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

"Well I will see you Christmas for sure...I would not of come but I knew you would have a conniption fit if I didn’t." In his twelfth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, writes that he expects to be home for Christmas for three or four days. He wants the visit to be a...

"Believe me we have some bad mules here. We have one we call dynamite nitro glycerin. It takes four or five men to harness him..." In his eleventh letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, writes wistfully (on Thanksgiving Day, 1917) about hearing the "hounds running and the...

"You wanted to know what I was going to do Thanksgiving. I am going to get my teeth fixed. I got one pulled. I only have two to fix." In his tenth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, writes that he still isn't sure if he'll get furlough a few days later for Thanksgivin...

"Guarding is the only thing i don't like in the army. I tell you a fellow get lonesome tramping the post." In his fourth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, dated November 24, 1917, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle, about how several infantry men (including a Wheeling friend named Walter Toland) were moved to a new barracks, giving...

"I will wait and see if I have to go to France but I have begin to think I will never get to go over..." In his ninth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, writes about his dinner of fresh pork and tomato catsup, how hot it remains in Virginia, his mule driving prowess,...

In his eighth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, writes about how he hopes to be home for Christmas, how he is driving two pairs of mules, a fellow mule driver from West Liberty named Calvin Davis, how fine the weather has been, and a few other odds and ends about eve...

"If you could see this training camp you would not think Germany would last long..." In his seventh letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, writes, rather humorously, about his adventures in guard duty, including encounters with a soldier who refused to wear his uniform an...

For content, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle’s third letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, dated November 2, 1917, is one of the best in this series. In it, he tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle, about how training camp has made him bigger and stronger and how it has changed their brother-in-law Lester into a “brute of a man.” Dutch expresses his concerns about having to go to France now that the "Ger...

In his sixth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, informs his sister that rumors of his illness and hospitalization are “a bad mistake.” In fact, he feels better that he ever has in his life. He discusses a recreational trip away from camp during which many games were p...

In his fifth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, discusses his first five weeks at Camp Lee. Topics include how much he enjoys driving mules (he's been given a steady job hauling supplies for $3 per month), how taking care of the mules reminds him of caring for his col...

In his fourth letter home from Camp Lee to his sister Minnie Riggle, Lester Scott describes, somewhat boastfully, the details of his rather filling dinner, his eagerness to be sent to France to the war, and his prowess at guard duty. While the other men are homesick, Lester declares himself "very well contented." A World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, Lester Scott was drafted in 1917...

In his second letter home, dated October 20, 1917, PFC Charles "Dutch" Riggle tells his brother James about the drilling at Camp Lee, how farming suits him better than Army life, how he misses the sounds of the fox hunts, and how everything is overpriced at camp. Charles "Dutch" Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volun...

A World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers were trained. Scott served as a Wagoner (mule team driver) in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his letter home from Camp Lee, September 30, 1917. Digital scans and a...

A World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers were trained. Scott served as a Wagoner (mule team driver) in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his letter home from Camp Lee, September 30, 1917. Digital scans and a...

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, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his letter home, September 29, 1917...

World War I soldiers from Wheeling, West Virginia, Lester Scott and Charles "Dutch" Riggle were drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia. Lester Scott served as a Wagoner (mule team driver) in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. Dutch Riggle was a PFC with the same unit. These are their letters home. Digital scans and a transcript of...