Camp Carlile

Camp Carlile. "A Warlike Appearance". , Imagine the Wheeling Island landscape in front of you filled with thousands of marching soldiers, galloping horses, and booming cannons. Clouds of woodsmoke and gun smoke hung over the fields that stretch north along the back channel of the Ohio River, and shouted commands echoed across the water., In May 1861, Camp Carlile, a training ground for troops of the growing Union Army, sprawled across this area of Wheeling Island. The camp was established even though this region was still part of the state of Virginia, which had voted to secede from the Union., The soldiers stationed at Camp Carlile found these fields prone to pooling rainwater and flooding. Horse stalls converted to barracks were nicknamed "Pig's Misery" and "Camp Hog Hole," and were described as "exceedingly disagreeable." The soldiers preferred tent, which gave the Island a more "warlike appearance.", Mud, Mud, Mud , Units from at least seven Union states spent time at Camp Carlile, and many of those soldiers had to cope with the camp's low-lying island location that made it prone to flooding and … disagreeable mud. Officer Erastus Blakeslee, of the 1st Connecticut Cavalry recalled that at the camp his regiment "made its first acquaintance with the Virginia mud, and never found any that was deeper or stickier." The quagmire at the camp was often commented on in the local paper.,

"A portion of the island is under water and the soldiers at Camp Carlile moved their tents from the lower grounds, and were gradually retreating before the advancing water. More than half of the camp was completed under water." , , Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, October 9, 1861, "The rains of the last few days have rendered the camp very sloppy and muddy, and it is a very uncomfortable place." , , Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, November 20, 1862

, [Captions:] , Camp Carlile, named for Senator John S. Carlile and outlined on this engraving, existed from 1861-1865 and was situated on the Western Virginia Agricultural Society fairgrounds. Troops conducted marching maneuvers on the fairground's track. When Senator Carlile voted against West Virginia statehood, the camp's name was changed to honor Senator Waitman T. Willey.