A state with a strong martial tradition, South Carolina provided as many soldiers for Great War service as the state had for the Confederate army a half-century earlier. With America’s entry into the First World War, the state once more underwent a mobilization of manpower and resources of titanic proportions.

 In 1917 as the United States entered the great European war, the nation accepted unprecedented alliances with European powers and took on a new and daunting role on the world stage. For the state of South Carolina, the federalization of its national guard and the state’s commitment to the national war effort were also drastic steps and a shift of perspective from regional to international affairs.