Camp Butler

Many people believe that Camp Butler is just another ordinary national cemetery. But actually Camp Butler holds a lot of information behind its gates. Its original purpose was a training ground and a POW camp with a small cemetery for the deceased prisoner and soldiers. And now it has evolved into a symbol and the biggest national cemetery in the State of Illinois.
In 1861, after the Civil War had begun, William T. Sherman was sent to Springfield, Illinois by the United States War Department to select a camping ground for the Union army. Governor Richard Yates, current Governor of Springfield at the time, asked William Butler, State Treasure, with help from Ozias M. Hatch, Secretary of State, to assist Sherman in selecting a camp ground (Huelsman, SJR). Sherman, Butler, and Hatch rode 6 miles NE of Springfield by carriage to an area of 6 acres. Sherman was pleased at what he saw. There was high ground for camping, lower and more lever ground for drilling and training, and a spac...