I had suspected pre-war militia activity in the Camp Cameron area for quite awhile. I had found several documents describing the camp that did not fit in with other descriptions. This alone was not important. I have found many contradictions. The most common being dates. Most I file under simple mistakes, poor memories, typos etc… There are enough about early Camp Cameron that made me suspect that they may be “correct” but correct about an earlier entity.
First “Northwest Cambridge & Survey Index,” a history of the architecture of Northwest Cambridge, published by the Cambridge Historical Commission (CHC), has this to say about the camp, “it occupied fifty a fifty acre site which straddled the Cambridge-Somerville line” also “locally called Camp Day.” (1) In a document titled “Camp Cameron” the CHC states the camp “was also known as Camp Day after the family that owned most of the land.” (2)
Next, we have “Old Times in North Cambridge.” This is a one page, typed, remembrance by John J. Henderson, a long time resident of North Cambridge. He produced this for his family. In it, he recalls Camp Cameron. I have come to believe that his timeline is not linear. He put his thoughts on paper as they came to him. He mentions the Camp being located near Cameron St. (now Ave.) and the MBTA property. He then states “Where Meacham and Dover streets are there was a large field which they called “Musterfield”. The soldiers had camps for years and stayed for weeks at a time. The soldiers’ target field for practice shooting was on Elm St. at the foot of Beech st., opposite Porters Hotel where they came out (with a band of music) for diner. So we boys liked to have the “Musters” also soldiers with bands, etc. come out here as they were the events of the season.” (3)
I started to see a hole in some of this information from the start. The first thing that seemed odd was the claim that Camp Cameron was known as Camp Day to the locals. I have found almost no contemporary support. The only reference I can find is a Cambridge Chronicle Article about a barn fire on the Prentice property “near Camp Day.” (4) The camp would be renamed Camp Day in mid 1862. After this time it is very common to find references to “Camp Day, formally Camp Cameron.” (5) Before this I have never found a diary or memoir that refers to the camp as Camp Cameron, known as Camp Day, sometime called Camp Day, but we know it as Camp Day. As far as I can determine the Chronicle never refers to it as Camp Day again. This seems odd if it was so common. Over a twenty month period it would not be odd for somebody to mis-type set the name more often.
Mr. Henderson states “we boys.” My first impulse was to interpret this as little boys playing soldier. Then I did the math and realized he was 25 years old when the war started. In the 1800’s it was much more common to use the term boys to describe men. You often find Civil War references of “our boys are ready for a fight” or “follow me boys.” He then goes on to describe two additional fields outside the main field and their purposes. These fields are not mentioned anywhere I have been able to find. My first assumption was these where added later or where temporary, thus not in use at the time of the Andrew J. Bennett description of the camp. This is a very detailed description of the camp but makes no mention of these other fields. (6)
“They were the events of the season.” Imply that “we boys” did this on an annual basis.
The description of the camp as fifty acres was an obvious error. At first, I thought that it might have been a bad description that migrated from 140 acres. At some point the camp may have been described as about 150 acres and that was then misstated as 50. I could find nothing that described Camp Cameron as 50 acres or about 50 acres. For a while, I thought that a researcher had found a description of one or both of the satellite fields and assumed it was for the whole camp. I was beginning to think that the other fields were used by the pre-war militia or maybe a local drill club during the war.
I could never explain away all my questions and I was not completely answering them. Eventually I found “Beyond the Neck: The Architecture and Development of Somerville, Mass.” This book has one very good paragraph about Camp Cameron. It also restates the fifty acre statistic, then it goes on to say”Prior to the Civil War, annual musters were held at the camp.” (7)
This supports the theory that the militia used the area before the war. It may not have used the exact property that Camp Cameron did though. If we except Mr. Henderson’s locations, the militia fields are outside of the camp map. (8) I have yet to find a plot map from the time that shows the Day family owning land inside the camp at any time. They do show up in the present Day St. area. (9) The chronicle article that reference Camp Day may or may not be Camp Cameron. It could be referring to the old Camp Day. I need to locate the prentice property on a contemporary map.
One possible way that Camp Cameron and Massachusetts militia Camp Day could have occupied the same land is that the camp moved. Much of the land in the area was farmland. It is possible that each year the Day family donated whatever piece of their land that was fallow or was out of season at the time of the muster. The two parcels Mr. Henderson mentions may have been the fields used when he was active in the militia. Land within Civil War Camp Cameron, may have been used in other years.
(1) Northwest Cambridge & Survey Index, Cambridge Historical Commission, MIT Press, 1977, pg. 22
(2) Camp Cameron, Cambridge Historical Commission, Feb., 13 1998, Camp Cameron File.
(3) Old Times in North Cambridge, John J. Henderson, Dec. 17, 1919, Cambridge Historical Commission, Camp Cameron file.
(4) Cambridge Chronicle June 29, 1861
(5) Cambridge Chronicle, Letters from J. W. W., Co A, 38th Reg. M.V. Aug. 21, 1862
(6) Story of the First Massachusetts Light Battery, Attached to the 6th Army Corp. , Andrew J. Bennett, 1886, Press of De Land & Barta, Boston, pg.
(7) Beyond the Neck: the Architecture and Development of Somerville, Mass. Zellie, Carole, Office of Housing and community Development, 1982, pg.
(8) Map of Camp Cameron, Cambridge Historical Commission, Camp Cameron File
(9) Northwest Cambridge & Survey Index, Cambridge Historical Commission, MIT Press, 1977, pg. 39
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