American Battlefield Trust

The organization was originally founded in 1987 as the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (APCWS), to save Civil War battlefield land. APCWS acquired thousands of acres of battlefield land as well as offering educational tours and seminars with prominent historians.

The original Civil War Trust, a second non-profit focused on preserving Civil War battlefields, was formed in 1991. The Civil War Trust helped acquire and preserve 6,700 acres (27 km2) of land in the eight years of its existence and conducted education and heritage tourism programs to educate the public about the significance of the war and of battlefield preservation.

The current organization was created on November 19, 1999, through the merger of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (APCWS) and the Civil War Trust. The merged organization was originally named the Civil War Preservation Trust. The merger, unanimously approved by the boards of both predecessor groups, streamlined efforts to protect America's most endangered parcels of Civil War history by acquisition of battlefield lands. On January 11, 2011, the Civil War Preservation Trust shortened its name to the Civil War Trust, and added a new logo.

On November 11, 2014 (Veterans Day), the Trust partnered with the Society of the Cincinnati to launch "Campaign 1776", a subsidiary project designed to protect endangered battlefields from the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 by acquiring battlefield lands. Federal matching grants for this program were enacted by Congress in December 2014. On May 8, 2018, the organization's name was changed to the American Battlefield Trust to reflect its expanded mission to include land preservation not only of Civil War battlefields, but also the battlefields of the American Revolution and the War of 1812.

The president of the American Battlefield Trust is David N. Duncan, the organization's longtime former Chief Development Officer, who was appointed to the top position by the Board of Trustees effective October 1, 2020, upon the retirement of O. James Lighthizer. Duncan became the Trust's chief fundraiser after his hiring in March 2000 and helped raise more than $240 million during his two decades in that position. A native of Virginia, Duncan is a graduate of James Madison University and was a political fund raiser for a direct mail company before joining the Trust. Lighthizer served as president of the Trust for more than 20 years, taking charge upon the merger of the two predecessor organizations in November 1999. A former member of the Maryland General Assembly and former county executive of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Lighthizer also served as Maryland Secretary of Transportation from 1991 to 1995, where he pioneered the concept of using Transportation Enhancement highway funds to protect thousands of acres of Civil War battlefield land in Maryland through acquisitions or easements. On January 13, 2021, Lighthizer was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Donald J. Trump in a ceremony at the White House for his work in battlefield preservation.

Since its formation, the Trust has grown to nearly 200,000 members and supporters and has permanently preserved more than 60,000 acres of American battlefield land from the Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.