Camp Hamilton

In May 1861, the U.S. Army established its first camp on Virginia soil after secession on the Segar farm, first calling it Camp Troy and soon renaming it Camp Hamilton in honor of Gen. Winfield Scott’s military secretary Lt. Col. Schuyler Hamilton. Prompted by the influx of soldiers at Fort Monroe, commander Lt. Col. Justin Dimick sent elements of the 4th Massachusetts Infantry to Mill Creek Bridge and to the Segar and Clark farms to secure a better water supply. Local Confederate volunteers, angered by the arrival of Massachusetts troops, vowed vengeance, and cavalry picket Dr. William R. Vaughan confronted Dimick at the bridge and challenged the army’s right to cross onto Virginia soil, to which Dimick replied, “By God, sir, might makes right!” Local Confederate commander Lt. Col. Richard S. Ewell then withdrew his small force of 820 men and 300 flintlock muskets across Hampton Creek away from Fort Monroe. The 2nd New York and 1st Vermont regiments were billeted here when they arrived on the Peninsula, and the camp consisted of tents and other temporary structures arranged in company streets. Because Fort Monroe’s guns protected the area, extensive fortifications were not built. Soldiers drilled, stood guard, attended Bible classes, and pursued small business ventures, including Pvt. Alfred Bond, who profited by selling cigars to other volunteers and recorded in his diary, “In Camp Hamilton. Weather cloudy with rain at night and windy. The day is past and gone. The evening shades appear; oh may we all remember well, The night of Death draws near.”

Hampton, Virginia · United States