Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-04-04

regiment took trains to Folkstone
England, where it waited several day
for transport to Calais, France. VI
arrival at the channel port the outfi
was equipped with gas masks and ait
er spending several days at calais i
was moved by train to an area neal
Andriaue, France, where it underwent
six weeks course OF instruction un'
der experienced French and Englisf
officers. During this period the com
missioned and non-commissioned Of
|, ficers of the regiment were given ar
opportunity to visit the line under In
struction of British officers.
Becomes 18th Infantry.
1.-THE liberalization of the Nationa
Guard Of the various states throughou'
the Union necessitated change ir
the official designation of each unit,
writes an officer Of the 11Sth infantry
who is compiling material for a his
tory Of the unit, in describing the stay
Of the organization and its training al
Camp Sewer, Greenviile. "All combat
units were to be assembled into divi-
sions and numerically designated. l,
was in this manner that the First
South Carolina infantry became the
11Sth infantry, and as such, one of the
four infantry regiments OF the Thlr'
tieth division. Previous to the forma-
ton of the division the regiment had
been called into service to guard prop
erty throughout the state OF South
Carolina from April IL, 1917, until
July. The companies were scattered
throughout the state, as a general rule
guarding the railroad bridges and 9TH
er important property.
During the month of July the regi-
ment, with the exception OF the Sec
ond battalion, assembled ct Camp Sc
vier, Greenville, S. c., which was to be
its home for many long months. Ar
irving at the camp a camp site was
cleared, and before many days the
regular routine Of drill was started
again. Just about the time the camp
was put into excellent condition orders
were received to move to another one
about a mile distant, The new site
required quite lot OF work before II
could be turned into camp, as II
consisted of thick woods. The men
had cleared so mucl ground in the
past few months that they renamed
the regiment among themselves, call
ing it THE South Carolina Land and
Development Company"
Under the new organization the
strength Of an infantry regiment had
been increased to over 5000 men, each
line company to consist of ESQ line
men and seven officers. AS the total
strength Of the regiment was soou'
1900 men and fifty officers. it was
necessary for the regiment to be filled
to war strength as soon as possible
The dissolution Of the Fifty-hfth de-
pot brigade in October added several
hundred men from the old National
Guard Of North Carolina, South Caro-
lima and Tennessee. A very large con-
tfngent of men was sent from Camp
Jackson. which increased the strength
of the companies to an average OF
about 200. Later still another draft
was sent to fill the requirements, these
coming from Camp Dodge, Iowa. most
of them being from Iowa. the Dakotas
and Minnesota. Before their arrival
at least e5 per centum Of the regi-
ment consisted of men from South
Carolina, North Carolina and Tennes-
see, the majority of whom were from
South Carolina.
Undergo Intensive Training.
practically all the men that were
sent to the regiment know nothing al
all about the profession of soldering
A period Of training was started
which was to last through many
months, the result Of which was to
turn unframed civilians into trained
soldiers. Starting with the fundamen-
,al necessities taught every recruit
the schedule gradually progressed step
by step until the trained soldier ap'
neared as the final result. 1t is proba-
BILE that the weary months of training
will never be forgotten by the men OF
the regiment who spent many months
going through the same thing day aft
er day. For days and weeks without
end we struggled eight hours day or
the drill field, listening for the pleas
ant sound Of recall. Specialist schools
were established in order to teach us
the use of the modern weapons in use
on the western front. British ano
French instructors who had beer
through the real test Of war were as
signed to US as specialists. Schools
were established under their super
vision. the best pupil being selected te
teach other groups of men throughou
the regiment. Thorough courses were
given in bayonet fighting, the use o.
the automatic rifle, grenades and al
of the other weapons with which
modern infantry regiment fights.
"On January 1, 1918, Col. P. K. NC
Gully, regimental commander. ane
Lieut.. Col. T. B. Spratt were sent to
school in Texas. which had been es
tablished for officers Of high rank
During the temporary absence OF Col
McCully the regiment was under INT
command Of Col. H. A. Pattison' al
officer of the regular army. A sterI
disciplinarian, he earned the respec
and admiration Of all ranks by hi
wonderful ability to command as wei
as by his perfect judgment and apso
lutte fairness in all matters. The Is
of April saw the return Of Col. McCul
" and Lieut.. Col. Spratt, both OF whom
had completed the course OF instruc
ton.
| Depart for Overseas Duty.
while there are no doubt man!
things connected with the period o
training that will be remembered D!
Inv