Camp Hunter
CITY:
three miles southwest of Ottawa.
COUNTY:
LaSalle
DEDICATED BY:
The Starved Rock Civil War Round Table, Illinois Department of Transportation, and the Illinois State Historical Society
DEDICATION DATE:
September 9, 2018 at 5:00:00 AM
Marker is located on the south side of Route 71 about three miles southwest of Ottawa.
In the autumn of 1861 the valley before you, bounded by bluff, creek, and river, was known as Camp Hunter. Here on September 26, the 4th Illinois Cavalry mustered for duty, beginning military training and a three-year enlistment. White tents dominated the scene. Organized by Ottawa Judge T. Lyle Dickey, the 4th was soon after sent to Springfield to receive its weapons, then on to Cairo to join Union forces in the Western Campaigns. With Ulysses Grant’s troops they engaged the enemy at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Corinth in 1862.
In 1863 they were on guard during the Vicksburg Campaign protecting Grant’s supply lines and continued in Mississippi guarding against small Confederate forces and guerrilla forces until November of 1864, when the three-year enlistment expired. Some members of the 4th reenlisted, but the unit was merged into other regiments for the remainder of the war.