Hampton B. Ball letter to home - March 8, 1918
Transcript
Atlanta, [Georgia] March 8, [1918] Dear Home, I am transferred at last and am a good way from home. Left Camp Dodge Thursday noon and got here Sunday at 2 P.M. I was put into the infantry and I never saw such a bunch as I am with. The greater part of them are [ms illegible: 1 wd] from the northern cities. They don't seem to have any thing to eat here and it looks pretty dirty. They tell me I am to be shipped again in about two weeks and I sure hope so because maybe I will get into a better place. Camp Dodge has certainly got this place beat forty ways for Sunday. Had a fine trip coming down. Was thru eight states and made three stops for exercise, Kansas City, Memphis, & Sheffield, [Alabama]. The closest I got to home was Springfield, [Missouri]. We crossed the Mississippi at night and got into Memphis the second morning. Stopped there and marched thru the rain for about an hour. There are some funny looking outfits there; mules pulling a two wheel cart with a negro and a bale of cotton. We were on top of the mountains from Memphis here. The biggest field I have seen since leaving [Missouri]
Transcript
was about ten acres. When they plow they have to run around and around the hills. It isnt possible for a horse to walk straight up and pull any thing. The camp lies right in the hill and timber and also mud (nice yellow clay). Everything is wet and it is still raining so I look for things to be wetter. I have seen very little of it so far but will explore when I get a chance. We are only 12 miles from Atlanta but I doubt if I ever see the place. I am ready to be shipped again tomorrow and hope to be too. I am writing this on the sly so expect I had better stop. Will write some more the first chance I get Hamp. Address Co. B. 326th Infantry Camp Gordon, Georgia P.S. I am still a private.
Details
Title | Hampton B. Ball letter to home - March 8, 1918 |
Creator | Ball, Hampton B. |
Source | Ball, Hampton B. Letter to home. 8 March 1918. Ball, Hampton B., Papers, 1918-1919. C3935. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
Description | In this March 8, 1918 letter to his home in Troy Missouri, Hampton B. Ball described his journey from Camp Dodge, Iowa to Camp Gordon, Georgia. Ball, a native of Troy, Missouri, served in the 82nd Division, 326th Infantry regiment during World War I. |
Subject LCSH | Camp Dodge (Iowa); Camp Gordon (Ga.); Military training; World War, 1914-1918 |
Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
Site Accession Number | C3935 |
Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
Date Original | March 8, 1918 |
Language | English |