BATTLEFIELD REHABILITATION:
Returning the Land to Its 1863 Appearance.

One of the most important purposes of Gettysburg National Military Park is to preserve the topographic, landscape and cultural features that were significant to the outcome of the Battle of Gettysburg. That is the primary reason that Congress created this park in 1895.

However, many of those features have been obscured or changed over the years, as natural processes have taken over. That loss, in turn, meant that neither visitors nor historians could fully understand the Battle of Gettysburg.

But soon, that will all change. After years of research and planning, a major battlefield rehabilitation effort is underway.

This rehabilitation effort includes the removal of hundreds of acres of existing woodlands that were not present in 1863, and the addition of hundreds of acres of woodlands that were present in 1863, but are now lost. Historic lanes and roads are being repaired, rehabilitated or reconstructed. Fencing, vegetation patterns and hedgerows are being added to restore field boundaries and patterns, and orchards are being rehabilitated to as close to their original state as possible.

Thickets are being replanted to the general height they were during the battle, and features such as fences, open woodlots and buildings are being repaired or replaced, so that visitors can clearly understand the cover and concealment available to the soldiers and the obstacles that affected them during combat.

As we rehabilitate the battlefield, we are also returning a number of monuments and markers to their original sites. The monuments, originally placed by veterans of the units, had been relocated to accommodate buildings and parking lots that are being removed as part of the rehabilitation process.

With the battlefield rehabilitation, visitors will gain a “sense of place.” They will better understand what happened there, and will be able to more appropriately honor the men who fought there. By returning the physical landscape, we will truly experience the views of those who fought.