Camp Butler And The Civil War

In 1860 Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to be elected President of the United States. Shortly thereafter the Southern States began succeeding from the Union. In 1861 Camp Butler was established as a training camp for Union recruits, but as the war continued a place was needed to bring Confederate prisoners and Camp Butler was given a new role to play that as concentration camp and a death camp for many. This is an account of Camp Butler's history, from it's founding as a training camp to a prisoner of war camp and eventually as a National Cemetery.