The US Army established Camp Nelson as a fortified supply depot in April 1863. Over the next 3 years, the site evolved into a massive recruitment and training center for United States Colored Troops and a refugee camp for their families. It served as a shelter for civilians fleeing war and for enslaved people hoping to secure their freedom and aid in the destruction of slavery.

Camp Nelson National Monument Visitor Center and Museum

Camp Nelson National Monument Visitor Center

View of Camp Nelson's pastoral landscape looking northeast near the Visitor Center.

Camp Nelson National Monument's Pastoral Landscape

Visit the barracks to imagine life at Camp Nelson during the Civil War.

Interior of Soldiers' Barrack Building

4th Annual Luminaria and Memorial Walk

Annual Luminaria at Graveyard No. 1

160th Anniversary of the East Tennessee Campaign, August 2023

160th Anniversary of the East Tennessee Campaign

NPS Directional Sign at Camp Nelson National Monument

Explore Camp Nelson National Monument!

Replica cannons at Fort Putnam

Defenses of Camp Nelson

Living historians firing cannons in a grass field.

Camp Nelson National Monument

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