From Camp Lee to the Great War: Episode 43 [April 7, 1918]

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott & Charles Riggle

"I think the Germans is getting about all the fighting they want now. They surely have lost a lot of men since the big battle began..." In his twelfth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, dated April 7, 1918, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle that he is at Dutch Gap near the Appomattox Court House Civil War battlefield [see Lester Scott's description in episode 42: https://bit.ly/2GLK5Qa], training at the firing range. This would have been about 53 years to the day since the Civil War battle of April 8-9, 1865. He is having a "dandy time" living in a tent. They've brought about 300 horses and mules with them. He says Les is there with him and "looking good." They are being kept away from newly arriving soldiers to prevent yet another round of contagious diseases [like the mumps and measles that afflicted Les]. Dutch thinks it will be at least six months before he's sent to France. He describes the trenches left from the Civil War still extant at Dutch Gap, as well as tombstones for Civil War officers. Dutch refers to the "big battle" during which the Germans have lost a lot of men. This is probably a reference to the 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht (Kaiser's Battle), also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, which began on 21 March 21, 1918. The offensive was launched as a last ditch attempt to break the Allies before the arrival of fresh troops from the United States. Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his twelfth letter from Camp Lee, dated 100 years ago today, April 7, 1918. Digital scans and a transcript of Charles Riggle's April 7, 1917 letter can be viewed at: www.archivingwheeling.org/blog/from-camp-lee-to-the-great-war-april-7-1918-podcast Credits: "From Camp Lee to the Great War: The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle" is brought to you by archivingwheeling.org in partnership with the Ohio County Public Library (www.ohiocountylibrary.org) and the WALS Foundation (walswheeling.com). Vince Marshall is the voice of Charles Riggle. The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle were transcribed by Jon-Erik Gilot. This podcast was edited and written by Sean Duffy, audio edited by Erin Rothenbuehler. "The U.S. Field Artillery March," Sousa, John Philip (arranger), New York Military Band (performer), 1921, http://www.loc.gov/item/00694042/] Many thanks to Marjorie Richey for sharing family letters and the stories of her uncles, Lester Scott and Charles “Dutch” Riggle, WWI soldiers from West Virginia.