Camp Randall

Camp Randall

Company type	Military training camp and prison camp (historical)
Industry	Military
Founded	1861
Defunct	1893
Headquarters	Madison, Wisconsin , United States

Camp Randall, located in Madison, Wisconsin, served as the primary assembly location for Wisconsin soldiers entering the American Civil War. New volunteers underwent expedited training before being dispatched to the Union Army. The grounds also included a medical facility and, for a short period, operated as a detention center for captured Confederate troops.

Currently, the area is split among the University of Wisconsin–Madison's sports complexes—such as Camp Randall Stadium—the College of Engineering, and Camp Randall Memorial Park, which features historical exhibits. In 1971, the Memorial Park was officially recognized on the National Register of Historic Places as Wisconsin's foremost Civil War landmark.

Training/Mustering camp

Following the April 1861 fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called upon state militias to quell the insurrection. Wisconsin's Governor Alexander Randall, an advocate against slavery, swiftly committed troops. The initial regiment was formed at Camp Scott in Milwaukee; the second regiment assembled in Madison, where Camp Randall was established by May 1 to accommodate incoming recruits. Although some units were organized elsewhere, approximately 70,000 of Wisconsin’s 91,000 Civil War soldiers were mustered at Camp Randall.

Prior to its wartime function, the location hosted the Wisconsin State Fair. The Agricultural Society offered its fairgrounds for military training purposes; cattle barns accommodated recruits, machinery buildings were converted into mess halls capable of feeding 3,000 men simultaneously, and Floral Hall was repurposed as both a hospital and officers' quarters. The camp spanned 10 acres enclosed by fencing and contained 45 barracks, each housing up to 100 men in triple-deck bunks.

Recruits arrived in regional companies averaging 100 men; ten companies combined to form a regiment of about 1,000 soldiers. Training emphasized marching formations, musket proficiency, field cooking skills, and discipline under seasoned veterans when available. Daily schedules began with morning reveille signaled by cannon fire and concluded with evening dress parades frequently attended by local residents. Leisure time included card games, storytelling sessions, and reading correspondence.

Among notable mascots were Old Abe, a bald eagle adopted by the 8th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, and Bruin, a black bear that accompanied the 12th Regiment. Both served to elevate troop morale during training.

Conditions presented hardships: soldiers reported infestations of fleas in bedding, exposure to cold during guard duty, spoiled provisions, and occasional disciplinary problems including intoxication and minor disturbances within town.

Training periods ranged from several weeks to months. Early regiments departed amid public festivities featuring speeches and musical bands; however, later departures became more subdued as the war continued.

Units mustered at Camp Randall participated in significant battles such as First Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness campaign. The camp also functioned as a training center for replacement soldiers and processed returning troops for discharge upon completion of their service terms.

Prison camp

In April 1862, Union forces captured roughly 1,200 Confederate prisoners at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River in southern Missouri. These captives primarily belonged to the 1st Alabama Infantry Regiment and other Southern units. After enduring an overcrowded eight-day river transport aboard boats, they were confined in temporary barracks at Camp Randall under guard by the 19th Regiment from Racine.

Military standards for confinement were inadequate: food supplies were limited; prisoners engaged in internal conflicts; and medical facilities were overwhelmed. The absence of proper fencing allowed some prisoners to escape. Guarding these detainees required half of the personnel from the 19th Regiment, reducing manpower available for other military responsibilities. On May 30, most healthy prisoners were relocated by rail to Camp Douglas, while those ill remained until recovery or death. Over several months, 138 out of the initial 1,200 prisoners died and were interred in a mass grave at Forest Hill Cemetery’s Confederate Rest.

Since the war

Following its closure after the conflict, the grounds of the camp were utilized for various events, including the Barnum circus and the Dane County Fair, until these activities were moved elsewhere. Efforts to subdivide and sell the property were stopped due to opposition from Civil War veterans who had trained at the location. In 1893, the state of Wisconsin acquired the property and subsequently transferred ownership to the University of Wisconsin, which commenced football games there beginning in 1895.

Out of the original 53½ acres, a segment was designated as Camp Randall Park in 1911. The Memorial Arch was constructed in 1912 at what had been a camp entrance. Designed by Lew F. Porter, it features sculptures symbolizing both a youthful recruit and an elderly veteran, crowned by Old Abe, the eagle mascot.

Another portion was developed into Camp Randall Stadium, which opened in 1916 as an outdoor football facility for UW and has undergone several expansions since then. The UW Field House was added to this site in 1930.

In recognition of its significance to Wisconsin’s Civil War heritage, Camp Randall Memorial Park was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The inscription beneath the Memorial Arch states: <poem style="text-align:center;"> Erected by the STATE OF WISCONSIN to mark the entrance through which passed seventy thousand of her soldier sons and five hundred thousand relatives and friends during the war from 1861 to 1865 "Lest we forget" MDCCCCXII </poem>

Further reading

• Cooke, Chauncey H. "Documents: Letters of a Badger Boy in Blue: Life at Old Camp Randall". Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 4, no. 2 (December 1920): 208-217.
• Forbes, S. D. Camp Randall and Environs. Madison Wis.: 1890.
• Mattern, Carolyn J. Soldiers When They Go: The Story of Camp Randall, 1861-1865. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1968.
• Thompson, Tommy R. "'Dying Like Rotten Sheepe': Camp Randall as a Prisoner of War Facility during the Civil War". Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 92, no. 1 (Autumn 2008): 2-13.

External links

• Archival photographs of Camp Randall
• Camp Randall Memorial Arch – historical background and imagery
• The history behind the Camp Randall Arch
• Camp Randall during the Civil War as a prison site
• Overview of Camp Randall Prison Camp
• Newspaper accounts of Confederate prisoners at Camp Randall, Wisconsin Historical Society
• Camp Randall honors its Civil War soldiers, Wisconsin State Journal
• "A century later, the Camp Randall Civil War memorial endures", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• "Confederate prisoners in Madison: The story of Camp Randall as a Civil War POW camp", The Badger Herald