Join us on Monday, February 2nd at 6pm to hear Harold Wilson share the story of the Union troops of the 5th Division at Calhoun and the inspiring work his late brother did to honor those soldiers.
🎟️ $5 admission
🚪 Doors open at 5:30pm.
RSVP for event reminders here: 👇
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After growing up on the banks of the Green River at the foot of Camp Calhoun in Kentucky, author Don Wilson spent countless hours researching the stories of the soldiers who passed through Camp Calhoun with hopes of gaining an understanding of why military artifacts and old trenches were found near his home. What he found inspired him for the rest of his life.
The first battle in Kentucky was launched from the very same hillside Wilson grew up on when Union Gen. Thomas Crittenden’s 200-400 men 3rd Cavalry met Nathan Bedford Forrest’s southern cavalry of 800+ at Sacramento, Kentucky. The Union lost 13 soldiers and Forrest’s cavalry lost many more. It was only a few days later that the Boys from Calhoun found themselves a part of all the major battles in Grant’s western campaign.
The significance of Camp Calhoun became so important to Wilson that he took it upon himself to clean up the Union Civil War cemetery that had long been covered in overgrown thicket. He worked hard to restore the site but died of brain cancer in 2015 before it was completed. Don set over 140 tombstones out of 600 in concrete. It remains that way today.
Wilson had hoped to have his book published but passed before he could see that dream come to fruition. Ten years later, his brother, Harold Wilson, has picked up the pieces Don left behind. “The Boys from Camp Calhoun” saw publication this summer and is now available for purchase on Amazon.
