The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park was established in 1927 to Preservation efforts of the Fredericksburg battlefield

It is a fact that the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park was established in 1927 to Preservation efforts of the Fredericksburg battlefield. The Civil War Preservation Trust announced in March 2006 the start of a $12 million national effort to conserve the historic Slaughter Pen Farm, a major section of the Fredericksburg battlefield. On December 13, 1862, the 205-acre property known locally as the Pierson Tract was the site of a terrible battle. At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Federal troops led by Maj. Gen. George Meade and Brig. Gen. John Gibbon made an assault against Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's Confederates holding the southern portion of the Army of Northern Virginia's line. Despite massive casualties, Meade's Federal troops were able to temporarily infiltrate the Confederate line and offered the North's best chance of winning the Battle of Fredericksburg. The action on this southern section of the battlefield, which became known as the Slaughter Pen, resulted in 5,000 casualties and five Medal of Honor recipients.

The Slaughter Pen Farm was thought to be the greatest exposed portion of the Fredericksburg battlefield. It is also the only location on the battlefield where visitors may follow the Union assault on December 13 from beginning to end. The acquisition of the Slaughter Pen Farm on the Fredericksburg battlefield for $12 million has been described as the most ambitious nonprofit battlefield acquisition in American history