CAMP WHEELER
by
S. Michael Maffeo

WW I:

During World War One, the city fathers in Macon wanted an army camp located here. To that end, they enlisted the aid of Harry Stillwell Edwards, the famous local author and poet. After agreeing to help, Edwards traveled to New York in an attempt to meet with General Leonard Wood who was in charge of the selection process at that time. Edwards enlisted the aid of his friend Teddy Roosevelt who wrote a note of introduction on a personal calling card. General Wood came to Macon in May of 1917 to make a final choice of a farm named Holly Bluff.

The camp was named for Joseph Wheeler (9/10/1836-1/25/1906) who was born in Augusta Georgia. Wheeler, a 1859 West Point graduate, had the distinction of serving as a Lt. General in the Confederate Army and Construction began in July of 1917 with quarters for the troops being tents over wooden floors. In December 1918 the camp was ordered closed.

WW II:

In 1940, prudence dictated that America increase its military training. Accordingly, on October 12, 1940, Congressman Carl Vinson's office announced that Camp Wheeler would be rebuilt and was scheduled to be ready for operation by March 15, 1941. The campšs first commander was Colonel A. R. Emery for whom Emery Highway was later named. Although nearly one-third smaller in area (14,394) than the World War I facility, the construction was to be far more substantial. Where wooden floors and tents had been the order of the day during the first world war, steel reinforced concrete foundations topped with wooden buildings were the new standards. The total cost of construction was reported to be $13,550,485.

The camp had a housing capacity for about 24,603 enlisted men and 1,290 officers. Many of the men working on the huge Great Depression-era archeological projects at nearby Ocmulgee National Monument were reassigned to Camp Wheeler.

Construction eventually included facilities to house approximately two thousand Prisoners of War. There were also twenty-four branch camps for the POWs in Georgia, with eight of those located in the central Georgia area under the auspices of Camp Wheeler. At one time, the number of prisoners stationed at the Wheeler Camp and its branch camps was about 4,700. At the height of the operation, there were regular Wheeler branch camps at Monticello, Ashburn, Waynesboro, Daniels Field, and Dublin. Seasonal work camps were established at Griffin, Sandersville, Fitzgerald, and Hawkinsville. Some prisoners worked as mechanics, typewriter experts, and tailors, but most worked as laborers in the sawmill or farm areas. They accrued wages at a rate of about eighty cents per day.

Camp Wheeler was built as an infantry replacement center, requiring that troops be trained in virtually all types of small arms used by the military at the time. The troops thus trained could be sent anywhere they were needed by Camp Wheeler's importance to America's war effort can, perhaps, best be proved by the fact that in 1942 German spies confessed that Camp Wheeler was one facility they had concentrated on before their capture. On December 15, 1945, the last graduation parade was held with Pvt. Edward A. Winarski of Baltimore, MD, being the last graduate. The camp was officially closed January 19, 1946.

EPILOGUE:

Although silent for the most part since 1946, the sound of competitive rifle fire echoed over the Robert Toombs Range one last time in 1992 during the 11th annual Adolph Coors Scheutzenfest. The Scheutzenfest, a target shooting contest involving antique designed single shot rifles and cast lead bullets fired at 200 yards, was held by the Macon Rifle and Pistol Club as part of that year's Cherry Blossom Festival.

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