11/22/2025
"More than four hundred poor women and children, families of Colored soldiers have been sent from Camp Nelson the past week. Some have died and all are in starving condition. The whole community are loud in denouncing the outrage."
-Captain Theron E. Hall, Assistant-Quartermaster US Army, Camp Nelson, November 1864
Camp Nelson revealed the complexities of emancipation in Kentucky during the Civil War. In 1864, the War Department authorized the organization of USCT regiments at eight major recruiting stations in Kentucky. In total, 23,703 African American men enlisted in USCT regiments, including over 10,000 soldiers at Camp Nelson. The recruits included enslaved men, who self-emancipated upon enlistment. They were joined by their wives, children, family members, and other freedom seekers. Emancipation was not granted to women, children, and men unfit for military service since slavery was protected by law in Kentucky, a loyal slave state. They were considered refugees and exposed to arrest, expulsion, and re-enslavement. Black refugees were forcibly expelled on eight separate occasions from Camp Nelson in 1864. An unknown number died as a result.
On November 22, 2025, the National Park Service (NPS) invites you to participate in the 5th Annual Luminaria and Memorial Walk. The special event features interpretive talks by NPS staff and invited guests, including USCT descendants, and guided walk to Graveyard No. 1, where over 100 luminaries will be light to honor the people expelled and other freedom seekers who sought refuge at Camp Nelson.
The program begins inside the Barracks building, located adjacent to the Visitor Center and Museum.
We ask that visitors arrive by 4:15 pm.
https://www.nps.gov/cane/160th-camp-nelson-anniversary-commemoration.htm
IMAGE:
4th Annual Luminaria and Memorial Walk at Graveyard No 1, Camp Nelson National Monument, November 23, 2024. National Park Service/AG
