Camp Curtin

After the fall of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in April 1861, Harrisburg's importance as a transportation center and state capital became clear when President Abraham Lincoln and Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin called for volunteers to fight the Confederacy. New recruits converged on hastily established Union camps, and the largest camp of the entire war in both North and South was Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, with more than 300,000 enlistments passing through its gates. Located just north of Maclay Street between present-day N. 7th and N. 5th Streets on the former grounds of the Dauphin County Agricultural Society, the camp was established by Governor Curtin, first named Camp Union, and later took his name. Regiments from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin were mustered into service there. The camp also held Confederate prisoners of war, included wooden buildings such as a hospital, and at the end of the war became a major point for the discharge of victorious Union troops. It closed on November 11, 1865, after which it was torn down and the land was eventually absorbed by Harrisburg's northward urban growth. Harrisburg was twice an objective of Confederate General Robert E. Lee during Northern invasions: the first ended with the Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, Maryland, in September 1862, the bloodiest day in U.S. history with 24,000 casualties, and the second was diverted to Gettysburg, where from July 1-3, 1863, a three-day battle produced nearly 58,000 casualties and repulsed the second Confederate invasion. Camp Curtin's presence in Harrisburg was one reason the city became a military target.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania · United States