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Saving Camp Frazer
During the Civil War
Cynthiana, with its major rail and transportation links, was twice the target of
Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raids during his brief "tours" of
Northern Kentucky in 1862 and in 1864. Hundreds of the county's citizens
participated in the war far and wide, serving both as combatants in the
militaries of the Union and Confederacy and as defenders of the homefront in the
state militia. A few even served time as political prisoners during the time
when Federal forces held a firm grip on the sometimes restless population of
Kentucky.
Harrison County citizens
of today commemorate the county's part in Civil War history every year by
hosting
the "Battles of Cynthiana Reenactment," and they take pride in the part
Harrison County men and women played in both the armies and navies of the Union
and Confederate forces, including a large number of African Americans who fled
for freedom to the north and did their part by joining the Federal army to help
and to preserve the union.
As an expression of that
pride in the county's history the Harrison County Historical Society would like
to see steps taken to preserve those pieces the county's past which were a part
of the struggle that was the American Civil War. The preservation and
commemoration of an historic Civil War site on the north side of Cynthiana that
was once known as Camp Frazer is but one part of that effort.
To learn more about
the history of the Camp Frazer site, read the following article which was
originally published in the June, 2002 (Vol. 3, No. 6) of the
Harrison Heritage News. Civil War historian William A. Penn,
author of
Rattling Spurs and Broad-Brimmed Hats - the Civil War in Cynthiana and
Harrison County, Ky.,
wrote of the camp's establishment and of its importance to local Civil War
history.
The 35th
Infantry & Camp Frazer
The 35th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was
organized in Hamilton, Ohio, in August-September 1861. With nearly
900 men, the unit arrived at Cynthiana by train from Covington the night
of September 26, 1861, for a one-month stay. A bluff adjacent to the
northern edge of Cynthiana was chosen to establish Camp Frazer (often
misspelled Fraser), named in honor of Dr. Joel Frazer, a Union man on
whose farm it was located. This was soon after Kentucky officially
abandoned neutrality, when many trains with troops and supplies passed
through the state.
Camp Frazer
has been located from a map (from the diary of Perry Boatman, courtesy of
Ken Hamilton), and was bounded by the old Falmouth Pike on the east, the
railroad on the south, and the Licking River on the west. This
section of the old Falmouth Pike, now bypassed by U. S. 27, originally
crossed the railroad tracks and became North Main Street, on the west side
of the present-day viaduct. This site was convenient to railroad
transportation, a water supply from the river, and the Falmouth Pike.
It was the
responsibility of the 35th Ohio to guard the Kentucky Central Railroad
bridges and trestles in the Harrison-Bourbon County area. Squads
were posted to prevent these sites from being burned or damaged, which
could result in the disruption of this important military supply line into
Kentucky for a week. Blockhouses, erected either by the 35th Ohio or
later Union guards, are shown at each end of the bridges on an 1863
military map. The Camp Frazer map indicates an artillery unit
accompanied the 35th Ohio.
When not
performing guard duty, the men received drill instruction at Camp Frazer.
Although slaves visited the camp, the officers usually would not let them
in, for recruiting African-Americans was not yet allowed. At first,
local citizens avoided the soldiers and "did not fancy the presence of
Union soldiers on the sacred soil of Old Kentucky." But this
attitude changed, for a number of women who were Union supporters made a
flag that was presented during a dress parade. Although its location
is not now known, the flag survived the war as the prized possession of an
officer.
The 35th Ohio,
better trained than when they arrived, marched from the camp to the depot
on October 22, 1861, and left Cynthiana. Although they engaged in no
fighting here, the unit eventually participated in many Civil War battles,
including Perryville, Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain and Peach Tree Creek.
Some other Ohio units apparently camped briefly at Cynthiana during the
war while passing through Kentucky. Camp Frazer was active at least
through 1862: it was reported Morgan destroyed Camp Frazer and supplies on
July 17, 1862 (Collins, I:104), and slaves were seized to dig
entrenchments there in August 1862 in anticipation of a Confederate
invasion of Kentucky. Later Union encampments at Cynthiana named
"Camp Tod" and "Camp Caroline" were probably on the former Camp
Frazer site.
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