Fort Nelson (Jessamine County, near Nicholasville, Kentucky)
Jessamine County, near Nicholasville · Kentucky · American Civil War
History & Significance
Established in April 1863 as a fortified supply depot for Union General Ambrose Burnside's planned operations to liberate East Tennessee and secure the strategically vital Cumberland Gap, Camp Nelson evolved into one of the war's most significant installations for African American emancipation. Initially a large supply depot including 4,000 acres, fortifications, and 300 buildings, the camp supplied several Union military campaigns.
In 1864 Camp Nelson became Kentucky's largest, and nation's third largest, recruitment center for African-American soldiers, the U.S. Colored Troops. More than 10,000 recruits enlisted at the camp, with eight regiments founded here and five others stationed there during the war.
The site became a humanitarian as well as military center: as enslaved and free men converged to enlist, many of their families joined them and a large refugee camp grew up around the camp. A forced expulsion of approximately 400 African American women and children in November 1864 caused 102 deaths and brought national attention; the Union Army then established the Camp Nelson Home for Colored Refugees in January 1865.
The military depot officially closed by June 1866. On October 26, 2018, President Donald Trump proclaimed the site as Camp Nelson National Monument, the 418th unit of the National Park Service.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Union supply depot and recruitment center during Civil War
- Over 10,000 U.S. Colored Troops enlisted here
- Refuge site for enslaved people fleeing bondage
- Visitor centers and museums interpreting the history
- Historic trails across the monument grounds
Sources
- https://www.nps.gov/cane/
- https://omekas.bcplhistory.org/s/all/item/16043
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Nelson_National_Monument
- https://eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/Locations/Pages/Camp-Nelson.aspx
- https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/34
- https://americasbesthistory.com/spotlight2020-5.html
- https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt77sq8qcb8z
- https://www.usanationalparks.info/camp-nelson-national-monument-kentuckys-cradle-of-freedom/
- https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-establishment-camp-nelson-national-monument/
- https://history.ky.gov/markers/camp-nelson-2
- https://www.battlefields.org/news/american-battlefield-trust-praises-designation-camp-nelson-national-monument