Camp Nelson to hold annual luminaria walk honoring victims of 1864 expulsion

JESSAMINE COUNTY, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW) – Camp Nelson is preparing to host its fifth annual Luminaria Memorial Walk this weekend, marking the 160th anniversary of the November Expulsion.

The event will take place Saturday at 4 p.m. near the Camp Nelson Visitor’s Center.

The walk honors the more than 400 runaway enslaved people who were forced out of Camp Nelson on November 23, 1864, during the Civil War. Officials say at least 110 of them — many of whom were women and children — died from illness and exposure after being expelled.

According to organizers, many of the victims were family members of U.S. Colored Troops soldiers who had enlisted at Camp Nelson.