Camp Moore, Civil War historic location
Camp Moore is a historic training facility near Kentwood in Tangipahoa Parish covering about 450 acres of pine-covered land. The grounds include a museum building constructed in 1965 to resemble an old Creole house, a small log cabin, and a white marble statue erected in 1907, while the original structures from the military era no longer exist.
The facility was established in 1861 as the largest Confederate training camp in Louisiana, with over 35,000 soldiers from across the South passing through before departing for battles at Gettysburg, Atlanta, and Fredericksburg. More than 400 soldiers died there between 1861 and 1864, most from illnesses including a measles outbreak in 1862, and Union raids in 1864 destroyed the camp and led to its abandonment.
The site was named after Thomas Overton Moore, Louisiana's governor at the time, and served as a gathering place for soldiers from across the South. Visitors walking the grounds today can pause at the graves and reflect on how young men came together here before departing for battle.
The grounds are open daily from sunrise to sunset for self-guided exploration, while the museum operates Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors should treat the site respectfully and leave it in the same condition they found it, as this is a protected historic location.
This is the only Confederate training camp in the United States still open to the public today, making it a rare window into Southern military history. A log cabin on the grounds served as the first meeting place for the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a women's organization dedicated to remembering fallen soldiers.
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