Camp Wadsworth - WWI Info

One of the members of my metal detecting club sent me a fascinating email about Camp Wadsworth and the shelling practice that took place around Hogback and Glassy Mountain in our local area. I found one of the old shells (check out post WWII Bomb Shell Casing Found! ).

His email is very informative and there are some great links and pictures to great military stuff! Here is an excerpt from his email:

The United States' declaration of war against Germany on 6 April 1917 resulted in the federalization of National Guard units across the county. Most National Guard units were mobilized for organization and training at newly established tent camps across the Southeast. An intense lobbying effort resulted in Spartanburg receiving one of these facilities in July 1917. Named after a famous Civil War general from New York, Camp Wadsworth occupied over 1300 acres on Spartanburg's Westside. The area is now occupied by West Gate Mall, the Dorman Center, and Vanderbilt Hills. Camp Wadsworth was selected as the mobilization and training camp for the New York National Guard. Troops arrived at the camp from August to October 1917 and were reorganized into the 27th Infantry Division.

The New York National Guard was among the largest and best equipped militia organizations in the country. It was one of only four National Guard units large enough to be organized into a single, homogeneous division. This fact can be better appreciated when it is realized that each American division had an approximate strength of 30,000 men. Additionally, the New York National Guard was one of only two guard organizations to enter the war with a fully equipped artillery brigade. An artillery brigade consisted of two light artillery regiments armed with 3" field guns and one heavy artillery regiment with 4.7" howitzers. A trench mortar battery was organized and added to the brigade shortly after its arrival at Camp Wadsworth. In the 27th Division, these units were known as the 104th Field Artillery Regiment (light), the 105th Field Artillery Regiment (light), the 106th Field Artillery Regiment (heavy), and the 102nd Trench Mortar Battery.

The War Department decided to purchased an additional 14,000 acre tract of land in Northeastern Greenville County to serve as Camp Wadsworth's artillery and rifle range. This was done for the following reasons.

1) Spartanburg County was too densely populated for live fire artillery instruction.
2) The 33 mile hike from Camp Wadsworth to the firing range would provide excellent physical conditioning for both infantry and artillery regiments.
3) The vast acreage would provide enough room for combined artillery, infantry, and machine gun maneuvers.

Engineer troops began preliminary survey and construction work in late September 1917. Final property releases were secured in October, with the entire transaction being covered by a blanket lease negotiated by the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce. Infantry and artillery units moved into the mountains from mid November to late December 1917 to perform heavy construction work. They labored under the engineers to build firing trenches, gun pits, and target areas. Artillery camps were established at Oak Grove Church and a site off Highway 414. Supplies were brought into the mountains from supply depots at Campobello and Landrum. Conditions became increasingly appalling with the onset of winter. Temperatures routinely dropped below zero and the roads were reduced to quagmires. Amazingly, the 105th Artillery Regiment maintained a constant presence at the range during this entire period. This regiment completed its period of fire instruction in late January 1918. The 104th and 106th artillery regiments occupied the range in February and completed their period of instruction in April. April also witnessed combined arms maneuvers with the 27th Division's infantry and artillery troops. Each infantry division marched to the range and advanced behind a rolling barrage of shrapnel shells fired by the 104th and 105th artillery. This is generally regarded as the most advanced infantry/artillery maneuver held in the United States up to that date. The 27th Division began moving overseas at the end of April 1918. No artillery instruction took place at the range after this date. The property was released back to the original owners in early 1919.

You might be interested in the following links:

http://www.historicreproductions.com/

Click on "Restorations" and select the Model 1902 3" Field Gun. This is the type of gun that was used by the 104th and 105th Artillery. It is also the type of gun that fired the shell you found.

https://www.infantry.army.mil/museum/outside_tour/guns/1906.htm

This link will ask you to accept a temporary security certificate. It will give you a picture and information on the gun used by the 106th Artillery.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/panoramic_photo/

Enter "Camp Wadsworth" in the search box. This should return a panoramic image of the 54th Infantry Brigade rifle range at Glassy Mt.

Readers ID The Shell Casing As WWI NOT II

NEWS FLASH! NEWS FLASH!

Thank goodness there are people out there who know something about war stuff! Special thanks go out to two members of my metal detecting club who sent me emails with GREAT information about the bomb shell casing that I found and have a pictured in an earlier post WWII Bomb Shell Casing Found! . Here are a couple of their comments:

...I think your shell is older than you think. I might be wrong but I think it could be WW1 instead of WWII. If troops came from Wadsworth it was WW1 or Camp Croft it would be WWII...

...That should be a WWI shell that you found. That area was an artillery practice site for Camp Wadsworth which was a WWI training camp...

Two id's! It's WWI not II. GREAT! If you have more info, please let me know! treasureholic@gmail.com

Happy Hunting!

Additional Heel Plate Info: John's Response!

In my last update on the Heel Plate, I mentioned that there was a seller on eBay who has an online store called "The Soldier's Heel". http://stores.ebay.com/The-Soldiers-Heel

For those of you who don't know, you can contact any eBay seller without purchasing an item from them or placing a bid on an item. It's pretty simple and there are two ways that you can do it. You can click on their user id and that will take you to a page about them where you can find a contact link, or you can click on one of their posted listings and ask a question. There is a drop down box that will allow you to choose "Ask a general question about this item". I've found both contact methods to work quite well. Most people who sell on eBay are following their passion and they are more than happy to share information about the items that they list or answer questions about a hobby or eBay listing category.

I sent the eBay seller at The Soldier's Heel an email with this blog address so he could check out the photo/post and asked him if he had any information on the Heel Plate in the photo. He was very kind to respond! Here is a copy of the email that John sent to me - IT'S GREAT INFORMATION!!!

Hi Dana,

Yes, you did find a heelplate, I have one in my collection that is very similar to yours. I haven't found alot of information regarding these items online either, which seems surprising. But from the number I have seen with various designs I believe that these were mass produced in the 1850's-1860's and from the quality, I am inclined to think they might have been imported from Britain.

The purpose of the heelplate was to protect and extend the life of the shoe heel. Shoes were purchased items for the most part & therefore if the owner could make them last several years longer, it was worth the extra cost to have these on a pair of shoes.

You will find examples of dug heelplates in several Civil War relic books, and occasionally on ebay. They are not especially rare, and a lot of relic hunters have found them in military camps. These are not a military issue item, but alot of civilian market goods were used by soldiers & visitors to the army camps.

Thanks for contacting me, I hope that I have helped shed some light on your find.

John

Here's what's really cool about this whole metal detecting treasure hunting thing...it's great fun, you meet and interact with very nice people and you find relics and items that are very interesting and are sometimes valuable!

Before I found the Heel Plate, I had no clue that these items even existed, knew nothing about them - when they were made or what they were used for. It's all fascinating to me and I can't wait to dig in the dirt again soon and find something new to investigate!