Camp Bradley, Lexington, KY
Named after Kentucky Governor William O. Bradley
Muster in site for 1st Ky. Vol. Inf.
This camp was at the Woodland Park Chautauqua Grounds. Woodland Park still exists and is southeast of the Lexington downtown area, to the east of the corner of Kentucky and Highway 1974 on present day maps. The Lexington newspaper of May 1, 1898 indicated the Chautauqua tabernacle was converted into sleeping quarters.
From A Splendid Little War: The Spanish American War and Kentucky, Kentucky Historical Society, 1998:
At the outbreak of hostilities, the Kentucky State Guard consisted of three regiments of infantry and two troops of cavalry. . . . Adjutant General Daniel R. Collier was instructed to assemble the State Guard at Lexington. . . . The Lexington Chamber of Commerce failed to secure a racetrack property as expected, when the thoroughbred industry insisted that there were other places in Lexington more suitable for camping purposes. When General Collier threatened to move the muster to Louisville, a compromise was reached whereby the Second and Third Regiments would be encamped at Tattersalls Fairgrounds and the First Regiment at the Chautauqua grounds (Woodland Park). The encampment at Tattersalls became known as Camp Collier, while that of the First Regiment was named in honor of Governor Bradley. . . . Orders finally arrived for the Kentuckians to move to Chickamauga, Tennessee. On June 10 at 7:00 a.m., a signal from each regimental bugler was sounded and the tents all simultaneously fell . . . and the Lexington camps [were] abandoned. On June 21, the War Department had directed Governor Bradley to enroll a fourth regiment of infantry . . . . their point of mobilization was also designated as Lexington, where they began arriving during the last week of June. Their camp was established in Loudoun Park and named Camp Hobson, which the men quickly changed to Camp Corbin. . . . [After the war ended,] Rotten food, crowded conditions, poor sanitation, improper clothing, and continuous rains had led to outbreaks of typhoid fever and dysentery among the demoralized troops left behind. . . . To alleviate overcrowded conditions, the War Department established Camp Hamilton in Lexington to supplement the one at Chickamauga. The two troops of cavalry were also held up at Chickamauga. . . . then transferred to Lexington when the new camp there opened. Shortly after their arrival they, too, were mustered out without reaching the war zone.
From Wright, Lexington Heart of the Bluegrass, published by Lexington-Fayette County Historic Commission, 1982, page 158, The second regiment of the Kentucky State Guard mobilized on the Fairgrounds. Some troops camped at Woodlands, and a resident on Ashland Avenue later recalled how, as a young girl, she made and sold cakes to the soldiers.
The camp was abandoned June 11, 1898.