, 1864. The Shenandoah Valley Campaign ended when Union Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan defeated General Early at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, on October 19, 1864. (5) The Battle of Fort Stevens was the second and last attempt by the Confederate Army to attack Washington. The first major effort to surround or capture the Nation’s capital ended at Gettysburg in July 1863. After that historic battle, in his address at Gettysburg Cemetery on November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln redefined what was at stake: a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal … that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.. (6) The Battle of Fort Stevens was the only verifiable time that a sitting United States President (Abraham Lincoln) came under hostile fire during a battle while in office. Nearly all the individual forts in the defenses of Washington (on both sides of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers) were involved in stopping General Early’s attack. Had that one battle at the very edge of Washington been lost, the Nation’s capital, the Presidency, the Union Government, and emancipation all would have been potentially lost and the history of the United States dramatically changed. The victory at Fort Stevens not only saved the city and the national government, but also led to the October 1864 victories for the Union in the Shenandoah Valley, which ensured Lincoln’s re-election and preservation of the Union at that critical moment. (7) After the end of the war, most of the Civil War defenses of Washington were returned to private land owners, but many were retained by the military or the lands were repurchased later by the United States. Of the remaining fortifications in public ownership, 19 sites (including Battleground Cemetery) are owned by the Federal Government and managed by the National Park Service, four are owned by local units of government in northern Virginia, and one is owned by Montgomery County, Maryland. (8) In 1902, the Senate McMillan Commission issued a Report on the Improvement of the Park System of Washington (U.S. Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, Senate Report No. 166, 57th Congress, 1st Session). The Report called for development of a Fort Drive to connect the Civil War defenses of Washington in the Nation’s capital. Congress appropriated funds to purchase lands for the Fort Drive during the 1930s, but it was never fully completed. (9) Most of the remaining Civil War defenses of Washington contain significant natural and recreational resources, and some offer sweeping vistas overlooking the Nation’s capital. With the lands acquired for the Fort Drive, they provide a linkage of urban green spaces that contribute to the history, character, and scenic values of the Nation’s capital and offer educational and recreational opportunities along with their natural and important historical values. (10) Sites associated with the Civil War defenses of Washington that are in Federal ownership within the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the State of Maryland are managed under three separate units of the National Park Service (Rock Creek Park, National Capital Parks–East, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway). Action by Congress is needed to protect and aid the educational benefits of the unique place in history of these sites through proper management, stabilization, maintenance, development, use, and, importantly, interpretation. (11) It is fitting and proper that, as Americans reflect upon the legacy of the Civil War, we more fully understand and appreciate the roles of the battles in the District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland related to the defenses of Washington. Taken together, these battles were pivotal to the outcome of the war and therefore to its impact on the promise of the United States. It is therefore in the national interest that these historically important sites and resources be protected from further damage or loss and that they be preserved, enhanced, and interpreted for the use, enjoyment, and education of present and future generations. (12) There is a genuine need and compelling reason for the United States to rededicate itself to and honor the vision and ideals of democracy as reflected in the Constitution by commemorating and interpreting through this National Historical Park the epic story of the American Civil War and the profound and lasting impact of the war on the values, capabilities, and strengths that the United States reflects through the ideals that it stands for in the world today. (b) Purposes The purposes of this Act are— (1) to protect, preserve, enhance, and interpret for the benefit and use of present and future generations the cultural, historical, natural, and recreational resources of the Civil War defenses of Washington located in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland; and (2) to study and consider creative and cost-effective ways that the storied history of the Civil War, including the defenses of Washington and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, can be assembled, arrayed, and effectively conveyed to and for the benefit of the public.