Abstract
“From Guardsmen to Doughboys: The Lynchburg Musketeers in World War I” traces the development of a local company of men from Lynchburg, Virginia, that went from the National Guard to the U.S. Army during World War I. The Lynchburg Musketeers was a small militia organized in the fall of 1915 that became Company L of the National Guard’s 1st Virginia Infantry Regiment in the summer of 1916. The article centers around the firsthand account of Edley Craighill, a member of the Lynchburg Musketeers, in his 1931 work, The Musketeers. After training in Lynchburg and service on the Mexican border in 1916, Company L of the 1st Virginia Infantry Regiment became Company L of the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division of the U.S. Army in 1917. The 29th trained at Camp McClellan near Anniston, Alabama, before being sent to France in the summer of 1918. Company L fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive later that year under the command of Captain Alfred D. Barksdale, one of the original officers of the Lynchburg Musketeers. Some of the Musketeers, like Craighill, served in the 80th Division. The 80th trained at Camp Lee, near Petersburg, Virginia, before being sent to France in the spring of 1918. First Lieutenant Craighill's 317th Infantry in the 80th Division also participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The article argues that the Lynchburg Musketeers were better off than many of their countrymen in World War I because they had the advantages of early training, experience in the National Guard in 1916, and being able to face the hell of war alongside comrades from their hometown.
Area of Specialization
Humanities
Recommended Citation
Brophy, Timothy W.
(2025)
"From Guardsmen to Doughboys: The Lynchburg Musketeers in World War I,"
Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship: Vol. 12, Article 7.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/montview/vol12/iss1/7
