Cemetery, Landmark, Park
The land for a cemetery was donated in 1865.
The battlefield area was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1984. At that time the 300-foot (91 m) tall bluff, the landing on the Potomac River, and almost all aspects of the site were substantially the same as the time of the battle 123 years before. An "intrusion" is the wall-enclosed Ball's Bluff National Cemetery, holding 54 graves of Union dead (53 unknown, and James Allen of the 15th Massachusetts Infantry). Another intrusion is a fenced 1.3-mile (2.1 km) approach road built in 1907. A commemorative marker for Confederate soldier Clinton Hatcher, of the 8th Virginia Infantry, and a marker of the site of Baker's mortal wounding, are nearby.
The park, maintained by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, contains over seven miles (11 km) of marked trails, including a mile-long loop trail to the bluff overlook with interpretive markers and 2.1-mile (3.4 km) trail along the Potomac riverbank.
Read more about this topic: Ball's Bluff Battlefield And National Cemetery
Famous quotes containing the word park:
“Linnæus, setting out for Lapland, surveys his “comb” and “spare shirt,” “leathern breeches” and “gauze cap to keep off gnats,” with as much complacency as Bonaparte a park of artillery for the Russian campaign. The quiet bravery of the man is admirable.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)