Within three weeks of the outbreak of the Civil War, April 1861, Wisconsin men entered the gates of Madison’s Camp Randall to be trained for the Union Army. The training camp was named after the state’s governor, Alexander Randall. He had immediately called for Wisconsin volunteers when President Lincoln requested men to fight for the Union.
This place, typically associated with University of Wisconsin–Madison athletics, especially football, served as the center of Wisconsin’s Civil War activity. More than 70,000 of the 91,000-plus men Wisconsin sent to fight the Confederates were drilled there. Within three months of the opening of Camp Randall, six regiments (4,800 soldiers) had been deployed.
During a typical day, the volunteers learned how to take orders, operate their weapons, march in columns, interact with fellow soldiers, and even how to cook in the field. Because battlefield tactics had changed little since the Revolutionary War and soldiers fought in a row side by side, it was imperative they knew their weapons intimately. However, marksmanship was not a priority over other maneuvers because the military thought each soldier would shoot accurately simply because he was told to do so.
Soldiers at the training camp were oftentimes bored once drills were finished. They longed to see some action on the battlefields. Unfortunately, some of the action they saw was in Madison taverns, where they drank too much and strained relations with Madison residents.
Camp Randall could handle up to 5,000 recruits at a time. Training lasted from several weeks to several months. That first winter of 1861 was harsh, and the camp was overcrowded. Some recruits were housed in tents rather than in barracks. Measles, typhoid fever, and other diseases plagued the men. To improve conditions as new soldiers enlisted, buildings were expanded and hospitals on the grounds were renovated.
For a very short time, April through May of 1862, Camp Randall served as a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp. Nearly 1,200 Confederate soldiers who were captured during a battle along the Mississippi River near New Madrid, Missouri, were sent to Madison. Many of them were sick or wounded. Madison residents hung out at the railroad station hoping to glimpse the prisoners as they disembarked. According to local newspaper reports, the Confederates, mostly from Alabama, were not taunted and jeered by Madison residents. In fact, some good-hearted souls provided newspapers, food, and other supplies to the prisoners so their lives would be more comfortable.
Though 140 of the Rebel prisoners died at Camp Randall, conditions probably weren’t the worst compared to other POW confinements nor were they the best. Those who met their end in Madison were buried in a plot in Forest Hill Cemetery named Confederate Rest, the northernmost burial site for Confederate soldiers in the United States. Union soldiers are buried in an adjacent, but separate, section of the cemetery.
Today, a small part of the original Camp Randall training complex, which was more than 50 acres bounded by University Avenue, Lathrop Street, Monroe Street, and North Randall Avenue, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An arch, 36 feet high and 36 feet wide in the Roman triumphal style, marks the entrance to Camp Randall Memorial Park, six and a half acres of green space directly adjacent to today’s McClain Athletic Facility and the Camp Randall Sports Center.
A sculpture of two soldiers can be seen along either side of the arch—one a young man ready to fight and the other an aging veteran. Old Abe, the bald eagle mascot of the Eighth Wisconsin Regiment, sits on top. Plaques on the interior walls of the arch honor the regiments that trained at Camp Randall. A Civil War cannon, a reconstruction of a small cabin representing accommodations at the camp, and an obelisk commemorating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War are also in the park.
The arch, on the corner of West Dayton Street and Randall Avenue, was dedicated in 1912. Three Civil War soldiers trained at Camp Randall were appointed by the Wisconsin governor to decide on a design and oversee the work. The arch was built by the same contractor who was rebuilding the Capitol building that had burned in 1904. The design of the arch has been attributed to Madison architect Lew Porter, although any definitive plans have not been found. Rather, it’s believed that a draftsman from the construction company may have been the designer.
More than 500 Civil War veterans attended the dedication. Considering that the majority would have been around 70 years old and that the average American male life expectancy then was about 51 years, it was a remarkable number.
The original Camp Randall, prior to the Civil War, had been leased by the estate of William Bruen to the State Agricultural Society in the late 1850s. The Society used the land for the state fair, but gave it to the state at the outbreak of the Civil War for the Camp Randall training facility. After the war, Camp Randall was once again used for the state fair until 1885.
A few years later, the state was set to sell the land for residential development. Once a Civil War veterans association, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) caught wind of the plan and lobbied the Wisconsin State Legislature to preserve the memory of Camp Randall. They were successful, and the land was purchased by the state. In turn, Camp Randall was deeded to the University of Wisconsin in 1893 for agriculture, athletics, and military drill. Again, an appeal to the Legislature by the GAR resulted in state funds being allocated in 1911 for a memorial park and monument that was dedicated the following year.
Today at Camp Randall, UW–Madison students train for competitive athletic teams while advancing their academic and social development. They have metaphorical battles on athletic fields and courts. Their opponents: other institutions of higher learning. Discipline and camaraderie are forged here as they’ve always been, inspiring a community and linking past sacrifice to the present.
