100 YEARS AGO IN THE SARATOGIAN
Wednesday, March 13, 1918. “The Saratogian will gladly print such portions of letters from the boys in service as are of general interest. Original letters will be copied and properly returned.”
That announcement appears on an almost daily basis as local families share letters from Saratoga County soldiers stationed in Europe and across the U.S. Two such letters appear in today’s edition.
First Sergeant Samuel J. Dunn is stationed with most of Saratoga County’s draftees at the Camp Devens training facility in Ayer, MA. “It is a great life, after you once get on to the ropes, full of excitement,” he writes to his grandfather, Samuel M. Smith.
“They do things at the snap of the finger. Orders can come here at 12 o’clock to have men prepared to move at 4 o’clock and at 4 o’clock they are on the train. Last week my captain was ordered to take charge of a troop train to move out at 4 o’clock with 394 men. Those men were on the train ten minutes before time with full equipment.
“I know about all that is going on, as I bring all orders up from the sergeant major at first sergeant call. I don’t know how I got this job, jumping so many men, even some regular army men that have seen four and five years’ service, but I am here any way and I am kept pretty busy.
“Things must be pretty dull there now with all the young fellows gone and other conditions. As it is I’d just as soon be here. At first I didn’t care much about this, but after being here a short time, it seems like I like being out of town to work and I always like new places.
“I’d like to get orders that we were going to move south as a company, but when we go it will be ‘over there [i.e. to Europe] and I would just as soon go there. Any place is home to me.”
William W. Peterson has been down south with Saratoga County’s former National Guard troops, who now form the 105th U.S. Infantry. He writes his mother from Camp Wadsworth in Spartanburg, SC to report that he’s been transferred to the 101st Field Artillery, where he spends most of his time baking bread.
Peterson’s unit bakes over 2,000 loaves of bread each day. During his shift he helps bake five “doughs,” each dough consisting of eighteen pans in one oven. Each pan is made of two four-pound loaves of “war bread” (with limited wheat content) and six two-pound loaves of garrison bread, i.e. standard army fare.