History
With the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, there were concerns on the Union side about the loyalty and security of the Los Angeles area. Many of the area's residents were recent arrivals from the Southern states, and southerner John C. Breckinridge received twice as many local votes as Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 Presidential election. [2] A company of secessionists was also holding public drills in El Monte, California, displaying California's Bear flag instead of the Stars and Stripes.
Phineas Banning, the founder of Wilmington (then known as New San Pedro), wrote a letter to President Lincoln advising that the Union would lose California unless some provision were made to quell pro-Confederacy sentiment. Initially, the Union moved a garrison from Fort Tejon to Camp Latham near Culver City, California. Later in 1861, Banning and Benjamin Davis Wilson, the first mayor of Los Angeles, donated 60 acres (240,000 m2) in Wilmington to the government for one dollar each for use in the construction of a Union garrison. By January 1862, the military command had moved from Camp Latham to Camp Drum in Wilmington. By March 1862, all but one company of Camp Latham's troops had been moved to Camp Drum. [3] The camp was built between 1862 and 1863 at the cost of $1 million and consisted of 19 buildings located on 60 acres (240,000 m2) in Wilmington with another 37 acres (150,000 m2) near the harbor. By March 1864, official letters and papers referred to the encampment as Drum Barracks rather than Camp Drum. [3]
Camp Drum and Drum Barracks get their name from Colonel Richard C. Drum, Assistant Adjutant General of the Army's Department of the Pacific, stationed in San Francisco, and not after a percussion instrument. There is no record that Col. Drum ever saw or set foot in the station bearing his name.
During the Civil War, Camp Drum was the headquarters of the District of Southern California and the home to the California Column, commanded by Colonel James Henry Carleton. Between 2,000 and 7,000 soldiers were stationed at Camp Drum, and Wilmington became a thriving community with a population greater than Los Angeles during the war.
In 1862, Texas Volunteers had taken control of large portions of New Mexico Territory (which included present-day Arizona) for the Confederacy, and Colonel Carleton was ordered to retake control of the territory. Approximately 2,350 soldiers from the California Column marched from Camp Drum and fought the Battle of Picacho Pass, the westernmost battle of the Civil War.
In 1864, the U.S. Government feared attempts by Confederate sympathizers to outfit privateers to sink ships carrying gold and silver from the Comstock Lode to aid the Union. To deprive them of an anchorage, Company C, 4th California Infantry under Captain West, occupied Catalina Island on January 1, 1864, and put an end to gold mining by ordering everyone off the island. A small garrison of U.S. troops was stationed at Camp Santa Catalina Island on the isthmus on the island's west end for about nine months. [4] Their barracks remain the oldest structure on the island in the Two Harbors area and are currently the home of the Isthmus Yacht Club. [5]
Camp Drum also served as a deterrent to Confederate sympathizers in the Los Angeles area, helped keep the territory loyal to the Union, and prevented Confederate use of the Los Angeles harbor.
After the Civil War, Camp Drum remained active for several years in the Indian Wars. By 1870, it had been deactivated and fallen into disrepair. [3] In October 1871, the Los Angeles Star reported that all remaining troops at Drum Barracks had been ordered to Fort Yuma. [3]
In 1873, the government returned the land to Banning and Wilson after auctioning off the buildings. Banning bought five buildings for $2,917, and Wilson bought one for $200. [3]
Historic designations, preservation, and use as a museum
In 1927, the Drum Barracks was designated a historic monument by the Native Sons of the Golden West, and in 1935 it was officially designated as California Historic Landmark #169. [6] With the formation of the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in 1962, Drum Barracks was one of the first sites designated as a Historic Cultural Landmark (HCM #21), receiving the monument designation in 1963. [7] It was also designated as and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
In 1963, the owner offered the property for sale, and concerns arose about its potential demolition. Under the leadership of Walter Holstein, residents formed The Society for The Preservation of Drum Barracks, raising funds to purchase the property. In 1967, under the leadership of Oliver Vickery, curator of the Banning House, and Joan Lorenzen, the State of California purchased the Drum Barracks, with the Society retaining responsibility for maintaining and operating the barracks as a historic site. In 1986, the State turned over the property to the City of Los Angeles on the condition that it be operated as a Civil War museum. [3]
The surviving 16-room structure was the officers' quarters, once one of 19 similar buildings on the site. Today, the barracks is a museum commemorating California's contribution to the Civil War, the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum.
It interprets the history of the Civil War in California. It provides a look at 19th century Wilmington. [8] [9] [10] [11]
Among the museum artifacts are an 1875 Gatling Gun and a life-size likeness of one of the camels from the United States Camel Corps that drew attention to the base when the Army brought them to the site. [10] [12] Museum staff has sought to use its status as haunted as a means of improving visitation to secure its future. [13] [14]
The Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation operates the museum, with fundraising handled privately. Its founding director was Marge O'Brien. [15] The museum is also part of the Civil War Discovery Trail, which worked with the city of Los Angeles to preserve funding for the museum's director once Susan Ogle had succeeded O'Brien. [10]
Wilmington is a neighborhood in the South Bay and Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, covering 9.14 square miles (23.7 km2).
Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Beach. Terminal Island is roughly split between the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. Land use on the island is entirely industrial and port-related except for Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island.
Phineas Banning was an American businessman, financier and entrepreneur.
Two Harbors, colloquially known as "The Isthmus", is a small unincorporated community island village on the island of Santa Catalina Island, California, United States, with a population of 298. It is the second center of population on the island, besides the city of Avalon. It is mainly a resort village. It has only one restaurant, one hotel and one general store. The village has about 150 permanent residents who live on the isthmus year-round. One notable feature was the one-room schoolhouse which closed in 2014.
The Benicia Arsenal (1851–1964) and Benicia Barracks (1852–66) were part of a large military reservation located next to Suisun Bay in Benicia, California. For over 100 years, the arsenal was the primary US Army Ordnance facility for the West Coast of the United States.
California's involvement in the American Civil War included sending gold east to support the war effort, recruiting volunteer combat units to replace regular U.S. Army units sent east, in the area west of the Rocky Mountains, maintaining and building numerous camps and fortifications, suppressing secessionist activity and securing the New Mexico Territory against the Confederacy. The State of California did not send its units east, but many citizens traveled east and joined the Union Army there, some of whom became famous.
The Pacific coast theater of the American Civil War consists of major military operations in the United States on the Pacific Ocean and in the states and Territories west of the Continental Divide. The theater was encompassed by the Department of the Pacific that included the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, the territories of Washington, Utah, and later Idaho.
The 4th California Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment recruited from northern California during the American Civil War. It was organized at Sacramento, Placerville, and Auburn in September and October 1861.
The 1st Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States.
Banning House, also known as the General Phineas Banning Residence Museum, is a historic Greek Revival-Victorian home in the Wilmington section of Los Angeles, California. Built in 1863 by Phineas Banning near the original San Pedro Bay, it remained in the Banning family until 1925 and has been owned by the City of Los Angeles since 1927. The home, barn and gardens are now operated as a museum. The Banning House property, also known as Banning Park, has been designated as a city Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and state California Historical Landmark and has been federally listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Powder Magazine from Camp Drum is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument located in the Wilmington section of Los Angeles, California, near the Port of Los Angeles. Built in 1862, the Powder Magazine is a 20-by-20-foot brick and stone structure that was used to store gunpowder during the Civil War. It was originally part of Camp Drum, a facility built upon the outbreak of the American Civil War to address concerns about the loyalty and security of the Los Angeles area. Many of the area's residents were recent arrivals from the Southern states, and southerner John C. Breckinridge received twice as many local votes as Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 Presidential election. Phineas Banning, the founder of Wilmington, wrote to President Lincoln advising that the Union would lose California unless some provision was made to quell pro-Confederacy sentiment. Camp Drum was built between 1862 and 1863 and was the home base for the California Column, commanded by Colonel James Henry Carleton. Between 2,000 and 7,000 soldiers were stationed at Camp Drum, and Wilmington became a thriving community with a population greater than Los Angeles during the war. The Powder Magazine is one of only two surviving structures from Camp Drum, the other being the Drum Barracks, which is now operated as a Civil War museum by the City of Los Angeles. The Powder Magazine has been used for various private uses over the years, at one point having another structure built around it. When the larger structure was torn down, the Powder Magazine was re-discovered. In order to save it from demolition, it was declared a Historic-Cultural Monument in August 1982. For more than two decades, it has sat on a vacant, fenced-off lot two blocks south of the Drum Barracks.
The 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry was a cavalry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States, with most of its companies dispersed to various posts.
The District of Southern California was a 19th-century district of Department of the Pacific, a command of the United States Army.
The 1st Regiment California Cavalry was a cavalry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was first formed as the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment California Cavalry between August and October 31, 1861, at Camp Merchant near Oakland. After the battalion was organized it was sent to Southern California, with three companies stationed at Camp Latham, near Los Angeles, and two at Camp Carleton, near San Bernardino. From November 20–29, 1861, the detachment under Second Lt. C. R. Wellman was stationed at Camp Wright, and pursued and captured Dan Showalter's party west of the San Jose Valley and Warner's Ranch. The battalion remained in Southern California until the spring of 1862 when it became part of the California Column and formed the advance force of that Column during the march to New Mexico Territory and Texas. In 1863 seven more companies were raised to bring the regiment to a full strength of twelve companies. The five companies first organized were mustered out August 31, 1864, as the terms of service of most of the men had expired. Two new companies, B and C, were organized in New Mexico by consolidation of the few men whose terms had not expired, and by new enlistments, and two new companies were enlisted in California, A and E, and then sent to Arizona. All of the companies of First California Cavalry stationed in New Mexico and Texas, were ordered to assemble at Baird’s Ranch, near Albuquerque, to be mustered out of the service during September, 1866. Company M was the last mustered out on the September 30, 1866. The 1st California Cavalry Regiment spent its entire term of service in the western United States in California and New Mexico Territory and Texas.
The 5th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States, attached to the Department of the Pacific and Department of New Mexico.
New Camp Carleton was a Union Army garrison of the District of Southern California during the American Civil War. It was established on March 22, 1862, near El Monte, California. It was located "on the right bank of the San Gabriel River, four miles north east from El Monte, the nearest post office, and which is distant thirteen miles from Los Angeles." The garrison was transferred there from San Bernardino because it was in a better location to supply the camp, and also to oversee the area which was a hotbed of secessionist sympathizers. The camp was closed in 1865.
Camp Latham was a temporary United States Army tent camp located in Los Angeles County, California extant from the fall of 1861 to fall of 1862 in the military District of Southern California during the American Civil War. Camp Latham was located on the south bank of Ballona Creek, approximately .75 mi (1.21 km) southwest of what is now called Culver City station. Short-lived Camp Kellogg was located nearby, just north across the creek.
The Mojave Road Los Angeles was designated a California Historic Landmark on March 19, 1985. It runs from Drum Barracks in Los Angeles County to the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, California.
Before Camp Latham or Camp Drum existed in the District of Southern California during the American Civil War there was Camp Fitzgerald, located somewhere near downtown Los Angeles. Camp Fitzgerald was organized sometime after May 3 and before October 1861 by James H. Carleton out of Fort Tejon. Camp Fitzgerald was named for Edward H. Fitzgerald, a U.S. Army Major who had himself established Fort Jones but had died of consumption in January 1860. The New York Times mentioned the establishment of the camp, which then had four companies of men, on July 31, 1861: "...four companies of United States regulars were recalled from neighboring stations, and now occupy tents fronting the city named."
