Camp Chase Prison

Named after Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, and located four miles west of downtown Columbus, OH, Camp Chase started as a Union training facility in 1861. Converted into a prison camp in 1862, the facility housed Confederate soldiers (over 8,000 at its peak) until its closure in the summer of 1865. The prison cemetery, containing 2,000 headstones, is all that remains of the facility.

A memorial boulder placed in the center of the cemetery in 1897 reads: “2260 Confederate soldiers of the war 1861-1865 buried in this enclosure.” The granite arch, inscribed with “Americans,” and topped by a bronze statue of Confederate soldier facing south was erected later in 1902.