For just 75 days in the winter and spring of 1918, officers and enlisted men of Companies C, D, and F of the Second Battalion 304th Engineers Brigade 79th Division called the farmland surrounding Mt. Air home. Mrs. George Kernan, the widowed owner of the property allowed the soldiers to camp on her sprawling farm while they built a railroad spur from Accotink Station to Fort A.A. Humphreys- today’s Fort Belvoir, and it was for her the camp was given its nickname- “Camp Merry Widow.”
(photo courtesy Fairfax County Public Library’s VA Room)
At Mt. Air the companies set up Sibley stoves, kitchens, stables, and tents as well as boardwalks over the seemingly bottomless mud. Tents were arranged in three “streets” one for each company headed by the tent of their company commander. There were a further two rows of tents for officers and headquarters.
Mt. Air’s location, about midway between Accotink Station and the Village of Accotink (which the soldiers playfully nicknamed “Acco-stink” and “Hinky-Dink”) was a pleasant one. It contained gently sloping land bordered on one side by a creek and the surrounded by fields. From the officer’s tents, the stately Mt. Air mansion could be viewed. While some soldiers called the camp “Camp Merry Widow” in honor of Mrs. Kernan’s kind loan of her property, others gave it the grittier moniker of “Camp Mud.”
The work of building the railroad spur commenced with the clearing of trees, the building of trestles, filling of steep ravines and grading steep slopes. It was soon clear that the heavy work of building the railroad would also require that the muddy, lightly traveled farm roads in the area be repaired and improved for supplies and men to be sent to and from Camp Humphrey.
By April, the railroad was nearing completion and the men rejoiced as spring overtook what had been an especially harsh winter. “They made a pretty sight, those tents, viewed from the top of the hill. In the sunlight, the six rows of white pyramids gleamed against the green of the fields and trees; and at night the lamps and candles shining through gave them a glow of cheer. With the returning sun, the mud commenced to dry. With the return of spring came everywhere- green! O, how green!” (Foltz, 1920)
The Engineer’s time at “Camp Merry Widow” was over on April 14, 1918 and they were sent back to their headquarters at Camp Meade in Maryland. After further training there, the 304th was sent to France in July 1918.
It was the job of the 304th to maintain roads, repair railways, and create safe passage for soldiers and all of their associated artillery, supplies, and equipment. They were expected to do this through barbed wire, over trenches, and into a no-mans land of woods that had been denuded and devastated by heavy shelling, and while under enemy fire.
They took part in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive- the largest and deadliest campaign in American history, resulting in 26,000 soldiers being killed in action and 120,000 total casualties. More than 14,000 of these soldiers lay buried at the American military cemetery in Romagne.
Film courtesy U.S. National Archives https://catalog.archives.gov/id/24907
Though an armistice was agreed to in November of 1918, the 304th remained in France for another year repairing roads, bridges, and railroads between towns that had seen heavy shelling and repeated occupation throughout the war. Finally, in 1919, the 304th was sent home.
The railroad near Mt. Air has since been added to the Virginia Landmark’s Register in recognition of its service in providing support for military readiness during WWI and beyond. Today, in acknowledgement of Veteran’s Day, we recognize the service of the 304th Engineers 79th Division and all of those who have served.
References:
https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww1/meuse-argonne
https://www.army.mil/article/33827/mount_air_former_homestead_tied_to_fort_belvoir_history
The Official History of the Three Hundred and Fourth Engineer Regiment, Seventy-ninth Division, U.S.A.: During the World War. United States: Press of Steinman & Foltz, 1920.
Fort Belvoir Military Railroad Historic Corridor
No Man’s Land – once a forest in “Flander’s Fields,” c.1919, Library of Congress, //www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006677392/
C.A.R.T. Archaeology 