Lew F. Porter, a Madison-based architect, designed this Camp Randall Memorial Arch, and the Woodbury Granite Company manufactured it. Dedicated in June of 1912, it honors the more than 70,000 soldiers from Wisconsin who received military training here between 1861 and 1865 during the American Civil War. Look closely at the stone: it is a civic gesture to those volunteers and recruits mustered for the Union Army.
The story beneath your feet began on May 1, 1861, when Camp Randall was established and named for Wisconsin’s sixth governor, Alexander W. Randall. The original training ground covered a 53-acre plot with 40 barracks, a camp hospital, officers’ quarters, stables, and a camp commissary. Between 1861 and 1865 roughly 70,000 of the state’s 91,327 troops trained here; in 1862 roughly 1,400 Confederate prisoners of war were held nearby.
As you stand at the intersection of North Randall Avenue and West Dayton Street, just outside Camp Randall Stadium, think of the thousands who passed beneath this arch on their way to service. Dedicated in June of 1912, the arch honors volunteers who mustered for the Union Army here.