Camp Curtin was a major Union Army training camp in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. It was located north of Pennsylvania's state capitol building on 80 acres of what had previously been land used by the Dauphin County Agricultural Fairgrounds.

History

When news of the bombardment and subsequent surrender of

Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a historical Coastal defense and fortification#Sea forts, sea fort located near Charleston, South Carolina. Constructed on an artificial island at the entrance of Charleston Harbor in 1829, the fort was built in response to the W ...

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reached

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

on April 14, 1861,

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Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

called for

75,000 volunteers Proclamation 80, titled "A Proclamation by the President of the United States, April 15, 1861," was a presidential proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. It called for 75,000 militia A militia ( ...

to join the Army to quell the rebellion of the Southern states. Across the

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, eager recruits responded to calls from local governmental officials to join newly raised state regiments.

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Andrew Curtin of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

issued a proclamation asking for 13,000 able-bodied men to volunteer to help preserve the Union. Within three days, thousands of men had converged at Harrisburg to enlist, but they had no formal place to organize or drill. Dauphin County officials offered Governor Curtin the use of the County Agricultural Society on the northern outskirts of Harrisburg for these volunteers. Maj. Joseph F. Knipe officially opened the camp on April 18, 1861, and named it Camp Curtin in honor of the governor (the planned name had been Camp Union). From December 1861 to March 1862, the camp was commanded by Truman Seymour. More than 300,000 soldiers passed through Camp Curtin, making it the largest Federal camp during the Civil War. By the summer of 1862, newspapers were reporting that the number of federal troops at the camp had grown so large that it took twenty tons of cooked provisions to create the rations for each of the men who were being trained for battle. Harrisburg's location on major railroad lines running east and west, and north and south made it the ideal location for moving men and supplies to the armies in the field. In addition to Pennsylvania regiments, troops from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

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Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and the

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

used Camp Curtin. The camp and surrounding area also saw service as a supply depot, hospital and

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

. At the end of the war, Camp Curtin was used as a mustering-out point for thousands of troops on their way home. It was officially closed on November 11, 1865.

1861

In 1861, between April 18 and 22, the following units mustered in at Camp Curtin: *April 18: Allen Infantry (Lehigh County), Johnstown Infantry and Johnstown Zouave Cadets (Johnstown), National Light Infantry, Pittsburgh Rifles (Pittsburgh) and Ringgold Artillery (Reading) *April 20: Bellfeonte Fencibles (Bellfonte), Cameron Guards (Cameron County), Chambers Artillery (Companies A, B and C), Citizen Artillery, Citizen Zouaves, Easton Fencibles (Easton), Hollidaysburg Fencibles (Hollidaysburg), Independent Infantry, Jackson Rifles, Juniata Rifles (Juniata County), Lancaster Fencibles (Lancaster), Lewisburg Infantry (Lewisburg), Logan Rifle Rangers, National Guards, Negly's Zouaves, Scott Guards, Reading Artillerists, Shawnee Guards, State Capital Guard, State Guards, Turner Rifles, Tyrone Artillerists (Tyrone), Union Light Infantry, Union Rifles (Delaware), U.S. Zouaves (Pittsburgh), Washington Greys, Wayne Guards, West Chester Rifles *April 21: Brigade Rifles (Minersville), Columbia Infantry, Eagle Guards, Keystone Rifles, Lebanon Guards (Lebanon), Madison Guards, National Artillery, Minersville Artillerists, Norris City Rifles (Companies A and B), Scott Artillery (Schuylkill Haven), Standing Stone Guard, Wayne Artillery, Wyoming Artillery *April 22: Allegheny Light Guards and Allegheny Rifles (Allegheny County), Anderson Greys (Companies A and B), Ashland Rifles (Ashland), Brady Alpines (Armstrong County), Burns Infantry, Cameron Infantry, which was named after J. D. Cameron of Harrisburg and was the only uniformed company at Camp Curtin as of late May, First Pennsylvania Zouaves (Pittsburgh), Llewellyn Rifles (Llewellyn), Marion Rifles (Schuylkill County), Nagle Guards (Pottsville), Pittsburgh Invincibles (Pittsburgh), Port Clinton Artillery (Port Clinton), Scranton Union Volunteers (Scranton), Tower Guards (Schuylkill County), Washington Rifles, Wyoming Light Dragoons. During the summer of 1861, multiple members of the Pennsylvania State Legislature were mustered into federal service as members of the Legislative Guard. Within months of the camp's opening, news reports began appearing of alleged

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

spies being caught at the camp and jailed.The Suspected Spy
and "Arrested on Suspicion." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: ''Pennsylvania Daily Telegraph'', July 8, 1861. Panorama of Camp Curtin 13 sep 1862

References

External links

Camp Curtin Historical Society
{{Pennsylvania in the Civil War History of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania American Civil War prison camps 1861 establishments in Pennsylvania Defunct prisons in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania in the American Civil War American Civil War army posts 1865 disestablishments in Pennsylvania

History

1861

See also

References

External links