California in The Great War

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This page is part of The Great War 1914-1918 Project.

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California in The Great War

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Draftees from California served with the 40th, 42nd, or 91st Divisions and they trained at either Camp Kearny in San Diego or Camp Lewis in the state of Washington. Divisions consisted of one thousand officers and 27,000 men. Two brigades formed the infantry, with two regiments assigned to each, including an artillery brigade and a battalion of engineers. This format remained consistent regardless of whether it was the Regular, National Guard, or National Army. It also made the American divisions approximately twice as large as Allied or German divisions.

General John C. Fremont

Camp Fremont was a U.S. Army World War I National Guard Mobilization and Training Camp first established in 1917 near Palo Alto, San Mateo County, California. Named Camp Fremont in G.O. 95, 18 Jul 1917, after Major General John C. Fremont, an early California explorer.

Camp Fremont served as a training site for the National Guard's 41st Infantry Division, which included soldiers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming. The 41st Division was later moved to Camp Greene, where it completed its training before departing for fighting in France.

Major General William S. Graves

Major General William S. Graves assumed command of the 8th Infantry Division at Camp Fremont in 1918. Slated for combat in France, the 8th Division was later assigned the mission of fighting in Russia during the Siberian Intervention.

Camp Fremont was also home to the 332nd Auxiliary Remount Depot, part of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps. The depot was authorized 5,000 animals, and averaged about 2,300. Remount depots were organized to procure, train and condition horses and mules, and then dispatch them to the units that required them.

After the war, the post was ordered salvaged on 19 Dec 1918 and abandoned in September 1919. The land reverted to the previous owners and the buildings were sold at auction.

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Stephen Watts Kearny

Camp Kearny was a World War I U.S. Army training Camp established in 1917 on present day Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego County, California. Named Camp Kearny after Brigadier General Stephen Watts Kearny.

Major General Frederick Smith Strong

The first commander of the camp was Major General Frederick S. Strong, who formed the 40th U.S. Infantry Division and initiated troop training. General Strong remained with the division until it was demobilized. The 40th was formed on 25 Aug 1917, trained and then arrived in France in August 1918. The division was designated as a depot division early in November 1918 to furnish replacements for losses in other divisions. Two units of the division saw combat but the division as a whole did not. The 40th Division Headquarters returned to the U.S. in February 1919 and was demobilized on 20 Apr 1919 at Camp Kearny.

At the end of the war the camp became a demobilization and convalescent center before closing as a training camp on 31 Oct 1920.

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63rd US Infantry Regiment at the Presidio

The Presidio of San Francisco was first established as a fortification in 1776 by Spanish Captain Juan Bautista on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in present day San Francisco County, California. Subsequently occupied by Mexican troops (1822-1846) and then American troops (1846-1995).

General Pershing's Burned out Quarters at the Presidio

General "Black Jack" Pershing led a punitive expedition from the Presidio against the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa along the Mexican border in 1914. While he was away, General Pershing's wife and daughters perished when his Presidio quarters caught fire. A memorial and a post flag pole mark the spot where the house stood. The memorial plaque contains an image of his quarters. General Pershing and his troops returned to the Presidio in May 1917 and he went on to lead the American Expeditionary forces in Europe during World War I.

The Presidio again served as a staging area for troops headed for the conflict in France. Temporary cantonments were built to house the troops. The North cantonment contained enough single story frame and tarpaper barracks to house 6,000 troops and tent camps handled any overflow.

An officer training school was established in 1917 on the Presidio and the first class of 2,500 candidates produced only 1,000 candidates recommended for reserve commissions.

Letterman Hospital was again used to treat the returning sick and wounded. The hospital treated 18,700 during the war and another 12,400 in the year after the war. A large set of wards and barracks were built to accommodate the huge number of patients.

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Resources

• California Military History.org - California and the First World War
• Family Search - California Military Records
• Archives.gov - World War I Draft Registration Cards Microfilm Roll List, M1509: California (157 rolls)
• USA WW1.com - World War I Pilots from California
• World War I Vets.com - United States Veterans of the Great War
• U2 boats