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Camp Joe Holt was a 
Built on land leased from Colonel S. H. Patterson,Report of the Quartermaster General 1868
Page 88 it was named in honor of
The Camp was built in Indiana due to fears that recruiting camps in Kentucky would encourage Kentucky to secede to the Confederacy. (A Confederate state government would eventually form in Kentucky, but the Union state government never dissolved.) By early September 1861, he had recruited over 2,000 such individuals, which formed the Fifth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the Louisville Legion.
The 49th Indiana Infantry was organized at Camp Joe Holt by Colonel John W. Ray, a former city councilman of Jeffersonville. Assisting him in the endeavor was the former member of the Clark Guards, Lieutenant Colonel James Keigwin. This was the only regiment formed in Baird's History of Clark County, Indiana
Pages 160 & 233
Union
Union commonly refers to:
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* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
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Music
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** ''Un ...
base during the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
in Jeffersonville, Indiana, across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, on land that is now part of Clarksville, Indiana, near the Big Eddy. It was a major staging area for troops in the Western Theatre of the War, in preparation for invading the Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
.Kramer, Carl. ''This Place We Call Home'' (Indiana University Press, 2007) p.164-5 Its establishment was the first major step performed by Kentucky Unionists to keep Kentucky from seceding to the Confederacy.
Built on land leased from Colonel S. H. Patterson,Report of the Quartermaster General 1868Page 88 it was named in honor of
Joseph Holt
Joseph Holt (January 6, 1807 – August 1, 1894) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. As a leading member of the Buchanan administration, he succeeded in convincing Buchanan to oppose the secession of the South. He returned to Ke ...
, who became Buchanan's Secretary of War for about 60 days after John B. Floyd
John Buchanan Floyd (June 1, 1806 – August 26, 1863) was the 31st Governor of Virginia, U.S. Secretary of War, and the Confederate general in the American Civil War who lost the crucial Battle of Fort Donelson.
Early family life
John Buch ...
resigned. Holt strongly supported the Union. Colonel Lovell Rousseau
Lovell Harrison Rousseau (August 4, 1818 – January 7, 1869) was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, as well as a lawyer and politician in Kentucky and Indiana.
Early life and career
Born near Stanford, Kentucky, on August ...
opened the facility in June 1861 in order to recruit Kentuckians, mostly Louisvillians, into the Union Army. A pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
board with the words Camp Joe Holt was nailed into a tree by the entrance to the camp on the second day of operations by a Captain Trainor.
The Camp was built in Indiana due to fears that recruiting camps in Kentucky would encourage Kentucky to secede to the Confederacy. (A Confederate state government would eventually form in Kentucky, but the Union state government never dissolved.) By early September 1861, he had recruited over 2,000 such individuals, which formed the Fifth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the Louisville Legion.
The 49th Indiana Infantry was organized at Camp Joe Holt by Colonel John W. Ray, a former city councilman of Jeffersonville. Assisting him in the endeavor was the former member of the Clark Guards, Lieutenant Colonel James Keigwin. This was the only regiment formed in Clark County, Indiana
Clark County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana, located directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. At the 2020 census, the population was 121,093. The county seat is Jeffersonville. Clark County is part of the Louisville/ ...
.
Camp Joe Holt would serve as a rendezvous hospital in 1862 until February 1864 when Jefferson General Hospital
Jefferson General Hospital was the third-largest hospital during the American Civil War, located at Port Fulton, Indiana (now part of Jeffersonville, Indiana) and was active between February 21, 1864 and December 1866. The land was owned by U.S ...
was opened in Port Fulton, Indiana
Port Fulton was a town located two miles up the river from Louisville, within present-day Jeffersonville, Indiana. At its height it stretched from the Ohio River to modern-day 10th Street, and from Crestview to Jefferson/Main Streets.
Port Ful ...
, 1.5 miles upstream. It then reverted to a camp until the end of the war.
Mr. Patterson reserved the right to remove the government chapel which would later become St. Paul's Episcopal Church.Pages 160 & 233
See also
*American Civil War fortifications in Louisville
Louisville's fortifications for the American Civil War were designed to protect Louisville, Kentucky, as it was an important supply station for the Union's fight in the western theater of the war. They were typically named for fallen Union officer ...
* Louisville in the American Civil War
Louisville in the American Civil War was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting and transportation for numerous campaigns, especially in the Western Theat ...
* Indiana in the American Civil War
Indiana, a state in the Midwest, played an important role in supporting the Union during the American Civil War. Despite anti-war activity within the state, and southern Indiana's ancestral ties to the South, Indiana was a strong supporter of t ...
References
{{Coord, 38.278326, -85.764290, display=title Clarksville, Indiana Forts in Indiana 1861 establishments in Indiana Indiana in the American Civil War Jeffersonville, Indiana Louisville, Kentucky, in the American Civil War American Civil War hospitals American Civil War army posts Kentucky in the American Civil War Tourist attractions in Kentucky