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Kentucky Ancestors, Volume 46, Number 1 - Kentucky Historical ...

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Description Named for Major General<br />

William Nelson, who<br />

established first Union<br />

recruiting center south of Ohio<br />

River, 1861. Original camp,<br />

Garrard Co., called Camp<br />

Dick Robinson. For better<br />

protection from invading CSA<br />

armies of Tenn., camp moved<br />

to Jessamine side of Ky. River.<br />

Major General George H.<br />

Thomas renamed it Camp<br />

Nelson. Occupied until end of<br />

war; now U.S. military cem.<br />

Over.<br />

(Reverse) Maj. Gen. William<br />

Nelson - A navy lieutenant<br />

when he founded Camp Dick<br />

Robinson, Gen. Nelson was<br />

the only naval officer, CSA<br />

or USA, to become full-rank<br />

Civil War major general. He<br />

persuaded Lincoln to abandon<br />

“hands off” policy in Ky. and<br />

to supply 5,000 guns to Union<br />

supporters. Killed by fellow<br />

Union officer, Jeff C. Davis, in<br />

personal dispute at Galt House<br />

in Louisville, September 29,<br />

1862.<br />

Later during the war, Camp Nelson would be<br />

opened further north along the same Lexington-<br />

Lancaster road on the bank of the <strong>Kentucky</strong> River.<br />

Named for slain Gen. Nelson, the camp began as<br />

a logistics hub for the supply and equipping of the<br />

Union army campaign into East Tennessee under<br />

General Ambrose Burnside, but its most significant<br />

Civil War contribution came as the site where<br />

the largest number of black men, free and slave,<br />

were brought into the ranks of the Union army in<br />

<strong>Kentucky</strong> during the last year of the war. 6<br />

In far western <strong>Kentucky</strong>, another <strong>Kentucky</strong><br />

historical marker designates the area where a<br />

significant Confederate training camp was located<br />

in the early days of the war. The marker text<br />

notes that the camp served as a “training base for<br />

Confederate troops from six states, 1861-62.” 7<br />

<strong>Historical</strong> marker, Camp Dick Robinson (Garrard County), <strong>Kentucky</strong> (KHS)<br />

<strong>Historical</strong> marker, Camp Nelson (Jessamine County), <strong>Kentucky</strong> (KHS)<br />

Camp Beauregard, named for the Confederate<br />

commander in Charleston, South Carolina, during<br />

the bombardment of Ft. Sumter, C.S.A. General<br />

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, was also the site<br />

of major disease outbreaks which led to serious illness<br />

and even the deaths of many of the men who had<br />

joined the army.<br />

Autumn 2010 | 53

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