This area is thought to be the burial place of more than 300 soldiers who once camped at Fort Winchester, Camp No. 3, also known as Fort Starvation, during the War of 1812. Led by Brigadier General James Winchester, Kentucky soldiers marched to war wearing linen clothing in the summer of 1812, not expecting to end up stuck in snowdrifts in midwinter in the heart of the Black Swamp. The camp became known as Fort Starvation as soldier after soldier succumbed to the elements. Many of their bodies were unearthed in the 1840s during construction of the Miami and Erie Canal, and these soldiers were buried once again in Ohio with military rites.