The first Transcontinental Motor Convoy set out from Washington on July 7, 1919, with 24 officers, 256 enlisted men and 17 observers. One of the long-forgotten, but historically important events of 1919 was the staging and execution of the U.S. Army's Motor Transport Corps Transcontinental Convoy (MTC-TCC), which made the cross country trip from Washington D.C. to the Presidio in San Francisco. Trucks foundered in mud, crashed through wooden bridges, and got beaten to pieces on byways barely better than trails. This was known in 1919 as the First Trans-Continental Motor Transport Convoy. The U.S. Army in World War II, just 20 years later, was fully motorized with trucks, trailers, scout cars, tanks, and armored personnel carriers at a time when even the mighty German Army still relied heavily on horse transport. 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy In the summer of 1919, a young Lieutenant Colonel named Dwight D. Eisenhower participated in the first Army transcontinental motor convoy. But the same fertile, well-water- ed topsoil that brought prosperity to the Hawkeye state caused serious problems for cars and trucks. The convoy could also be used for recruitment purposes. The Transcontinental Motor Convoys were early 20th century vehicle convoys, including three US Army truck trains, that crossed the United States (one was coast-to-coast) to the west coast. Helped Win WWII. On July 7, 1919, a transcontinental motor convoy organized by the U.S. Army departed Washington, D.C. for San Francisco, California to demonstrate the motorized capability of the armed forces in the shadow of World War I. At a July 13, 1919, stop of the convoy in Columbiana, Ohio, participants (from left, right photo) William Stuhler, Major Brett, Paul V. Robinson, and Dwight D. Eisenhower relax. How a 1919 Army Truck Convoy Across the U.S. I just got back from a 2000+ mile road trip. Following the large scale mobilization of World War I, the U.S. War Department believed highways would play an important national defense role in the future. The trip from Washington D.C. to San Francisco was considered a major accomplishment. The trip from Washington D.C. to San Francisco, was considered a major accomplishment 1 talking about this. Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library In 1919, a military convoy of 81 vehicles set out to travel the Lincoln Highway--a line drawn on the map--from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. 1 To test this idea, the War Department assembled the first Army transcontinental motor convoy in 1919, with Major Dwight D. Eisenhower as one of its officers. seltzered_ 3 hours ago. The convoy included 81 vehicles, 24 officers, and 258 enlisted men. The expedition consisted of eighty-one motorized Army vehicles that crossed the United States from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, a venture covering a distance of 3,251 miles in 62 days. The convoy - consisting of 81 vehicles, including 31 heavy cargo trucks, 4 kitchen trailers, a wrecker, 4 motorcycles and 5 ambulances – made its way westward over … The "truck train" was launched to test the challenges involved in moving an army … Consisting of 81 vehicles — including 31 heavy cargo trucks, four kitchen trailers, a wrecker, four motorcycles and five ambulances – the convoy made its way westward over long stretches of roads that were often little more than dirt tracks. The first convoy in 1919 traveled from Washington, DC to San Francisco on the then still incomplete Lincoln Highway, the first road across America.It was the first motor convoy to cross North America from the east coast to the west coast. “In general, the route began at the Ellipse, in Washington, DC and ended at Lincoln Park, in San Francisco, CA – some 3,250 miles and 62 days later.” Summer of 1919 the Army 's success in the excitement of the utility of Motor vehicles er another! 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