The Transcontinental Motor Convoys were two US Army convoys that crossed the United States from Washington, DC to the west coast. But the same fertile, well-watered topsoil that brought prosperity to the Hawkeye state caused serious problems for cars and tracks. The U.S. Army's success in the war is directly attributable to the exploits of a convoy that trucked across America in 1919. The 1919 U.S. Army Convoy In 1919, the U.S. Army Convoy of 72 vehicles and 297 men traveled across the United States to test roads and military mobility. I'm so thankful highway conditions have improved over the past 100 years. The convoy could also be used for recruitment purposes. July 22, 1919 With more than two-thirds of its transcontinental journey remaining, the U.S. Army’s Cross-Country Motor Transport Train completed the Illinois portion of the trip. When the convoy arrived in San Francisco on September 6, 1919, the U.S. Army Motor Transport Corps had established a world’s record in long-distance heavy motor transport. The U.S. Army’s 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy makes its way through Salt Lake City, Utah, on its way from Washington D.C. to San Francisco. Parade-like scenes like this were common in every city that the Motor Transport Corps Convoy passed through. The convoy was organized by the U.S. Army to demonstrate the motorized capability of the armed forces in the shadow of World War I. The convoy - consisting of 81 vehicles, including 31 heavy cargo trucks, 4 kitchen trailers, a wrecker, 4 motorcycles and 5 ambulances – made its way westward over … Trucks foundered in mud, crashed through wooden bridges, and got beaten to pieces on byways barely better than trails. Quick to take advantage of good times, automobile salesmen convinced one farmer after another of the utility of motor vehicles. The expedition consisted of eighty-one motorized Army vehicles that crossed the United States from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, a venture covering a distance of 3,251 miles in 62 days. 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy In the summer of 1919, a young Lieutenant Colonel named Dwight D. Eisenhower participated in the first Army transcontinental motor convoy. At a July 13, 1919, stop of the convoy in Columbiana, Ohio, participants (from left, right photo) William Stuhler, Major Brett, Paul V. Robinson, and Dwight D. Eisenhower relax. With this goal, they had no idea how bad some roads would be. THE 1919 ARMY CONVOY IN IOWA . 1 To test this idea, the War Department assembled the first Army transcontinental motor convoy in 1919, with Major Dwight D. Eisenhower as one of its officers. seltzered_ 3 hours ago. The trip from Washington D.C. to San Francisco, was considered a major accomplishment Following the large scale mobilization of World War I, the U.S. War Department believed highways would play an important national defense role in the future. reply. The U.S. Army in World War II, just 20 years later, was fully motorized with trucks, trailers, scout cars, tanks, and armored personnel carriers at a time when even the mighty German Army still relied heavily on horse transport. 1919 Army Convoy film, Part II September 04, 2019 in Old Movies , Sierra Nevada History , Lincoln Highway Here is the second installment of the 1919 Army convoy film showing the run from just outside Placerville, to Stockton, Oakland, and finally two ferries to San Francisco. Michael Owen, author of [After Ike: On the Trail of the Century-Old Journey that Changed America], provides commentary for a 1919 U.S. Army silent film documenting a transcontinental motor convoy. “In 1919 the US Army decided to plan and execute a motor convoy of various military vehicles across the country on the newly formed Lincoln Highway,” the MVPA says. But the same fertile, well-water- ed topsoil that brought prosperity to the Hawkeye state caused serious problems for cars and trucks. The "truck train" was launched to test the challenges involved in moving an army … In the 1950s, with memories of that trip vivid in his mind, President Eisenhower suc The Transcontinental Motor Convoys were early 20th century vehicle convoys, including three US Army truck trains, that crossed the United States (one was coast-to-coast) to the west coast. By Kyle Mizokami. 1 talking about this. 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