Historic California
Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields
Camp Santa Barbara
There were at least three
temporary Army posts established at Santa Barbara. The first
consisted of elements of Fremont's Rangers, who established their
headquarters at the old St. Charles Hotel in 1846. The next year
the hotel was the headquarters of the New York Volunteers, while
their principal camp was located on the beach. The Volunteers
were frequently stationed at Santa Barbara during the Civil War.
Another garrison established camp in the town on April 8, 1848,
and evacuated on September 8, 1848, Santa Barbara was reoccupied
in January 1864 and abandoned during the following November.