Manassas Battlefield Receives Grant, Plans to Expand

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Manassas Battlefield expansion requires congressional approval

To commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, Gov. Terry McAuliffe awarded state grants to several battlefields across Virginia for preservation and expansion.

Manassas National Battlefield Park is among the recipients for this grant, and will use the funding to acquire 2.6 acres of new property on the Yeates Tract to add to the park’s boundary.

The total for the state grants was $1.7 million, although the amount of the grant for the Manassas Battlefield has not yet been announced to the Manassas Battlefield Trust.

“These are state grants that will ultimately go to the Civil War Trust for the purchase of a piece of property…in our case it’s the Yeates property, of 2.58 acres, which is not in the park now,” said Maureen Finnerty, president of the Manassas Battlefield Trust.

The Trust is a newly formed local non-profit for the Manassas Battlefield. “We are essentially a friend-raising and fundraising non-profit group, to raise money and friends for the Manassas Battlefield,” said Finnerty.

In order to incorporate the Yeates Tract into the boundary line for the Manassas Battlefield, they will need to purchase 25 to 30 existing residential properties on the land, and go through a congressional approval process to formally change the boundary line, according to Finnerty.

This process may take up to a year, although the boundary change is considered minor.

The Yeates Tract, which is located east of Groveton Road, was a significant landmark in the battles at Manassas, as Maj. Gen. James Longstreet undertook a massive counterattack against the Union on the site in 1862.