When President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers to "put down the rebellion" in the spring of 1861, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania found itself with more volunteers than needed to meet its Federal quota. Although 14 regiments were requested, Pennsylvania exceeded this by providing 25 organized regiments. The Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, was a political enemy of Andrew Curtin, Pennsylvania governor, and refused to take the extra men into Federal service. Curtin decided to retain the extra men and organized, trained, and equipped them at state expense. The creation of the special division was approved by the Pennsylvania legislature on May 15, 1861, "for the purpose of suppressing insurrections, or to repel invasions." The men were trained at camps of instruction in four cities: Easton, Pittsburgh, West Chester, and Harrisburg. The training camp near Harrisburg was named Camp Curtin for the governor.
