The Early Years of Camp Benning - Politics and Persistence (2 of 3)

SOURCES: "Camp Benning," New Georgia Encyclopedia; "Camp Benning," United States Army Infantry Branch History Division; and Fort Benning: The Land and the People, by Sharyn Kane and Richard Keeton, 1998.

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But the battle was far from settled. Sensing that Washington opponents would try again to eliminate the post, Camp Benning's commanders decided on a preemptive strike. They moved a number of soldiers onto the military reservation in June, even though work crews were everywhere feverishly hammering away at unfinished buildings. The commanders reasoned that with instructors, soldiers, and families already in place Washington officials would be reluctant to shut Camp Benning. They miscalculated.

The United States Congress, as part of the military appropriations bill, voted to cut off any more funding for Camp Benning construction. The bill also required that any money already authorized, but not spent, should be returned to the United States Treasury. In July 1919, the War Department issued a second order to stop all work. This command seemed unequivocal, leaving little room for creative interpretation. All construction contracts were to be canceled, all construction workers dismissed, and no construction funds were to be spent.

The work stoppage left Camp Benning in chaos. Some 5,000 construction laborers departed, leaving barracks, school buildings, sewers, water mains, electrical wiring, and roads unfinished. Some 250 officers and 1,500 enlisted men lived on post, carrying out duties as students, instructors, or demonstration troops. Some of their families lived with them. For everyone, conditions were rough. "Frames of partially finished buildings stood like raggedly clothed skeletons. Heaps of unused materials lay haphazardly about. Miles of ditches yawned for the unlaid pipes and sewers. Everywhere was a profusion of litter...Inhabited buildings [were] without water sewers, or lights," according to an unpublished history written by infantry First Lieutenant Leroy Yarborough.

With winter approaching, Camp Benning's leaders decided once again to improvise. Soldiers would become construction workers. Using materials already on hand and resources they could harness on the post, soldiers began installing plumbing and sewer lines, repairing old roads, finishing new ones, and completing unfinished structures. They also graded grounds around buildings, assembled target ranges, and built and operated a small-gauge railroad. The railroad, eventually 27 miles long, connected to the main line leading to Columbus. One of the trains that ran on the post line was affectionately named the Chattahoochee Choo Choo.

Troops cut trees, and then used two sawmills on the post to shape the timber into construction lumber. They also excavated sand and gravel from the post grounds. Muscogee County officials pitched in by sending 150 prisoners to help lay the sewer system.

Throughout this period, men continued arriving to attend the infantry school. Finding housing for them became an acute problem. Row after row of white canvas tents sprung up around the post. Unheated, damp, and drafty, the makeshift shelters were so uncomfortable that when winter set in troops began calling Camp Benning the "peacetime Valley Forge."

Some noncommissioned officers moved into small farmhouses or shacks, apparently once occupied by tenant farmers. Another ten officers were allowed to use old farm buildings that the government had not yet bought. The officers could occupy the buildings only after they agreed to buy fire insurance with their own money to protect the owners from loss.

About 100 officers rented homes for their families in Columbus, but opportunities to visit them were few. Regulations prevented personnel undergoing training from leaving the post, except on weekends, and even then, getting to town wasn't easy. The road to Columbus was poor even in dry weather and became a quagmire when it rained. Few officers could drive to Columbus anyway, because most didn't own cars.

The post train traveled to Benning Junction, about four miles from Columbus, where soldiers could board the Central of Georgia railroad for the rest of the trip into town. However, there was only one passenger train operating each day, leaving Columbus at 7:30 in the morning and returning at six in the evening.

For officers with the 29th infantry stationed at Camp Benning, being present for the mandatory dawn reveille was impossible, if they took the train. The result was that most officers with families in Columbus didn't see them for days.

There were also other inconveniences. The Army hospital was in Columbus, nine miles away, occupying space rented from the city hospital. Camp Benning also didn't have enough storage space, so the Army had to rent warehouses in Columbus. There was no laundry on post until late 1919 when a mobile laundry arrived. But even then, the laundry could clean clothes for only about a thousand soldiers. Everything else had to be dispatched to Camp Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, requiring eight days.

Despite all the problems, Camp Benning continued to operate and gradually began taking shape. Training continued, and the number of infantry graduates steadily climbed, including groups of recent West Point alumni. The post commandant moved into the stately plantation home called Riverside, built in 1909 by Columbus businessman Arthur Bussey. Still, the post's status was uncertain and hinged on a final decision by Congress.