General view over a cantonment

Title: General view over a cantonment
LC Subject: Armed Forces Soldiers
Description: No action taken by Congress since the declaration of war against Germany had as important bearing on the outcome of the War as the authorization of the selective draft. Before its enactment it loomed like a huge bogey in the imagination of many. After it was in force, like any other bogey its terrors vanished, and every day the wisdom of the action became more apparent. The energy and speed with which we pushed not only the draft registration but the arrangements to train those selected was a shock to the Kaiser an his advisors. In this action in spite of their words to the contrary, they saw their doom. They knew that neither our money nor our food alone could win the war. On the other hand they knew that our man-power, if exerted to the fullest, could. During the Civil War, under the volunteer system, the North sang “We’re coming, Father Abraham, 500,000 strong.” But Father Abraham had to wait a long while and finally resorted to the draft before they arrived. But within less than a year, by the selective draft, “Father Woodraw” had four times that number, not coming but here, and millions more on the way. How this host of men is cared for and transformed into efficient soldiers in an almost incredibly short time will be better realized as we see those men in their various camp activities. While the preliminary registration was being taken and the selective draft made, the construction of sixteen cantonments in different parts of the country to house this new army was started and within a few months they were ready for occupancy. Each cantonment is a complete city in itself, accommodating from 30,000 to 40,000 men. Within a few months after ground was broken for Camp Meade, it became the second city in Maryland as regards population. All the cantonments are built on the same general plan and, with the exception of the color of the soil and the surrounding topography, look alike. A paved or cement road in the shape of a great horseshoe or U, lined with warehouses and other buildings, encloses a great, flat, undulating central area used for the drill ground. In somewhat separated groups stand the two-story unpainted pine barracks, each group for a regiment. The general impression is that of a western boom-town. However, it is a complete city with all modern improvements, water and sewer system, electric lights, fire protection, buildings, hospitals, and other buildings. The residential sections are composed of the concentrated apartments called barracks. The cantonment shown here is Camp Lewis in the State of Washington. The men in the foreground are members of the Intelligence Division of the Signal Corps who are making observations and telephoning their findings to headquarters. It should be added that beside the sixteen cantonments referred to there are numerous National Guard Camps and other special camps which have been constructed.
Work Type: lantern slides
Date: 1900/1940
Identifier: P217:01:01
Rights: In Copyright
Local Collection Name: Visual Instruction Department Lantern Slides, 1900-1940 (P 217)
Type: Image
Format: image/tiff
Set: OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center
Primary Set: OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center
Is Part Of: Set 1 - Making the American Army
Institution: Oregon State University