military camp; and
WHEREAS, The camp was originally going to be named Camp
Union, but when Major, later Brigadier General, Joseph Knipe
officially opened the camp on April 18, he proclaimed it to be
Camp Curtin; and
WHEREAS, More than 300,000 men passed through Camp Curtin,
making it the largest Federal camp during the Civil War, with
troops from Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York,
Ohio, Wisconsin and the regular army using the camp; and
WHEREAS, Harrisburg's strategic importance as the State
capital, military camp and railroad center was made evident by
the Confederacy's attempts to take the city during the Antietam
and Gettysburg campaigns; and
WHEREAS, At the end of the war, Camp Curtin was used as a
mustering-out point for thousands of troops on their way home;
and
WHEREAS, Camp Curtin was officially closed 150 years ago, in
1865, on November 11, the same date that would become Veterans
Day after World War I; and
WHEREAS, For years, residents of the area and Civil War
veterans wanted a gateway built at the intersection of Sixth and
Maclay Streets to mark the entrance to Camp Curtin; and
WHEREAS, In 1917, the Camp Curtin Commission was created; and
WHEREAS, A total of $25,000 was appropriated in 1917 and 1919
to the commission to purchase the site occupied by Camp Curtin
and to erect a suitable memorial; and
WHEREAS, On October 19, 1922, the Governor Andrew G. Curtin
statue was unveiled by his son, William W. Curtin, and Laura and
Helen Gastrock, great-granddaughters of General Joseph F. Knipe;
and
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