The Commander in Chief and Camp Randall

As Commander in Chief, Abraham Lincoln was largely responsible for the successful outcome of the Civil War (1861-1865), presiding over an army of unprecedented size - 2.3 million men. About 91,000 of these soldiers were Wisconsin men, organized into 53 infantry regiments, four cavalry regiments, 12 light artillery batteries, and one heavy artillery regiment.

Camp Randall in Madison was Wisconsin's largest and most active staging point during the war. About 70,000 of the state's soldiers trained at the site. The State Agricultural Society owned the grounds, but with the outbreak of the war the state rapidly converted the site into a military camp named after Wisconsin Governor Alexander Randall. Exhibition halls became barracks and hospitals, and new buildings were quickly constructed. In 1862 Camp Randall began to house Confederate prisoners as well. After the war, Camp Randall again became the state's fairgrounds until the Legislature purchased the land in 1893 and turned it over to the University of Wisconsin.

Lincoln's domestic policies also had their effect on the campus area. The most important direct effect was the Morrill Land Grant College Act, signed July 2, 1862. This provided federal funds to establish colleges that would teach agricultural and mechanical sciences.

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