Traveling Exhibit Interprets Sixteen Revolutionary War Battlefields

Artist rendering of the people and sites that will be included in the exhibit.

The American Battlefield Trust

Recipient: American Battlefield Trust

Amount: $200,000

In 1777 Bernardo de Galvez, the governor of Spanish-controlled Louisiana, was not a Patriot, but he was in service of American independence. In the first year of the American Revolution, Great Britain had blockaded the ports of its breakaway colonies in North America and occupied most of the Gulf coastline east of the Mississippi River. At New Orleans, de Galvez was positioned strategically to aid his enemy’s enemy and carried out Madrid’s instructions to sell weapons and other military and medical supplies to the Americans and ship them up the mighty Mississippi. After Spain formally declared war on Britain, de Galvez led one of the longest sustained sieges of the war at Pensacola and dealt the British defeats at Baton Rouge, Natchez, and Mobile. The fall of Pensacola weakened Britain’s coastal grip and prevented the empire from encircling the new nation: the United States moved closer to victory with the support of European allies.

With the financial assistance of a Battlefield Interpretation Grant from the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program, the American Battlefield Trust will create an exhibit focusing on some of the lesser-known individuals of the Revolutionary War: people in a multicultural North America like de Galvez who had complex motives supporting or opposing the fledgling United States. As the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding approaches, the Trust’s exhibit aims to ensure access to these Revolutionary War stories and places beyond the familiar narratives set in the Thirteen Colonies. The exhibit’s interpretive panels, replica artifacts, and interactive technology will cross the Mississippi and travel throughout the West to bring narratives of our founding to the nation today.

Battlefield Interpretation Grants from the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program empower preservation partners nationwide to modernize and enhance battlefield interpretation – to inspire wonder, understanding and empathy at the places that witnessed some of our nation’s most challenging events. In addition, the program administers three other grants: Battlefield Land Acquisition, Preservation Planning, and Battlefield Restoration Grants. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.

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Check out the American Battlefield Protection Program's website for more information about various grant offerings and eligibility.

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