At the 11th Hour...

The allied representatives at the signing of the armistice. Ferdinand Foch, second from right, seen outside his railway carriage in the forest of Compiègne.

Armistice

By 1918, war had been raging in Europe for four years. Thankfully, the end of 1918 would also mark the beginning of the end of the war. In a railway car in the middle of the Compiègne forest. At the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month in 1918, Allied representatives met with German representatives and signed the Armistice that would cease the fighting and mark the defeat of the German Army. The U.S. would suffer nearly 100,000 killed servicemen while the Allies racked up a colossal death toll of nearly 6 million servicemen killed. All told, the war accounted for a staggering estimated total of nearly 20 million killed.

Treaty

While many believe that the Armistice ended The Great War in 1918, in reality the official end of World War I did not come until the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28^th, 1919. One of the reasons for the delay of the Treaty was because several of the Allied powers could not come to an agreement on many of the terms of surrender to be presented to Germany. Once everything was finalized, Germany reluctantly accepted an unconditional surrender which resulted in very harsh terms including reimbursing all of the nations involved, and surrendering all land that they had gained during the war. These harsh, and argued by some as excessive, terms coupled with the lingering humiliation from losing the war would have lasting effects for Germans. Only two decades later, a newly-arisen Germany led by a WWI veteran would initiate yet another all-encompassing global war when they invaded Poland on September 1^st, 1939.

Deactivations and Discharges

The end of hostilities meant the imminent end of military cantonments in the U.S., including Camp Sherman. The Army wasted little time in deactivating soldiers upon war's end. Five days after the Armistice, it was announced that 12,000 men would be discharged from Camp Sherman. Saturday, November 30^th was proclaimed Chillicothe Day and residents and soldiers celebrated the end of the war and honored service members for their service during the Great War. By December 4^th, men were leaving Camp Sherman at the rate of 1,500 per day. With the exception of the injured and sick who remained at the hospital, all discharges were complete by July 16th, 1920.

Even though the soldiers of Camp Sherman were gone by the end of 1920, the buildings remained. The War Department began dismantling buildings and selling the wood as surplus. Many homes in Chillicothe were built from this surplus wood and still stand today. Some of the land remained federally-owned with a portion being the grounds of the Chillicothe Veteran's Hospital Group and a small portion appropriated as Mound City Group National Monument (now Hopewell Culture National Historical Park). The only building remaining from the nearly 2,000 that comprised Camp Sherman is the camp library. Visitors to Hopewell Culture NHP can clearly see the building (currently painted white) across the street from the park. It is located west off of State Route 104 and north of Moundsville Road. You can also view the large stone pillars from the entrances to the Camp, as well. One set is located south of the park at Wharf St. and High St. (S.R. 104). The other set is located north of the park at the northern entrance to the VA medical center off of State Route 104. Although the physical remnants of Camp Sherman are all but gone, the legacy and contributions from Camp Sherman remain and live on.

Camp Library - Then & Now

Left image
Camp Sherman Library, c.1918
Credit: Ohio History Connection

Right image
Former camp library building now used as storage building on state prison property.
Credit: google maps