COL. Sam's Bomb Shell

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Col Sam’s Bomb Shell, 16th Engineer Regiment

" a memorable award for a momentous occasion"

"The shell casing is 32 inches high and 15 1/2 inches in diameter and weighs an estimated 50 to 60 pounds. It was presented to Lt. Col. Sam Robertson by C Co. 22 Engineers LR. Also engraved are the names of more than 200 World War One soldiers who were member's of C Company"^[1]

Colonel Sam A. Robertson in 1916 served as a scout for Gen. Pershing's army when it went into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa. On this assignment, he was captured, dragged behind a horse, beaten, and left for dead. After recovering, he joined the United States Army. In 1917 he organized and commanded the Sixteenth Engineers, one of the first regiments to go to France. He was repeatedly cited for competence in building light rail lines to the front trenches under shell fire.

The First Army was established on 10 August 1918 as a field army when sufficient American military manpower had arrived in France during World War I. During the initial phase (26 September-3-October) of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive the First Army advanced through most of the southern Meuse-Argonne region, captured enemy strong points and seized the first two German defense lines.^[2]

Big Bertha was captured by First American Army in the advance of Oct. 1st, 1918. The gun, purported to be the 42-cm M-Gerät howitzer of Austrian make, was located and taken possession by C Co. 22 Engineers LR. C Co.

On October 2nd. COL. Sam was promoted to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel and placed in the command of the 22nd Engineers.

The 22nd Engineers were a Light Rail construction regiment (U.S.Army) organized March 1918 at Camp Sheridan Alabama (or Fort Benjamin Harrison?) and immediately sent to France. They were with the 1st Army from September to November 1918. They returned home in June 1919 and were demobilized in July 1919 at Camp Zachary Taylor Kentucky. ^[3]

Presently we have no information as to when and where this engraved relic was presented to COL Sam.

“C Co. 22 Engineers LR. also dismounted & loaded the gun on artillery trucks to be transported by light railway to standard gauge railhead for transportation to America where it will be re-erected at West Point Military Academy.”

Two Big Berthas were captured by the US Army at the end of the war in 1918. One was taken to the United States and evaluated at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. The gun was later placed on display at the United States Army Ordnance Museum,^[4] and scrapped at the end of World War II.^[5]

Sam was promoted to full colonel before his discharge in 1919.

The engraving says:

Presented to Lt. Col. By C Co. 22 Engineers LR

“This shell case was fired by Big Bertha. The projectile being hurled on the defenses of Verduum. Gun was located at Donive aux Meuse. Gun was captured by First American Army in the advance of Oct. 1st 1918 Gun was located and taken possession by C Co. 22 Engineers LR. C Co. also dismounted & loaded the gun on artillery trucks to be transported by light railway to standard gauge railhead for transportation to America where it will be re-erected at West Point Military Academy. Barrel of gun weighs thirty tons. It's a Howitzer of Austrian type."

When COL. Sam built his home in San Benito raids by Mexican Bandits were not uncommon. The house was actually a small fortress with its own dug well in the inner patio courtyard in case of a siege. For years the bombshell casing was a fixture on that patio. After COL. Sam's death in 1938 the bombshell casing went missing.

In 1964 Commander Tony Kashouty of San Benito's Sam Jackson American Legion Post received a phone call from someone stating that there was a big old shell at the Rio Hondo junk pile that might be important to San Benito history. Commander Kashouty saved the shell from the melting pot and it was displayed for a while at the local Legion Hall.

click image to enlarge

Presently the World War One Relic is in the possession of the San Benito Historical Society and on display at 210 E. Heywood, San Benito, TX

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Acknowledgements

San Benito Historical Society • 210 E. Heywood, San Benito, TX 78586 • (956) 399-9991

• http://www.sanbenitohistory.com/index.html

Special thanks to Tootie Madden, Sandra Tumberlinson, Truella Haynes, Wilson Bourgeois, and Rick Bryant. Accurately transcribing the inscriptions was not an easy task.

Engraved Names

Sources

1. ↑ The San Benito News, April 1, 1963, San Benito, Texas
2. ↑ http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/wwi.html
3. ↑ [https://books.google.com/books?id=vsoh_fBkAtwC&pg=PA177 The Us Army In World War I: Orders Of Battle By Richard A. Rinald] page 177
4. ↑ Konrad F. Schreier, Jr.: The World War I "Brummer" in 'Museum Ordnance: The Magazine for the U.S. Army Ordnance Museum', November 1992
5. ↑ William G. Dooly (1969). Great Weapons of World War I. Walker. p. 52.

• The First Army

• The San Benito News, April 1, 1963, San Benito, Texas

• The Us Army In World War I: Orders Of Battle By Richard A. Rinald page 177

• http://www.sanbenitohistory.com/index.html

• The San Benito News, April 1, 1963, San Benito, Texas

• Sixteenth Engineers

• United States Army Ordnance Museum