The Big Reveal: Clearing Brush to Restore Civil War Views at Manassas

At Manassas National Battlefield Park, fields that were open farmland during the Civil War have grown thick with shrubs and trees, hiding the sightlines commanders used in key moments of the Battle of Second Manassas. To restore the historic landscape at two vital sites, the park has turned to some unusual tools: a machine called a masticator — literally, a "chewer" — and prescribed fire.

Before and after: in 2024 the park removed a wall of shrubs that blocked historic views of the Deep Cut landscape. Images from the National Park Service

NPS / Justin Shedd

Clearing the way

Over two years, the park has cut and mowed about 125 acres of overgrowth at Brawner Farm and Deep Cut, two of its most-visited areas — the Brawner Farm House serves as an interpretive station in summer. Views from the house are now back to what they were at the time of the battle.

The masticator, or forestry mower, joined the effort in 2023: a skid-steer on tracks, which limit ground disturbance, fitted with a mower or a horizontal chipping drum.

Timing matters. The 2024 work finished in August, to protect nesting grassland birds and to hit woody plants hardest: in late summer they hold most of their energy above ground, so cutting then drains the roots' reserves and kills the plant. Removing the shrub layer — a major source of hazardous fuel — also makes it harder for a wildfire to climb into the tree canopy nearby.

The goal is to bring back and keep the Civil War-era views — and with them open habitat of native grasses, milkweeds and wildflowers for grassland birds such as bobwhite quail and eastern meadowlarks.

A forestry mower, also called a masticator, used to clear woody brush. Image from the National Park Service

Rocky going

Two crews did the work: a contractor crew and an NPS fire crew from Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. In 2024 the crew included regional fire personnel, park staff and other National Capital Region staff trained on the masticator at Antietam National Battlefield.

Both sites have large boulder fields, unusual for the region — especially Deep Cut — which made the machine work slow and tough. Deep Cut is smaller than Brawner but took as long to finish. Slipped tracks and mechanical trouble were routine.

Before and after: dense shrubs had blocked historic views of the Deep Cut landscape. Images from the National Park Service

A bonus: reaching invasive plants

Opening the fields also cut paths into the heart of invasive plant infestations in the surrounding woods. Woody wisteria vines were no match. With easier access, staff and partners can now keep wisteria from smothering the trees — a new approach to invasive control the park plans to use for woody invasives elsewhere.

Next: fire

The park plans prescribed burns in both fields to stop trees and woody plants growing back and to return nutrients to the soil. After that it will keep photo-monitoring the fields, sow seed to compete with woody plants and draw pollinators, and use spot herbicide treatments on regrowth.

Wildland firefighters manage a prescribed fire at Manassas, April 2018. NPS / Nathan King

The work relied on regional fire management staff, who organized the people and funding for each operation, together with Manassas staff, the Delaware Water Gap crew, and staff from neighboring parks and the region.

Sources

Based on "The Big Reveal: Restoring Views at Manassas National Battlefield Park," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.