Camp MacArthur (1)

Camp MacArthur (1) (1917-1919) - A World War I National Guard Mobilization Camp first established in 1917 near Waco, McLennan County, Texas. Named Camp MacArthur in G.O. 95, 18 Jul 1917, after Lt. General Arthur MacArthur, who dedicated the site. Abandoned in 1919. Camp MacArthur Panorama 9 Apr 1918 World War I (1917-1918) One of sixteen National Guard Training Camps established in 1917 to train World War I National Guard units and organize them into Federal divisions. The Camp was established in 1917 under the supervision of construction quartermaster Major Matthew Hanson on a site of about 1,377 acres. The reservation encompassed some 10,700 acres. The camp was to have a capacity of 45,000 men. It was complete in November 1917 at an eventual cost of $4,500,000. The first commander of the Camp was Major General James Parker who formed the 32nd U.S. Infantry Division and organized the training of the troops. The first elements of the 32nd arrived at Camp MacArthur in August 1917 and departed for France in January 1918. The 32nd distinguished itself in France earning the name "Les Terribles" for their successful, tenacious attacks on enemy positions. The division suffered 13,261 casualties with 2,250 killed, more than 800 officers and enlisted men were decorated by foreign governments. The 32nd came home and was inactivated on 5 Apr 1919. At the end of the war Camp MacArthur became a demobilization center until it was abandoned on 15 May 1919. Current Status Marker only in Waco, McLennan County, Texas. Location: Intersection of Park Lake Dr. and N 19 St. in Waco, McLennan County, Texas. Map point is the marker, supposedly at the site of the Camp headquarters, now in a H.E.B. parking lot. Maps & Images Lat: 31.580378 Long: -97.172574 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: ......' Sources: Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 768 Ayres, Leonard Porter, The War with Germany: A Statistical Summary, U.S. War Department, 2nd Ed, 1919, 147 pages Rinaldi, Richard A., The US Army in World War I - Orders of Battle, Tiger Lily Publications LLC, 2004, 244 pages Brief Histories of Divisions, U.S. Army: 1917-1918, U.S.A. General Staff, June 1921, 92 pages Morden, Lt. Colonel Earle B., The Work of the Construction Division of the United States Army from Coast to Coast, 1917-1919, The Journal of the Engineers' Club of Philadelphia, Vol XXXVII-3, March 1920, No. 184, (Google Books) Links: North American Forts - Camp MacArthur Wikipedia - Camp MacArthur Texas Handbook On Line - Camp MacArthur Waymarking.com - Camp MacArthur New River Notes - World War I Forces Visited: No