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WORLD
WAR I
by John Troesser |
| | With
the war over - or nearly so -
the troops of the "Cactus Division"
had time for photos
Photo Courtesy of the Carl McDonald Collection |
| The
Texas climate has a reputation for unpleasant weather, but mild Texas Winters
have provided seasonal homes for baseball clubs, circuses and especially the military.
Whether it was U. S. troops in training for war or German Prisoners of War, Texas
hosted both groups.
When the United States entered World War I, thirty-two
training camps were set up. Half of them were "tent cities" and were for National
Guard Units while the other half had wooden barracks for the regular Army.
Camp Travis was situated a few miles from downtown San
Antonio adjoining Fort
Sam Houston. Originally the name was Camp Wilson, named after the man
who "kept us out of war." It was the point from which troops were mobilized in
1916 to quell the Mexican Border Crisis brought upon by the Mexican Revolution. |
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With
the formation of the 90th Division in 1917, it was renamed Camp
Travis after William B. Travis of Alamo
fame. One of the Regiments within the 90th was the 19th
Infantry.
Originally the troops of the 90th were to be from Texas
and Oklahoma exclusively, but as the men were shipped out, their replacements
were from other states. By the time they got orders for Europe in June, 1918,
a good percentage of the troops were "foreign."
In August and September of 1918, The 18th "Cactus" Division
was formed of the left over units still at the Camp. They were still preparing
for the French trenches when the war ended on November 11th. After the war - troops
were mustered out through the camp and in 1922 - Camp Travis was absorbed
by Fort Sam Houston.
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