Iowa in World War I

Learn more at:www.iowaflags.orgIowa in World War IIn the days immediately before the declaration ofwar, President Wilson took a preliminary step towardreadiness for entry into the conflict. On March 25,1917, he issued a proclamation that called someof each state’s National Guard into active service.At that time the Iowa National Guard consistedof three infantry regiments, one cavalry squadron,one field artillery battalion, one company of engineers,and a field hospital. The 1st Iowa Infantry was calledup immediately and placed on duty guarding bridgesand munitions plants. Through the spring and earlysummer, more units were gradually called intoservice. On July 3, President Wilson issued anotherproclamation calling up all National Guard unitsthroughout the country and placing them infederal service.The Iowa National Guard had actually been activeshortly before the president’s call. A year before therehad been disturbances along the Mexican border.Mexico was in the midst of revolution and civil war,and in March, 1916, General Francisco (Pancho) Villahad attacked an army garrison at Columbus, NewMexico. At first, the National Guards of only threestates, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, had beencalled into federal service. Within several months,however, the entire National Guard was called toactive duty. All units of the Iowa National Guardwere mustered into federal service and sent to theMexican border area in south Texas. As the crisis withGermany grew in early 1917, many of the NationalGuard units were withdrawn from the border area.Iowa’s National Guard units were mustered out offederal service in January, 1917. The results of theMexican expedition were inconclusive, but the trainingthe Guard units received was helpful as they were remusteredinto federal service several months later forthe war against the Central Powers.After the declaration of war, additional units wereraised in Iowa. They included three more batteriesof field artillery, two additional engineer companies,an ammunition train, a signal corps company,an ambulance company, and one more field hospital.Active recruiting began at once because bothGovernor William Harding and Adjutant General GuyLogan were concerned over the refusal of some IowaNational Guardsmen to be sworn into federal service.Although they had been stationed along the border,they had not seen active service and some of themen refused the federal oath again. However, thoserefusing to take the oath turned out to be a very tinypercentage. Also, many other Iowans who had notpreviously served flocked to the recruiting stations tosign up. Recruiting was helped by a campaign that thegeneral public heartily joined. It was common to seerecruiting posters in store windows and on sides ofcommercial buildings. Recruiting slides were shown inmovie houses. Many organizations such as the GrandArmy of the Republic, Camps of Spanish War Veterans,Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, Knightsof Columbus, and lodges helped to recruit. Manymembers of the Iowa State Manufacturers Associationpromised that men who enlisted would get their jobsback after the war. Other organizations followed suit,including the Iowa Coal Miners’ Association,the Iowa State Bankers’ Association, all Iowa insurancecompanies, Clay Workers State Association, WholesaleGrocers Association, Retail Merchants Association,and the Iowa State Druggists Association as well asmany other smaller employers.Altogether about 110,000 Iowans served in theArmy, Navy, and Marine Corps. Of that number, 9,719Iowa National Guardsmen served while about 98,000were inducted into the armed services through theSelective Service law. Most of the Guard units servedContinued...

Learn more at:www.iowaflags.orgIowa in World War I:(continued)a year at Camp Cody, New Mexico, except the 168thInfantry, which went to Europe relatively early inthe war. Of those inducted through the SelectiveService, about half received training at Camp Dodge,just northwest of Des Moines, while the other halfreceived their training at military camps in widelyscattered locations across the United States.Camp Dodge became one of the most intensivetraining camps in the country during World War I.Named for Major General Grenville M. Dodge,a famous Civil War commander and chief engineerof the Transcontinental Railroad, the camp was firstestablished in 1907 as a training ground for the IowaNational Guard. The original camp was only 78 acresbut had been expanded to 570 acres by 1917. In June,1917, the U.S. Army Selection Board chose CampDodge to be one of sixteen regional training campsfor the United States Army. The camp expandedfrom 570 acres to 6,400 acres and was used for basictraining for recruits from Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota,North Dakota, and South Dakota.Due to America’s relative lack of militarypreparedness at the time of the war declaration, thedevelopment of Camp Dodge became a top priority.In just four months, from July to November, 1917,a major military camp arose there. Thirty barrackswere constructed, each being a two-story building140 feet long and 43 feet wide which could house150 men. Two headquarters buildings, a 3,000-seatauditorium, a hospital, three fire stations, post offices,libraries, railroad depots, eight YMCA halls, a YWCAauditorium and centers for the Knights of Columbus,the Lutheran Brotherhood, and the Jewish WelfareService were all built in this short period of time.During the last year of the war, Camp Dodgeoperated as a self-sufficient community for 40,000people. It became the headquarters for the 88thDivision, commanded by Major General EdwardPlummer. The Division had 27,000 men including8,000 Iowans. A total of 80,000 recruits receivedtheir basic training at Camp Dodge and then wentelsewhere to receive advanced training before beingsent to Europe for active duty. In July, 1918, the WarDepartment ordered the 88th Division into activecombat service. By September, the entire division wasin Europe. After the 88th Division left, a new 19thDivision continued training, but the Spanish Influenzaepidemic of 1918 created major problems.MAIN AVENUE AND DEPOT STREET - CAMP DODGE, 1918Image from The Library of Congress • www.loc.gov

Learn more at:www.iowaflags.orgIowa in World War I:(continued)organized at Camp Dodge, including the 163rd DepotBrigade, 804th Pioneer Infantry Regiment (Colored),the 366th Infantry Regiment, and the 414th PioneerInfantry Regiment.As mentioned, most of the Iowa National Guard,except the 168th Infantry, was sent to Camp Cody,New Mexico for extended training and assigned to the34th Division. For most of the Iowa boys who wereused to the green pastures and fields of corn and hayin the Hawkeye State, Camp Cody was a bit ofa shock. The camp was in the midst of a desert,and a recent drought had killed many longhorn cattle.Their numerous carcasses and bleached skulls wereto be found in the area. Constant wind whippedthe desert sand around, causing one corporal towrite home that he had “sand in his eyes, ears, nose,and mess kit.” Due to these conditions, the 34thDivision was nicknamed as the “Sandstorm Division.”The insignia of the 34th Division was developed byan aspiring young artist from Cedar Rapids. MarvinCone was then serving with the HeadquartersCompany, 67th Brigade at Camp Cody and entereda competition for devising an insignia for the division.His design showed a bleached white buffalo skullcentered on a red Indian water jug. Cone had noticedthe abundance of both Indian jugs and bleached buffaloskulls in the area near Camp Cody and made anappropriate design for the division from these objects.His design won the contest and the design wasidentified with the division until some modificationswere made to it during World War II. After WorldWar I, Cone taught at Coe College for more thanforty years and worked closely with Grant Wood atthe Stone City Colony and Art School in the 1930’s.The SHSI collection includes flags from nearly allthe Iowa units that served in World War I. The surveywill begin with flags from the 168th Infantry, the mostactive of those units and virtually the only one thatengaged in direct military action against the CentralPowers. As was the case with the Spanish-AmericanWar, the units that did not serve directly on the frontline simply did not arrive in time before the armisticeor were used as replacements for other units.HUMAN STATUE OF LIBERTY - 18,000 OFFICERS AND MENCAMP DODGE, 1917-18Image from The Library of Congress • www.loc.gov