News Release

Camp Whaley 2023

Date: August 21, 2023
Contact: Aaron Shandor, 423-639-3711

Greeneville — Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (NHS) will host the 2023 Camp Whaley Event at the historic Andrew Johnson Homestead and the adjacent Fox Parking Lot. This educational encampment officially kicks off at 5 pm, Friday evening, August 25, and runs through Sunday morning, August 27, 2023. The main educational portion of the event will take place Saturday, August 26, and will be based on camp life in Greeneville, TN, during the Civil War as seen from the perspectives of U.S. and Confederate soldiers, women, and African Americans.

The educational portion of the event, sponsored by the Andrew Johnson Heritage Association, is open to campers and non-campers alike. Events will include learning stations where knowledgeable presenters will discuss the Civil War from the perspective of women, enslaved people, U.S. Colored Troops, and that of both U.S. and Confederate Soldiers. Ranger-led black powder demonstrations will occur throughout the day, as well as other period-specific demonstrations and crafts.

Camping will be available to organized scouting groups for a total of 80 individual scout-campers beginning Friday evening at the adjacent Fox Lot. Organized scouting groups wishing to participate need to register in advance of the August 25, 2023, start date. Camping attendance is limited to a first-come-first-served basis.

“We are happy to host this year’s Camp Whaley event,” said park superintendent Aaron Shandor. “A lot has happened between the time we last hosted it in 2018 until now – the Covid-19 Pandemic, new staff, and then a 2022 postponement, all of which has given staff time to rethink, reshape, and reorganize this year’s event. Not only has the park based this event on Tennessee educational curriculum standards, but it has also expanded the focus to include different perspectives of those present in Greeneville during the Civil War.”

Camp Whaley, which originated as a scouting event, has grown to include the public. “While the event continues to be scouting-oriented, with camping opportunities and education stations that support work toward merit badges in American Heritage, Citizenship in Community, and others,” Shandor began, “…the event has expanded to include public attendance and the opportunity to learn about the Civil War in Greeneville. This year subject matter experts from other National Park Service sites will join park staff in educating the public about daily camp-life for soldiers.”

A service project at the nearby Andrew Johnson National Cemetery will be available to scouts to earn a Resource Stewardship Scout Ranger and a Camp Whaley event patch.
 

To register for the event or for more information, please contact park staff at [phone] or by email at [e-mail].