Long before the University of Wisconsin football team took center stage, Camp Randall served a vital role in the Civil War. When the Civil War first broke out in 1861, Abraham Lincoln sought for land that could serve as a training ground for his troops before they went off to war.
At the time, the land was owned by the State Agricultural Society which used the acres for the state fair. The state of Wisconsin quickly transformed the land into a land of training, filled with barracks and shooting ranges. Camp Randall was named after Wisconsin Governor Alexander W. Randall. Within months, the first wave of Union troops entered the facilities, ready to prepare for combat. In total, more than 70,000 would train at Camp Randall throughout the war.
But Camp Randall was much more than just boot camp. For a brief few months early in the war, it served as a prison camp for Confederate soldiers. In March of 1862, the 1st Alabama Infantry Regiment evacuated Columbus, Kentucky and retreated all the way to just south of Cairo, Illinois where a heavily fortified island in the Mississippi River awaited their arrival. They barricaded themselves there for the next 23 days as Union soldiers waited them out.
After their surrender, some 5,000 were taken prisoner and most were sent to St. Louis while the remaining traveled to Camp Randall. Needless to say, the site was never prepared to host any sort of prisoner. It never had any walls and several prisoners managed to escape, only to be recaptured a short while later. Still, this was war and prisoners needed a place to go.
At this point of time, many were beginning to get sick and were unable to travel by train. so the groups were split in two, with some arriving by railway and others by boat down the Mississippi River.
Those that arrived ill were met with a cold Spring, elements that didn't mix well with the filthy practically shoeless prisoners who were beginning to show signs of malaria and severe bowel issues. Camp Randall was never equipped to handle such tenants and within days the first wave of prisoners had perished.
Seeing their plight from afar, the townsfolk opened their hearts to the visitors, sending jellies, custards, brandy, clean shirts and reading materials. But it was so much more than that. Every day, the citizens arrived at Camp Randall in droves, wanting to spend time with the prisoners. Whether it was to lend a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen, the good people of Camp Randall gave the ragged prisoners of war a glimpse at the wonder of small town America.
Alas, all the heart in the world could not have prevented the slew of deaths. In total, 140 Confederate soldiers died at Camp Randall and were buried at the northernmost cemetery for Confederate soldiers, Forest Hill Cemetery.
By June of 1862, the prison part of the camp was virtually gone and Camp Randall was once again primarily training grounds for the Union army. After the war, there were rumors that the land was going to be turned into building lots. Aghast, veterans of the Civil War fought vigilantly to ensure that that would not happen. The state of Wisconsin agreed and the veterans were relieved that this "sordid sacrilege" never occurred.
The state sold the land to the University of Wisconsin which immediately began using it for athletic events, building a football stadium in 1895 before erecting a more permanent venue in 1917. By then an arch had been dedicated to the memory of Camp Randall during its heyday as a Civil War boot camp. As a lasting tribute to the era, the veterans requested that the land always be known as "Camp Randall" and nothing else.
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