Photo By Michael Strasser | The Hogsback served as the command post site for largescale training maneuvers in 1908...... read more read more
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (April 8, 2025) -- If you’re not familiar with the Hogsback or have never seen this historic Fort Drum landmark, you are probably not alone. That’s because it no longer exists … sort of.
Back in the early 1900s, during the post’s Pine Camp era, the term Hogsback was all over the local newspapers and spoken about quite frequently among the Soldiers training here.
The geological term “hogback” refers to a long, narrow ridge of land with a sharp summit and steeply sloping sides. Produced by the eroded broken edges of tilted strata, it resembles the outline of a hog’s back.
The Hogsback was the location of Maj. Gen. Frederick Dent Grant’s headquarters during the 1908-1910 maneuvers at Pine Camp.
In the June 17, 1908, edition of The Watertown Re-Union, an article referred to it as both “Hog’s Back” and “Hogsback.” It stated:
“From his headquarters on the hill a view is gained of the whole camp. Far below him stretch tents and temporary buildings. At the right of the headquarters are the hospital tents. The ‘hogsback’ is an elevation about two miles from the railroad. It is a comparatively high elevation for that part of the country and commands a view for miles.”
A day later, as reported in The Sun newspaper, a sudden storm struck camp. It was estimated that winds blew 60 mph for several minutes, which uprooted tent poles and sent tents flying.
“On the top of the Hogsback, a knoll which overlooks the entire encampment, and on which was pitched the tents of General Frederick Dent Grant and his staff, the greatest damage was done. General Grant’s tent was one of the first to go down before the wind.”
Grant was inside his tent with the inspector general when the canvas fell upon them, and then the wind lifted the tent and carried it down the hill. Some Soldiers were severely injured in the storm – one had both of his shoulders dislocated, while another nearly lost an ear.
Despite this early calamity, the Hogsback was an ideal location for a training exercise. Take, for instance, this excerpt from the Watertown Daily Times in July 1910:
“Major General Fred D. Grant, U.S.A.,commanding the department of the east, arrived at camp at 10 in the morning and at once went to the “hogsback,” where his headquarters are established.
‘Yes, I believe this is a fine site for a maneuver camp,’ he said. ‘I am perfectly satisfied with it as I picked out the headquarters site myself. I have every reason to believe that this year the camp will be a great success.’”
According to this report, Grant said there would be a “grand maneuver” every 10 days where Soldiers could work out field problems. The article makes note that off-site vendors would not be allowed to “infest the camp” and peddle their souvenirs and goods, but the arrival of troops to Pine Camp would still provide a boost to the local economy.
Daily provisions were trucked into post early in the morning from Watertown to the quartermaster and commissary tents. One business provided 160,000 pounds of potatoes and 50,000 pounds of onions, while a bakery in Syracuse furnished 20 pounds of yeast. The Armour meat house filled an order for 7,000 pounds of beef daily.
And to keep formations of troops hydrated, the entire camp was piped for water from two large springs more than a mile from camp. Pumped into a 60,000-gallon tank located on the Hogsback, it also supplied water for the wooden shower stalls.
The Hogsback is referenced in nearly every news report about Pine Camp training in this time period, such as this Watertown Daily Times article from April 8, 1921:
"One of the features of the camp is the “hogsback,” a half mile ridge soaring above the plain. On this ridge is located the huge water tank which supplies the camp, the water being piped from springs.
An article in the Utica Observer (Aug. 11, 1911), reported:
"The Hogsback faces the great plain over which are spread the tents accommodating more than 5,000 guardsmen. This morning the 3rd Brigade made a concentrated assault on the Hogsback, which was defended by the 74th and 3rd Regiments of the 4th Brigade. The battle was conducted with all the accoutrements of war, excepting that the ammunition furnished the regiments was blank. The assault was made from the western end of the plain, facing the ridge. The field artillery, the signal corps and all the guardsmen in camp were called into service."
For years after, the Hogsback continued to be a significant site at Pine Camp, where commanders, dignitaries, and journalists took in the panoramic view while observing training and ceremonies. The newly activated 4th Armored Division conducted military maneuvers on the Hogsback in 1941 and trained at Pine Camp for 16 months.
The Hogsback is hardly mentioned these days, unless you happen to spot the exhibit inside the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum Museum, or it is referenced by a member of the Fort Drum Cultural Resource Branch in a lecture or presentation. And the reason for this is because this once-prized piece of terrain became obsolete as Fort Drum grew, and developed larger, more advanced training sites.
In the mid-1980s, a portion of the Hogsback was removed during the Fort Drum expansion project and used for fill in barracks construction. What remains is now a protected archaeological site and an indelible part of Fort Drum history.
| Date Taken: | 04.08.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.08.2025 08:55 |
| Story ID: | 494813 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 13 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Around and About Fort Drum: The Hogsback, by Michael Strasser, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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