Military Memories: Camp Merritt and America’s Rush to War – World War I
Ever hear of Camp Merritt?
Tucked away in Bergen County, NJ, it was the last stop for over a million American soldiers heading off to World War I.
They marched, climbed cliffs, rode ferries—and sailed into history.
Today, only a monument stands where a bustling army camp once launched a generation to war.
When President Woodrow Wilson stood before Congress on April 2, 1917, and asked for a declaration of war against Germany, the United States found itself woefully unprepared for the massive conflict raging in Europe. The country had maintained only a small standing army since the Civil War, and now faced the urgent task of raising, training, and transporting a new American Expeditionary Force to the battlefields of France.
The challenge was monumental. Training facilities and embarkation camps needed to be constructed almost overnight. Men had to be drafted, trained, equipped, and prepared for the unprecedented realities of trench warfare and modern industrialized combat.
America answered with remarkable speed and determination. Across the nation, massive camps sprang up. In New Jersey, Camp Dix (now Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst) was built in just sixty days to serve as a basic training hub. Meanwhile, along New York Harbor, the military established strategic assembly and embarkation points to move troops overseas. Among these were Camp Mills in Garden City and Camp Upton in Yaphank on Long Island. On the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, an equally vital hub was constructed: Camp Merritt, located between the towns of Cresskill and Dumont in Bergen County.
The Story of Camp Merritt
The site for Camp Merritt was carefully selected for its prime logistical advantage—it sat nestled between two major railroad lines, providing quick access for the steady flow of troops headed toward Europe. Controlled by the New York Port Authority, Camp Merritt became a vital processing center, handling over one million soldiers during the course of the war.
Troops who had completed basic training at places like Camp Dix or Camp Upton were sent to Camp Merritt to await transport. Here, final preparations were made—medical inspections, inoculations, equipment checks, and last-minute briefings. Then came the call they had been waiting for: a troop ship was ready at the port of Hoboken.
The journey to the waiting ships was not as simple as boarding a train or bus. Once notified, soldiers marched to the edge of the towering Palisades cliffs, descending steep pathways to Alpine Landing along the Hudson River. From there, they boarded New York Harbor ferryboats, cruising south along the river to Hoboken, where troopships bobbed at their moorings, ready to ferry them across the Atlantic to the uncertainty and violence of the Western Front.
America’s Citizen Soldiers
The regular U.S. Army in 1917 was small and stretched thin. The new American force would rely heavily on draftees and National Guard units called to federal service. Among the most notable were New Jersey and Pennsylvania’s 78th “Lightning” Division and New York’s legendary “Fighting 69th” Infantry Regiment, made famous in Irish-American lore.
These troops, many fresh from farms, cities, and towns across America, lacked the polish and experience of seasoned European armies. What they lacked in training, however, they made up for with sheer determination, camaraderie, and a fierce sense of duty. Their sacrifices were enormous. At battles like the Somme, where over three million men fought and one million were wounded or killed, American divisions suffered devastating casualties—but their efforts turned the tide of the war.
The Legacy of Camp Merritt
When the guns fell silent in November 1918, Camp Merritt’s purpose ended. It officially closed soon after the war’s conclusion, and its wooden barracks and headquarters buildings were dismantled or repurposed.
Today, the memory of Camp Merritt is preserved by a solitary but striking monument: a 65-foot tall obelisk standing in the middle of a busy traffic circle in Cresskill. Erected in 1924 and dedicated the following year, the monument honors the 41,000 troops who passed through Camp Merritt and never returned home. General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during the war, gave the keynote address at the dedication ceremony, recognizing the Camp’s critical role in the American war effort.
While few physical traces of Camp Merritt remain, its history endures—a reminder of the immense effort required to transform a nation from peace to war, and of the men and women who answered the call during one of the most transformative periods in American history.
