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The Commonwealth and the Great War

Off to War

Following United States entry into the war, the army designated Newport News and New York City as ports of embarkation. Norfolk, already a crowded port, was avoided. Newport News offered existing facilities and excellent rail transportation. Aboard nearly 600 troop and supply ships, 281,000 soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces left for Europe from Newport News. In addition, 4,133,873 tons of military supplies were shipped, along with 47,263 horses and mules. 

In addition to large-scale shipbuilding at Newport News Shipyard during the war, military bases and other support facilities sprang up across the Commonwealth. Virginia became a major site for the training and embarkation of soldiers destined for France. 

This article was featured in the Virginia Magazine of History & Biography, Vol. 126, No. 1 in connection with the The Commonwealth and the Great War exhibition.

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Private Harry Norman Witt
Among the Virginia doughboys was Private Harry Norman Witt, a twenty-five-year-old barber from Richmond, who served as an engineer in the Second Army, which was tasked with holding the line near Saint-Mihiel along the Lorraine front in France. In November 1918, the Second Army advanced toward Metz and launched a series of vigorous and successful attacks. Witt and the engineers worked to improve badly damaged roads that impeded supply efforts and slowed the progress of pushing back the German lines. (Virginia Museum of History & Culture, 1997.56.15)