Camp Nelson Confederate Cemetery is a historic

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

located near Cabot in northern

Lonoke County, Arkansas Lonoke County is a county located in the Central Arkansas region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 74,015, making it the 10th-most populous of Arkansas's 75 counties. The county seat is Lonoke and larges ...

and is near the site of a

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 ...

military camp A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...

Camp Hope (renamed Camp Nelson), where 1,500 Confederate soldiers died during an

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

during the fall of 1862. Camp Nelson Cemetery is located on Rye Drive, just off Cherry Road, just off Mt. Carmel Road in north Lonoke County about 2 miles east of Cabot.

History

Camp Nelson Confederate Cemetery Plaque with Description

Camp Hope was established in the spring of 1862 as a central staging point in central

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

for Confederate troops gathering from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and Arkansas. The camp was renamed for Brigadier General

Allison Nelson Allison Nelson (March 11, 1822 – October 7, 1862) was the ninth mayor of Atlanta, serving from January until July 1855, when he resigned from office. He died of disease in Prairie County (present-day Lonoke County), Arkansas, during th ...

, commander of the 10th Texas Infantry Regiment, after he died there in October 1862. During the fall of 1862, an epidemic of

measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gen ...

, and other diseases ran rampant through the troops congregated there. Brigadier General Nelson was among the approximately 1,500 Arkansas and Texas soldiers who died from disease-related conditions during a two-month period, from early October to early December. The majority of these soldiers were buried in unmarked graves in the surrounding area. The camp was abandoned by the end of 1862. Camp Nelson Memorial

In 1905, Confederate veterans located 429 graves and reinterred the remains on land donated for a cemetery near the original camp site. They placed 429 limestone markers, all marked "Unknown Soldier CSA", and erected a 12-foot obelisk to memorialize those buried here. Improperly maintained after the death of the last Civil War Veterans, the site was ultimately overtaken by forest undergrowth. The cemetery was reclaimed before the end of the century, however, after local high school teachers, members of the

Cabot High School Cabot High School (CHS) is a public high school located in Cabot, Arkansas. The school serves students in grades ten through twelve and is administered by Cabot Public Schools, which serves the city and most of northern Lonoke County. The dis ...

Reserve Officers’ Training Corps,

Future Farmers of America The National FFA Organization or FFA is an American nonprofit career and technical student organization, which offers middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. Future Farmers of Virginia (FFV) was founded in ...

students, and other area residents embarked on a restoration project during the 1980s with state funding. Renovations included clearing and leveling the land, replacing the fence and gate, and replacing the markers with new United States government headstones. The state appropriation for upkeep ended in the late 1990s leaving the cemetery maintenance up to interested residents. The Camp Nelson Confederate Cemetery was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1996.

Photo gallery

Entry Gate.JPG Cemetery Plaque.JPG Confederates.JPG Confederate Cemetery Cabot Arkansas.JPG All graves are Unknown Soldier CSA.JPG

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1897 establishments in Arkansas Cemeteries in Lonoke County, Arkansas Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Confederate cemeteries in Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Lonoke County, Arkansas Protected areas of Lonoke County, Arkansas Tourist attractions in Lonoke County, Arkansas Cemeteries established in the 1890s

History

Photo gallery

See also

References

External links