Making Camp: Establishment of Camp Nelson

US Army Engineer's Camp located north of the main earthworks at Camp Nelson during the Civil War.

National Archives and Records Administration

Camp Nelson is Born

Between the 27th and 29th of April, by direction of Major-General Burnside, I, with Captain John H. Dickerson, chief quartermaster, selected a site for a large depot, 6 miles beyond Nicholasville, between a bend of the Kentucky River and Hickman Creek, on its west side, distant from Lexington on the Danville Pike 18 miles....
-Major James H. Simpson, Chief Engineer, Department of the Ohio

On April 26, 1863, General Ambrose Burnside issued Special Orders No. 141 from his headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Part X of the orders instructed the Department of the Ohio's Chief Engineer, Major James H. Simpson, and Captain John H. Dickerson, Chief Quartermaster, to “proceed to some point in Kentucky beyond Nicholasville, for the purpose of selecting a site for a depot of military supplies for the troops operating in that vicinity.”

According to Major Simpson, the two scouted the area over the next three days before selecting “a site for large depot, 6 miles beyond Nicholasville, between a bend of the Kentucky River and Hickman Creek, on its west side, distant from Lexington on the Danville Pike 18 miles.” The site was officially established on April 29. The initial depot embraced an area of 4 ¼ miles. From there, US Army forces could launch forays and major offensives into East Tennessee and beyond. The camp’s strategic importance necessitated its defense. General Burnside ordered Major Simpson “to fortify the area.”

The supply depot and camp of instruction was lightly garrisoned until elements of the Twenty-third Corps arrived in June. Their arrival portended major changes for the camp. Army engineers ordered the construction of earthwork fortifications to protect the northern and eastern approaches to the camp. The army impressed enslaved African Americans to construct the forts and rifle pits, compensating the slaveholders. General Burnside launched his offensive into East Tennessee in August 1863.

 

Fog covers the landscape as the sun rises at Camp Nelson National Monument.

NPS

This camp is a regularly organized institution. Transportation can readily be obtained, being only 4 miles from Nicholasville, therefore we get supplies in any quantity. We shall be content to remain here for a long time...
-J.C. Currier, US Army soldier, August 30, 1863

The Army of the Ohio officially established Camp Nelson in late April 1863, but the army installation appeared only on paper in the first month of its existence. The Federal troops present near the camp were assigned the critical duty of guarding the crossing of the Kentucky River along Hickman Bridge, a wooden covered bridge. There were also troops stationed stationed at Camp Dick Robinson about 8 miles from the bridge.

According to Captain R. Clay Crawford, commanding 1st Tennessee Battery, there was no guidance on how to properly defend the area. He reported to Lieutenant Colonel Orville E. Babcock, Chief Engineer of the Ninth Army Corps, again requesting more instructions on "entrenching this Post." Crawford admitted that he was "at a lost what to do not knowing what kind of defense [Babcock]" proposed making, but the conscientious officer took matters into his own hands to secure the bridge and the camp.

Captain Crawford's action included taking every precaution to ensure that the enemy did not fire the wooden span; making a casual survey of the surrounding ground and examined the points where defense was practicable; assigning a force from his battery to clear undergrowth and brush from the adjacent heights on the south side of the river; and selecting places to mount and sight his cannons. He was even forced to place artillerymen near the bridge to serve as a guard detail, a move that greatly reduced his own battery and was better suited for a company of infantry.

For now, Crawford's battery of rifled cannons were the only defenders of the Hickman Bridge and the approach to Nicholasville and Lexington along the Danville-Lexington Turnpike. The area was not quiet for long. Elements of the Army of the Ohio, including Army Engineers Major James H. Simpson and Captain Orlando Poe, were en route to design and supervise the defense of the area.

The first major expansion of Camp Nelson was near.