TRANSCRIBED FROM THE FAYETTEVILLE DAILY DEMOCRAT DECEMBER 20, 1918 P. 3
Dear Dad:
They set a side Sunday Nov. 24th, for a letter to “Dad” and called it “Dad’s Letter Day.”
So I’ll tell you about my trip to France and over France.
On Aug. 28 we left Camp Mills, Long Island, N.Y., and went to Hoboken, N.J., where we loaded on the “Old Boat Leviathan.” They say it is the largest boat afloat, which I guess it is, from the way it looks beside the rest of them. I was told by sailors that it was captured at the beginning of the war by the U.S.
We were the first ones to load on so we had to wait until the rest of the troops embarked. When she was fully loaded, there were eighteen thousand men on.
On August 30th we set sail for France and on the 7th day of September we anchored in the harbor of Brest. So on the night of the 8th I set my foot on France soil. We had to hike with our packs about four miles that night to a rest camp. We arrived about eleven that night, pitched our pup-tents and stayed there about seven days. One of the most interesting things was some of Napoleon’s old army barracks. Now they are using them as hospitals.
After seven days in the rest camp we started on our first trip through France. On the French train our sleepers were common box cars, they were just about half as large as our cars. When we loaded on they put 10 men in each car, so you can imagine how much sleep we got.
The first town we went through was Rennes, and the next, where we got off was Messne.
After an all night ride we got off and hiked about 9 kilometers (a little over 5 miles) to a little town called Bain. There we were put around in barns and other buildings. We only stayed there twelve days. From there we hiked about twenty-seven miles to a camp called De Cortquinan. This was where we did final training for the front. When the war ended we stayed there about seven or eight weeks. Then we got ready to move again and on this trip we certainly saw some of France. We went all the way across the country and we are now in the Alps Mountain and about 15 kilometers south of the Swiss border.
And believe me it certainly is cold up here. I do not know just how high it is but it seems pretty high to me.
NOTES: This partial letter was written by Henry Isaac Caudle to his father, S. W. Caudle. He was writing from Camp Voldahon, France. He was born on June 22, 1898 in Woolsey, Arkansas and died on January 8, 1973 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He is buried in the Fair View Memorial Cemetery in Fayetteville. He served in Battery “B” 142nd, Field Artillery.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT
Dear Dad:
They set a side Sunday Nov. 24th, for a letter to “Dad” and called it “Dad’s Letter Day.”
So I’ll tell you about my trip to France and over France.
On Aug. 28 we left Camp Mills, Long Island, N.Y., and went to Hoboken, N.J., where we loaded on the “Old Boat Leviathan.” They say it is the largest boat afloat, which I guess it is, from the way it looks beside the rest of them. I was told by sailors that it was captured at the beginning of the war by the U.S.
We were the first ones to load on so we had to wait until the rest of the troops embarked. When she was fully loaded, there were eighteen thousand men on.
On August 30th we set sail for France and on the 7th day of September we anchored in the harbor of Brest. So on the night of the 8th I set my foot on France soil. We had to hike with our packs about four miles that night to a rest camp. We arrived about eleven that night, pitched our pup-tents and stayed there about seven days. One of the most interesting things was some of Napoleon’s old army barracks. Now they are using them as hospitals.
After seven days in the rest camp we started on our first trip through France. On the French train our sleepers were common box cars, they were just about half as large as our cars. When we loaded on they put 10 men in each car, so you can imagine how much sleep we got.
The first town we went through was Rennes, and the next, where we got off was Messne.
After an all night ride we got off and hiked about 9 kilometers (a little over 5 miles) to a little town called Bain. There we were put around in barns and other buildings. We only stayed there twelve days. From there we hiked about twenty-seven miles to a camp called De Cortquinan. This was where we did final training for the front. When the war ended we stayed there about seven or eight weeks. Then we got ready to move again and on this trip we certainly saw some of France. We went all the way across the country and we are now in the Alps Mountain and about 15 kilometers south of the Swiss border.
And believe me it certainly is cold up here. I do not know just how high it is but it seems pretty high to me.
NOTES: This partial letter was written by Henry Isaac Caudle to his father, S. W. Caudle. He was writing from Camp Voldahon, France. He was born on June 22, 1898 in Woolsey, Arkansas and died on January 8, 1973 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He is buried in the Fair View Memorial Cemetery in Fayetteville. He served in Battery “B” 142nd, Field Artillery.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT