“I think the Germans is getting about all the fighting they want now. They surely have lost a lot of men since the big battle began…”
In his twelfth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, dated April 7, 1918, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle that he is at Dutch Gap near the Appomattox Court House Civil War battlefield [see Lester Scott’s description in episode 42], training at the firing range. This would have been about 53 years to the day since the Civil War battle of April 8-9, 1865. He is having a “dandy time” living in a tent. They’ve brought about 300 horses and mules with them. He says Les is there with him and “looking good.” They are being kept away from newly arriving soldiers to prevent yet another round of contagious diseases [like the mumps and measles that afflicted Les]. Dutch thinks it will be at least six months before he’s sent to France. He describes the trenches left from the Civil War still extant at Dutch Gap, as well as tombstones for Civil War officers.
Dutch refers to the “big battle” during which the Germans have lost a lot of men. This is probably a reference to the 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht (Kaiser’s Battle), also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, which began on 21 March 21, 1918. The offensive was launched as a last ditch attempt to break the Allies before the arrival of fresh troops from the United States.
Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his twelfth letter from Camp Lee, dated 100 years ago today, April 7, 1918.
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April 7, 1918 Letter Home – Charles Riggle to his brother James Riggle
April 7 1918
Camp Lee Va
to JD Riggle
Dear brother
received your letter a few days ago all rite an i am trying to ancer it today. was glad to hear that you are all well an got moved. these few lines leaves me all rite an still injoying my self good. the 314 reg is at dutch gap now 15 miles from camp lee. we come up here easter Sunday an going to stay 10 days. we are going back Tuesday. we will be up here ten days out of ever month for six month I think. we are in tents now 8 of us in each tent. we are having a dandy time here now. this is some dandy place for a camp rite in the old battel field an in a nice pine grove. it surly will a nice place this summer. we go out on the rang ever other day. we brough about three hunderd horses an mules over here with us. we have a little stove in our tent. it get pretty chilly at nights here. it get powerful hot in the day time. i been on gurd once since i came over here. i only had to walk 2 hours yestard. it dont take so many yard down here. less is here to. he is all rite looking good. less is like me is slow about ancering letters. if you had so many letters to rite like we do you would be slow two. ge but i have rote a lot of letters since i have been here. we got payed on the six this month. I havent sent any home yet. i will wait till i get back to camp lee before i send it. abe i dont think we will go to france for six month yet. any way I think the germans is getting about all the fighting they want now. they surly have lost a lot of men since the big battel begain. Walter toland is in france. i guess ben Harrington is to. I gess i saw in the paper where Bill Walace did come to camp lee. they are over there in our bat. we move our stuff down to D batery before we came over her. we will stay there for 10 or 12 day for fear those new boys might have some constages disease then we can go back in our one batery. we have cots to sleep on over here. less said he injoy this kind of camp all rite. i do my self. all i have aganst is we haft to sit on the ground to eat our meals. This countury around here is all dug full of trenchs. There is several tumstones here where some of the officers was buried. we have good drinking water here. there is lots of dears here. i would like to have the time to go out an take a hunt for them. i heard several dear chases here. this shooting around here will scare the dear back from here. we are close to the james river. well abe i will close hoping these few lines will find you all in good health.
good Bye
Chas Riggle
Bat F 314 Fa Camp lee Peters Burg VA
Listen to Episode 43 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.
Vince Marshall is the voice of Charles Riggle. 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 in April 7, 1918 episode: “The U.S. Field Artillery March,” Sousa, John Philip (arranger), New York Military Band (performer), 1921, http://www.loc.gov/item/00694042/]
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.
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