Camp Chase

Camp Chase was established near this site on May 27 and 28, 1861, as a Civil War post and training center for recruits coming into Columbus in response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers. Located immediately west of Hague Avenue and south of the Old National Road, now West Broad Street, the camp was laid out by General William S. Rosecrans on the racegrounds, which he had prepared for drilling recruits. After numerous escape attempts by Confederate prisoners, officers built a 12-foot fence around the camp. By June 12, 1861, it contained 160 houses, and by June 20 it was officially named Camp Chase in honor of ex-Governor Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury in Lincoln's cabinet. The first Confederate prisoners arrived from western Virginia on July 5, 1861, and within two weeks 4,200 had been received there. In early 1865 the camp held 7,000 prisoners, and that number later increased to 9,416. During its years of government service, Camp Chase served four purposes: as a training installation, a prison for Confederate captives, a detention place for paroled Union soldiers, and a mustering-out place for northern regiments. On July 5, 1865, the prison commandant notified the War Department that the camp no longer held prisoners, and on July 14, 1865, the prison property was offered for sale at public auction.

Columbus, Ohio · United States