Battle of Nelson

 was a military conflict in 2281.

Prelude
General Lee Oliver thought that there was too much space in between Camp Forlorn Hope and Camp Searchlight, so he ordered an intermediary base in between the two. The NCR chose the small town of Nelson as a suitable base. Somehow, Caesar's Legion found out about this operation and Legate Lanius sent Dead Sea and a unit of Legionaries into the town.

Battle
In 2278, the Legion ambushed the poorly trained and equipped NCR troopers as they were setting up their fortifications at Nelson. The attack caught the NCR troopers by surprise and several troops were killed. Ranger Milo, saved several troopers when he took a group of solders and they fought their way out of Nelson and up a nearby road. However, this was the only victory achieved in the battle, as the rest of the troops were routed by Legionaries and started a full retreat toward Camp Forlorn Hope.

Aftermath
By the time the Courier arrives in the Mojave Wasteland, the battle is a stalemate. Each side periodically sends out a party of skirmishers to try and weaken the other, but to no avail. Because of the battle, morale at Camp Forlorn Hope has reached an all time low. However, morale with the Legionaries at Nelson is at an all time high.

Between Camp Forlorn Hope and Nelson will be a small battlefield littered with dying NCR troopers. Laid near their bodies will be frag mines - most likely traps Legionnaires have placed should the Courier or other NCR troopers wander too close to help them. Regardless of whether the Courier is able to disarm the mine quickly enough before it damages him and kills the trooper, they are either too weak or too wounded to actually be saved. Attempting to talk to them will only have them ask the Courier to perform a mercy killing. Oddly enough, performing a high profile kill upon one will turn both the other dying troopers in the field and the active NCR Troopers within Camp Forlorn Hope hostile. (Though the dying troopers will still remain on the ground, just marked as hostile) It is suggested to perform low profile mercy kills upon them with silenced weapons, should the player not want to damage his reputation with the NCR. If you make a circle around the injured NCR trooper he will slide around to look at you if you are hostile.

If the Courier chooses to, he can break the stalemate for the NCR by completing the quest Restoring Hope. Or side with Caesar's Legion with the quest We Are Legion. When the Second Battle of Hoover Dam starts, if the Courier helped the NCR, then the camp will repel another Legion attack. If the Courier did nothing or completed the quest "We Are Legion", then the camp will be lost again.

Appearances
The Battle of Nelson is mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas.