“I would like for you to hear the firing we have here. Some are three inch and some machine guns. They make some noise, believe me. The shells weigh 16 lbs, so you can imagine what they are like…”
In his twenty-seventh letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, writes during a thunderstorm. He’s finally gotten a letter from Cleo (his girlfriend). She wanted her “sovallier” [Cleo may have been asking for the return of a lavaliere, a piece of jewelry, as part of the couple’s ongoing relationship issues]. He sent it back. He’s still on the firing line. They’ll be going to Dutch Gap [a canal dug during the Civil War by freed African American workers pressed into service by Union troops] for target practice, and he’s looking forward to camping out. The three-inch guns fire 16-pound shells and are noisy. He’s spoken to Dutch (our second letter writer, PFC Charles Riggle), who is “happy as can be.”
Elsewhere on the same day, the USS Cyclops, a US Navy Proteus-class collier carrying 11,000 tons of manganese ore (used in munitions production) mysteriously disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. No trace of the vessel, nor any of the 306 crew and passengers, was ever found. No distress signal was sent, and Germany later denied any knowledge of the ship.
Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, where so many Wheeling soldiers were trained. And, like so many of his Ohio Valley comrades, he served in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his twenty-seventh letter from Camp Lee, dated 100 years ago today, March 6, 1918.
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March 6, 1918 Letter – Lester Scott to his sister, Minnie Riggle
Camp Lee, V.a.
March 6th 1918
Dear Sister,
Rec’d your letter all right. was glad to hear from you. I am well and happy, hope you are the all the same. we are having a thunder storm here this evng. has been very hot today. I rec’d a letter from Grace Minor yesturday. sure was glad to hear from her. Rec’d one from Cleo to. she wanted her sovallier. I sure sent it to her. she didn’t have much to say. I am still on the firing yet. think tomorrow will be the last day for awhile. I hear we are going to Dutch gap for awhile for target practice. That is about thirty mile from here. will get to camp out for awhile. will be great sport. will only be their a short time if go. I hardly think we will leave here for some time yet. I was talking to Dutch today. he is happy as can be. wonder why Charles Gettings doesn’t write any more. we have two of our trucks in now. dont know when we will get the rest. guess I will haft to leave to drive. I would like for you to hear the firing we have here. some are three inch and some machine guns. they make some noise believe me. the shells weigh 16lbs so you can amigine what they are like. well I dont know much more to say this time so I will close hoping to hear from you soon.
Good luck and Good speed,
The kid
Listen to Episode 36 of “From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle”
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From Camp Lee to the Great War: The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle” is brought to you by Archiving Wheeling in partnership with the Ohio County Public Library (Wheeling, WV) and the Wheeling Academy of Law & Science (WALS) Foundation.
Jeremy Richter is the voice of Lester Scott. The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle were transcribed by Jon-Erik Gilot. This podcast was edited and written by Sean Duffy, audio edited by Erin Rothenbuehler with music courtesy the Library of Congress.
[Music for March 6, 1918 episode: “Porcupine Rag,” Johnson, Chas. J. (composer), New York Military Band, 1915, http://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200035782/]
Many thanks to Marjorie Richey for sharing family letters and the stories of her uncles, Lester Scott and Charles “Dutch” Riggle, WWI soldiers from West Virginia.
▶ To listen to the prior Camp Lee podcasts, visit our SoundCloud page.
▶ To learn about the background of this project and watch an introductory video about the podcast, click here.
