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Camp John S. Poland,
Knoxville, TN |
Named after the Brig. General commanding the Second Division of the First
Army Corps who died at Chickamauga on August 7, 1898
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Established August 21, 1898
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This camp was also established because of the overcrowding at Camp
Chickamauga.
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Previously named Camp Wilder, according to Rule, Standard History of
Knoxville, Tennessee, Lewis Publishing Company, 1900, page 190 [hereafter
referred to as Rule].
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Abandoned in early January 1899 except for the hospital at Turner Park
which stayed open until mid-February, 1899.
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From Rule, page 190: "June 29, the camp of the Sixth regiment
was removed to the Lonsdale addition to the city, near the Southern railway
shops, the new camp being named Camp Wilder, the Fourth regiment remaining at
Camp Bob Taylor. . . . August 12, an armistice was declared between Spain and
the United States, and on the same day, Brigadier General McKee, accompanied by
his staff officers, Major W. P. Kendall and Captain Alexander M. Davis, arrived
in Knoxville for the purpose of looking over the ground at Camp Wilder and other
places, with the view of finding a more healthful location for his command than
that at Chickamauga. He visited Fountain City and Camp Bob Taylor, finally
selecting Camp Wilder, and naming it Camp Poland, in honor of General
Poland, who had died. . . . Lincoln Park was selected for a portion of this
camp. August 23, the First Georgia regiment and the Thirty-first Michigan were
in camp near the Brookside cotton mills. . . . All of the Second division of the
First army corps were here, besides the Fourth Tennessee."
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