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Historic Visualization of Prairie Grove Battlefield

 

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The Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park is the location of one of the most significant Civil War battles in the West, which occurred on December 7, 1862. The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST)worked with Arkansas State Parks to digitally recreate the setting of the battle in 1862 with funding provided by the  Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council (ANCRC). Drawing upon historic documents and maps, the battlefield recreations showcase historic structures and other important features of the landscape, as well as the position and maneuver activities of the Union and Confederate troops.  

 

 

 

A website has been created which allows visitors to explore the battle by either watching the battle video or by exploring a series of interactive maps. The information presented also includes audio segments, 3D rendered images of the historic structures, tactical troop movements, and historic accounts. Content from the website has been integrated into the park's new interactive exhibits.

 

 

 

 

 

To create a composite image of what the historic landscape would have looked like a historic parcel map from 1894 was used as a basemap. Additional information was gathered from resources such as civilian accounts, historic photos, and hand-drawn maps of the area. This allowed the creation of complete 3D models of nearly all of the significant structures in the battle proper area.

Auxiliary objects including fences, barns, wells, outhouses, and more have also been modeled and placed within the landscape. Information about the presence of forests and fields was gathered from soldiers' written accounts.

The result is a nearly complete, fully 3D historic landscape that is used as a basis for depicting the events of the Battle of Prairie Grove.