The 1890s, argues the author, represented the climax of battlefield preservation in America. This decade was the perfect time for the establishment of these national parks. Five Civil War battlegrounds - at Gettysburg, Chickamauga and Chattanooga, Shiloh, Antietam, and Vicksburg - were commemorated as national sites during this period. Just past the bitterness and racial tensions of Reconstruction and prior to the explosive growth brought on by the Second Industrial Revolution, the time was right for the war's veterans from both sides to come together, in a spirit of reconciliation and brotherhood, to lead the efforts to open the parks. As yet unmarred by development, these battlefield sites were preserved mostly intact, just how the veterans would have remembered them. To date, they represent the country's finest preserved battlefields.

Introduction: The Context of Civil War Battlefield Preservation--ch. 1 Battlefields, Cemeteries, and Early Preservation: The Prelude to the 1890s-Era Parks, 1861-1890--ch. 2 Congress, the War Department and the National Military Parks: The Context of the 1890s-Era Battlefield Preservation, 1890-1933--ch. 3 "A Western Gettysburg": Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, 1890-1933--ch. 4 "The Experiment at Antietam": Antietam National Battlefield, 1890-1933--ch. 5 "This Great Battlefield": Shiloh National Military Park, 1894-1933--ch. 6 "A Splendid Monument to American Valor": Gettysburg National Military Park, 1895-1933--ch. 7 "A Valuable Contribution to Military Science": Vicksburg National Military Park, 1899-1933--ch. 8 The Golden Age Reassessed--Epilogue--Appendix 1: Enabling Legislation--Appendix 2: Military Park Commissioners and Board Members.