Camp Nelson National Monument is a 525-acre park commemorating the American Civil War located in Jessamine County, Kentucky, 20 miles south of Lexington. The camp was established in 1863 as a depot for the Union Army and became a recruiting ground for training new soldiers and enslaved people, many of whom had fled their living conditions to be soldiers. The camp’s location protected Hickman Bridge, the only bridge across the Kentucky River upriver from Frankfort, the state capital. The site was selected to protect the bridge, to have a base of operations in central Kentucky, and to prepare to secure the Cumberland Gap and eastern Tennessee. After operating as a county-owned tourism facility since 1995, Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park became a national monument in 2018 under the National Parks System. Camp Nelson National Monument is adjacent to Camp Nelson National Cemetery.