WWI YMCA "With The Colors" 1919 Sc# 501b Single Booklet Stamp Camp Humphreys VA

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501b

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General Issue

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WWI YMCA "With The Colors" 1919 Sc# 501b Single Booklet Stamp Camp Humphreys VA

Nice booklet single example

YMCA WWI Patriotic Cover Alexandria VA Humphreys Br. Jan 27, 1919

1917-1918:
Establishment of Camp A. A. Humphreys

A recruiting poster utilized during World War I to
encourage

men to enlist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The U.S. Army began
utilizing the Belvoir peninsula as an engineer training facility in1915,
which they named Camp Belvoir. The facility evolved from the U.S.Army’s
Engineer School, which was established in 1866 at Willet’s Point (now
Fort Totten), New York. In 1901, the school relocated toWashington
Barracks (now Fort McNair) inWashington, D.C. AlthoughWashington
Barracks provided ample classroom facilities, that installation lacked
adequate field training areas and rifle ranges. As a result, the school
was forced to seek additional training space.

In 1912, the Engineer School began conducting summer training exercises
on a government-owned parcel in Virginia, located approximately 15 miles
south of Washington along the Potomac River. The District of Columbia
had acquired the1,500-acre tract on the Belvoir peninsula in 1910 from
the Otterback family, for development of a children’s reformatory.
However, local community groups and patriotic organizations, such as the
Daughters of the American Revolution, opposed the establishment of a
reformatory on ground so closely associated with George Washington and
the other “founding fathers” of the country. Thus, the reformatory never
materialized at Belvoir, but was later constructed in nearby Lorton.

In 1912, Congress transferred the Otterback property to theWar
Department, following an Army request to use the land as a training
site. This site was chosen by the Engineer School because of its
proximity to the existing school, its adequate water supply and its
challenging terrain. Here, engineer students conducted rifle practice,
trained in building ponton bridges, and billeted in temporary Camp
Belvoir.

America’s entry into World War I in April 1917 led to the first wave of
military construction at the Virginia training site. Construction of the
semi-permanent cantonment, named Camp A.A. Humphreys in honor of Civil
War commander and former Chief of Engineers (1866-79), Major
GeneralAndrew A. Humphreys, began in January 1918 under very difficult
conditions. TheWinter of 1918 was remembered for its extremely cold
temperatures and unusually heavy snowfall. Despite these severe
conditions, some 5,000 soldiers and 6,000 civilians cleared, surveyed,
and constructed camp facilities in only 11 months. Much of the heavy
labor was performed by segregated African-American service battalions.
According to the first issue of the camp newspaper, The Castle, Camp
A.A.Humphreys was “the wonder city in the midst of an unbroken
wilderness of forest and swamp” where “the Washingtons and the Fairfaxes
hunted the fox.”

Panorama of Camp
Humphreys.

Portrait of Major
General Andrew
Atkinson Humphreys..

The
development of Camp A.A. Humphreys transformed the agrarian neighborhood
around Accotink and Woodlawn; one historian described the establishment
of the camp as “the second invasion by the armed forces” of the
Woodlawn neighborhood. Many residents were displaced from their homes
and farms, sometimes unwillingly. Many of the members of the Woodlawn
Quaker Meeting, who had lost properties, moved elsewhere, and as a
result, the long-standing Quaker influence in the Woodlawn neighborhood
declined. Through purchase or condemnation, the Army acquired additional
acreage during 1917 and 1918, fourteen farms on the peninsula between
Accotink and Pohick Creeks were transformed into target ranges, two
large parcels along Dogue Creek were taken through government
condemnation proceedings, and the purchase of a 3,300-acre parcel that
today comprises most of the North Post and Davison Army Airfield was in
process by 1918.

Transportation systems and
utilities also were improved. Previously, the most direct access to the
Belvoir Peninsula had been by boat down the Potomac from Washington –
the most efficient way of supplying the camp with building materials and
other necessities. Road systems therefore were improved: the unpaved
Washington-Richmond Highway was surfaced in concrete within six months
(October 1918), and a plank road was constructed that linked the camp to
the Washington-Richmond Highway. Standard gauge and narrow gauge
railways followed. The Mount Air property was used to construct a
railway linking Camp Humphreys with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and
Potomac Railroad. Building these transportation system not only
facilitated deliveries to the camp, but provided valuable engineer
training experience for troops sent to the battle lines in Europe.

To accommodate the 20,000 men anticipated at the camp, plans called for
the construction of 790 temporary wood-frame buildings. Quarters were
filled as soon as they were completed. A consistent supply of fresh
water was assured through the construction of a dam across Accotink
Creek and a water filtration plant on the site of the former Accotink
Mill. Within only four months of the start of the construction, Camp
A.A. Humphreys operated in full swing.

Several schools operated at Camp A.A. Humphreys during World War I. One
of the most vital components of the camp was the Engineer Replacement
and Training Camp, where enlisted men were trained. Camp A.A. Humphreys
was also active in training officers during the war. The Engineer
Officers’ Training Center operated at Camp Humphreys until February
1919. Its program was designed to select the most qualified enlisted men
for training as junior officers. Another school located at Camp A.A.
Humphreys was the Army Gas School, necessitated by the advent of
chemical warfare. The school of Military Mining taught trench warfare
and field fortification techniques. The schools conducted most of their
training on the South Post although parts of the southwest peninsula
were used for rifle ranges. By the end of the war, over 50,000 enlisted
men and 4,900 officer candidates had been trained at Camp A.A.
Humphreys.

Life at Camp A.A. Humphreys did not consist solely of military training.
Considerable attention was paid to maintaining troop morale. At least
six charitable service organizations—the YMCA, Knights of Columbus, the
Jewish Welfare Board, the Red Cross, the YWCA, and the Library
Board—maintained a permanent presence on the installation. These groups
offered social and recreational events for both enlisted men and
officers. World War I trainees could participate in inter-installation
athletics; improve their basic reading and writing skills; learn to
speak French; watch movies and vaudeville shows; visit Washington, D.C.;
and attend dances. Troops at Camp Humphreys suffered severely during
the late Summer and Autumn of 1918 during the world-wide Spanish
Influenza pandemic. The number of troops treated at the camp was at
least 4,000; with a mortality rate of 35%.

At war’s end in November 1918, Camp A.A. Humphreys became a
demobilization center where troops were prepared for their return to
civilian life. By the close of 1919, more than 14,000 men had been
demobilized at Camp A.A. Humphreys. The camp retained a small garrison
after the war. In 1919, the 5th Engineer Regiment from Camp A.A.
Humphreys was called to Washington D.C. to help quell racially motivated
civil disturbances.

Route 1,Winter 1918:
Soldiers worked in cold
and snowy conditions
during the construction of
Camp Humphreys.

Barracks of the Engineer
Officer Training School at
Camp Humphreys, 1918.

St. Martin’s Chapel, Fort
Humphreys, 1920.

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