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Published by [Camp Douglas, Az, 1915
Seller: William Reese Company - Americana, New Haven, CT, U.S.A.
Panoramic silver gelatin photograph, 8 x 32¾ inches. Matted and framed. Minor dust- soiling, some foxing at right, a handful of tiny surface abrasions. Overall, very good. An intriguing "yard-long" panoramic photograph showing a handful of men and supplies, likely belonging to the Sixth Field Artillery at Douglas, Arizona around 1915. A pencil notation in the bottom margin identifies the location as "Douglas, Ariz." and the supplies are similar to those found in another Camp Douglas encampment photograph held by this firm. The foreground captures about a dozen large gauge artillery guns on wooden wagon wheels, likely officer's quarters atop the hill, and then hundreds of tents arranged in tight quarters in the valley below for as far as the eye can see. The photograph captures important details on the organization and supplies necessary for training troops in the American army during the early 20th-century. Military records indicate the regiment training at Douglas at this time was the Sixth Field Artillery, shortly before they participated in the Mexican Expedition of 1916-17, designed to defeat Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution. The regiment would soon after fold into the First Expeditionary Division (later the First Infantry Division) - known to history as the Big Red One - during World War I. Soldiers who had come from the Sixth Field Artillery to the First Infantry Division would see action in France, specifically Lorraine and Picardy, in 1917 and 1918. An important view of military organization in the early decades of the last century, before mechanized vehicles became the norm in war.