Benton Barracks, also known as Camp Benton, was a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
barracks
Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...
in
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
,
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
, located at present-day
St. Louis Fairground Park. Before 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 ...
, the site was owned and used by the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association, which at the time was located on the outskirts of St. Louis. The installation was used primarily as a training facility for federal soldiers attached to the Western Division of the
Union Army.
After the
Battle of Lexington
The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...
, the post and convalescent hospitals were added to the training barracks, in order to assist in treating hundreds of incoming wounded troops. Once the war ended, the barracks was dismantled, returning to its pre-war, civilian use as a fairground and race track. Nothing of the original barracks remains at this site today.
History
In 1861, Major-General
John C. Frémont
Major general (United States), Major-General John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first History of the Repub ...
assumed command of the Western Department of War for the Union Army. General Frémont ordered the establishment of a training barracks at the site of the
St. Louis Fairgrounds. The barracks originally consisted of five buildings, 740 ft. in length and 40 ft. in width. Additionally, there was a two-story building erected for the headquarters of the Barracks Commander. The barracks could accommodate up to 30,000 soldiers. By 1863, Benton contained over a mile of barracks, as well as warehouses, cavalry stables, parade grounds, and a large military hospital. The hospital was built from the converted amphitheater on the fairground site and could accommodate 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers at a time. During the Civil War, under the administration of
Emily Elizabeth Parsons, it was the largest hospital in the West. Parsons recorded many of her experiences at Benton Barracks in her memoir. Another nurse at Benton Barracks,
Belle Coddington, wrote about her memories of the hospital in an 1895 reminiscence.
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Ravenswaay, Charles Van
''St. Louis - An Informal History of the City and its People, 1764-1865'' Bloomington: University of Illinois Press, 1991.
* Scharf, John Thomas
''History of Saint Louis City and County'' St. Louis: L. H. Everts, 1883.
* The United States War Department. ''The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies''. "Correspondence, Orders, etc., from June 13, 1862, to November 30, 1862." Series II: Volume IV. Washington D.C.: 1899.
* Winter, William C
''Civil War in St. Louis: A Guided Tour'' St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, November, 1994.
Further reading
*
External links
Benton Barracksat The Civil War Muse
*
{{coord, 38.664, -90.218, type:landmark_region:US-MO, display=title
1861 establishments in Missouri
American Civil War hospitals
Barracks in the United States
Military installations established in 1861
Military installations in Missouri
Missouri in the American Civil War