Camp Lee (3)
HistoryEstablished in May 1898 soon after the declaration of war for the Spanish American War. Among the first set of troops to be called up were West Virginia National Guardsmen reorganized into the 1st West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The West Virginia Adjutant General’s Office issued General Orders No. 1 dated 2 May 1898. The order called for the formation of a volunteer infantry regiment at Camp Lee, in Kanawha City near Charleston, West Virginia. The unit was mustered between 7 May and 14 May 1898 at Camp Lee. By 14 May, the various companies had been organized and the regiment was mustered into U.S. Service. Brig. Gen. Spilman accepted a commission as colonel of the new regiment. At the time of the muster-in, the regiment consisted of 46 officers and 964 enlisted men. Reportedly Camp Lee was unpopular with locals due to significant disorganization and dysfunction at the site. On 16 May 1898, the regiment left by train for Chickamauga Park, Georgia. They arrived at Chattanooga, Tennessee, on 19 May 1898. The next day the regiment moved to an area in the Chickamauga Battlefield Park that had been designated as Camp George H. Thomas. Here, many of the troops came down with Typhoid fever from contaminated drinking water and unsanitary living conditions. Current StatusNo Visible Remains.
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