1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Camp Nelson Heritage Park Study Act . 2. Findings Congress finds as follows: (1) In June 1863, Camp Nelson was founded and constructed by Major General Ambrose Burnside and the unit under his command, the 9th Corps of the Army of Ohio. (2) Camp Nelson was established as a supply depot for the Union Army during the Civil War and helped support the Union Army’s campaigns in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. (3) Camp Nelson was one of the Nation’s largest recruitment and training centers for African American soldiers during the Civil War, as well as a refugee camp for the wives and children of many of those soldiers. (4) Because of its proximity to Confederate States, thousands of slaves fled to Camp Nelson with their families to escape enslavement and to enlist in the Union Army, thereby gaining their freedom. (5) Eight regiments of U.S. Colored Troops , the designation of African American regiments at that time, were founded at Camp Nelson, and three other regiments were trained at the site. (6) Camp Nelson established a refugee camp for enlisted African American soldiers’ families, housing over 3,000 people, primarily women and children, and included a school house, hospital, mess hall, and other accommodations. (7) Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park was designated as part of the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom in 2008 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2013. (8) In 1998, Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park was created by Jessamine County Fiscal Court using Federal, State, and local support, and has preserved large tracts of this site, constructed a visitor center, constructed a replica barracks, recreated a fort, developed interpretive trails, and educated the public about this historic site. (9) There is strong community interest in making Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park a unit of the National Park System. (10) Jessamine County Fiscal Court has expressed its desire to donate the preserved historic site as a