Chevrons and Diamonds

1917-1918 57th Pioneer Infantry Regiment Uniform

4 minutes

1917-1918 57th Pioneer Infantry Regiment baseball uniform (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

With the Great War weeks from the Armistice, the 57^th Pioneer Infantry Regiment, consisting of the 700 men from the 1st Infantry Vermont National Guard and augmented with troops from Philadelphia, Chicago, and Tennessee, commenced a march from Camp Merritt, New Jersey. The evening of September 27, 1918, the regiment started their hour-long trek to the ferry dock where they would be transported down the Hudson Riber to Hoboken where the USS Leviathan awaited.

The war in Europe was raging in its fourth year with unprecedented numbers of casualties and death toll. The United States, had been in the fight for over a year and there seemed to be no end in sight with more troops and supplies headed over from the U.S. The 57^th Pioneer Infantry was trained and fitted out and ready to join the American Expeditionary Forces in France.

More than a century old, this WWI Army baseball uniform is in outstanding condition (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

On the night of September 27, 1918, the 3,400 men of the 57th began an hour’s march from Camp Merritt, New Jersey to where ferries waited to take them down the Hudson River to the Leviathan. Shortly after departing Merritt, numerous troops began falling out of ranks, unable to keep up with the regiment, complaining of fatigue and exhaustion.

With the full complement of the regiment aboard Leviathan with other troops, medical staff and ship’s company bringing the total aboard to more than 12,000, the ship departed September 29, bound for France as more men fell ill.

The six-panel, short bill ballcap bears the letter of “K” Company of the 57th Pioneer Infantry Regiment (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

“On Sept. 30 the Leviathan’s chief medical officer wrote, ‘Pools of blood from severe nasal hemorrhages of many patients were scattered throughout the compartments. The decks became wet and slippery, groans and cries of the terrified added to the confusion.’ The first death was recorded on Oct. 2. By Oct. 4 the chief medical officer wrote in his log, ‘Seven deaths during the day. The sea was rough and the ship rolled heavily. Hundreds of men were thoroughly miserable from seasickness and other hundreds who had been off the farm, but a few weeks were miserable from terror of the strange surroundings and the ravages of the influenza epidemic.’”[1]

The blue sun collar features sharp descending angles towards the top button. The dark green four hole concave buttons contrast against the gray flannel and navy pinstripes. Each armpit is provides some cooling with four circular vents (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

By the time the 57^th disembarked the ship after docking on October 7, approximately 90 men were dead from the Spanish flu and another 966 were evacuated to hospitals. During the five-mile march to their, still more sick men fell out of ranks. Of the 3,400 men of the 57^th, nearly 200 perished aboard ship or in French hospitals.

Dating to 1917-18, back numerals were not yet in use. Showing the details of the collar, sleeves and sun collar (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Sergeant Charles Francis Hart of Boston, Massachusetts, enlisted into the Vermont National Guard June 19, 1916, and was added to the U.S. Army’s active duty ranks the following year on July 26, 1917. Assigned to Company “K” of the 57^th Pioneer Infantry Regiment, Hart undoubtedly played for the regimental team in 1917 and 1918 before the unit headed for Europe.

The patch on the left breast bears silkscreened lettering with a red and blue concentric borders (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection)

This uniform, consisting of the jersey, trousers and ballcap, belonged to Sgt. Hart though details of unit games have yet to be uncovered in our research.

Sgt. Charles F. Hart, Company “K,” Vermont National Guard, circa 1916 (courtesy of Jeffrey Schnackenberg).

While the ballcap accompanied the uniform, it is apparent from the mismatched fabric that it was worn by Sgt. Hart with his Vermont National Guard baseball uniform, visible in the above photograph.

Uniform Features:

Jersey:

Buttons: Five green-colored plastic buttons , concave, four-hole.
Material: The base material is heavy gray wool-flannel with light blue pinstripes
Soutache: none.
Insignia: Five-inch diamond shaped, red and blue silk screen-on-felt patch, sewn to the left breast.
Numerals: none.
Sleeves: 15-inch, in-set, non-gusseted, vented.
Other features: Full blue sun-collar
Tag: No manufacturer’s information. Tag includes hand-inscribed information; original owner’s name, company, and regiment.

Trousers:

Buttons: Three white-colored plastic buttons , concave, four-hole.
Material: Heavy gray wool-flannel with light blue pinstripes
Soutache: None
Tags: No manufacturer’s information. Tag includes hand-inscribed information; original owner’s name, company, and regimen

Both garment tags (jersey on the left) include the player’s name, company and regiment: “C. Hart, Co. ‘K,’ 57th PN” (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

[1] The Brattleboro Historical Society, “Local History: Vermont soldiers face death and disease on the Leviathan,” Battleboro Reformer (Battleboro, VT) May 5, 2023