Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1909-07-28
Memorial Gate at Camp Randall.

Memorial Gate at Camp Randall.
The most interesting place in this
pert of Wisconsin in war times was
Camp Randall The grounds had
been formerly used for state and
county fairs, but Governor Randall
saw early in the spring of 1861 that as
there must be place close by Madi-
son where regiments of troops could
be assemble and organized and
drilled for service, those fair grounds
must be converted speedily into a
camping ground fer soldiers.
I have heard Horace Tenney say
that, one morning as he was just be-
ginning to prepare his garden ground
Ia mile or two west of the university
for early seeding, Governor Ran
dali came out from town to tell him
hat he wanted him to take charge OF
some work. But he told the governor
that his gardening must be done, and
that he could not &C. The governor
replied:
You must come There is no
other way to do. wan the fair
grounds made ready for soldiers.
Some of the companies wiz come next
week and we must have some sort of
barracks ready for them I want you
o 90 to the lumber yard, order all the
material you need and engage as much
help as is necessary to prepare rooms
for the two or three companies / ex-
pect here as soon as next Tuesday
And then more and more of them
will be coming from that time on.
Come, now, throw down your shovel, 1
am in hurry"
Well" said Mr.. TenDey, 81 saw that
Ellick' meant business, and so Went
with him and was soogl at the work of
transforming the fair grounds into
what came to be named-after the
goyernor--Camp Randall"
The first regiment that came into
camp was the second infantry, Before
the end Of May 1t was organized and
drilling diligently. On the Goth day of
June il left for the front. And then
other regiments came-the 5th, 6th
It'll. Sth, 18th, 12.h. 18th, 10th, 18th,
an6 later others Some of the time
two or three regiments We're there at
once, and it was a lively place. There
are some old people in Madison now
whose most vivid recoIlections Of
childhood are connected with Camp
IalI he a tor SJt{l1
or marching down. through the streets
of the city. or boarding the cars for
the war, or coming home-their regi-
ments being mere fragments of what
they ' re when first on drill in camp.
But of all whose recollectiOns of
Camp Randall are lively and fresh,
despite the almost half century since
then, are the old Grand Army men
who took their first lessons in the
duties of soldier in the same camp.
guess they remember the scenes of
those years better now than they did
some years ago. for the recollections of
youth came back with new vigor as old
age approaches. For some time back
few of these ola soldiers who once
sojourned in Camp Randall have been
talking about suitable marker
there. adjacent to the athletic grounds.
to tell for what the place was used
when the chief business of our ma
ton and our state was to determine
whether me United States was q ma
ION or a loose confederation of
states to be broken up for the sake of
continuing human slavery. The par
ticular form of this memorial has not
been very fully discussed, but one
good comrade with a constructive pa
triotic imagination can see in the not
very distant future a grand memorial
gate and arch at the old Dayton street
entrance, the place where we went in
and out--when we had passes. In a
certain way that was one of the most
interesting places about Camp Ran
dali Il was we'll worth ones time to
spend an hour close by the gate and
watch the ebb and flow of soldiers
and citizens. 1t was busy time a fell
low had when he stood guard there
eight hours out OF twenty-fCur.