Camp Kingsville, U.S.A.
Kingsville, Kleberg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1915 - 1917) Established in September 1915 by Lt. Joseph Dorst Patch, acting under orders of the United States Army during the troubles on the Mexican border. This camp served as the operational base for companies K, L and M of the 26th Infantry, U.S. Army. These units were detailed to defend the Armstrong, Kenedy and King ranches and the rail line from San Antonio to Norias against raids by Mexican insurgents striking north of the Rio Grande. Early in 1917, this camp was visited by the U.S. border commander, Gen. John J. Pershing, who later that year chose men of the 26th Infantry to become a vanguard regiment of the now famous First Division, American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. With departure of the chosen troops, bound for France, Camp Kingsville was closed. Joseph Dorst Patch, born December 8, 1885, at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., enlisted in 1909 and was commissioned in 1911. He married Minerva King of Agua Dulce. He served in two world wars, and was awarded the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star, and the Order of the Bath (British). Retired in 1945 as a major general, he turned to writing as a vocation. His home was in Corpus Christi, where he died November 21, 1966. Incise on back: Plaque dedicated to Memory of Joseph Dorst Patch, Major general, U.S. Army,... soldier, humanitarian, patriot.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the fall of 1915, as raids spilled north across the Rio Grande during the Mexican Revolution, the U.S. Army pitched Camp Kingsville to shield the great South Texas ranches and the San Antonio rail line. For two years its infantry companies patrolled a tense borderland; then in 1917 General Pershing tapped the 26th Infantry's men to help form the First Division, and the camp emptied as they shipped for France. Its founder, Joseph Dorst Patch, went on to a decorated career across two world wars, retiring as a major general.
Why it matters
The camp links two chapters of American military history — the troubled Mexican border of the 1910s and the nation's first great deployment to Europe in World War I — on a single patch of Texas ground.
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Related people
- · Joseph Dorst Patch
- · John J. Pershing
Related events
- · Mexican border troubles
- · World War I
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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