Boy Scouts Pull ‘Annihilation’ Prank on Army Troops at Grossmont Camp

Two fully outfitted U.S. Army infantry regiments, along with nearly three-dozen National Guard officers, had made camp on the mesas of Murray Hill (the future Fletcher Hills) in April 1911.  The “Bliss Army” would soon total nearly 1,900 men after a company of Signal Corps troops joined them a week into their encampment. 

Grossmont Camp now outpopulated the surrounding unincorporated 1911 communities of La Mesa and El Cajon combined.

Initial reports identified plans for at least 10 days of full regimental maneuvers. The “Bliss Army” would stay over a month at the provisional camp. 

Newspaper articles followed the Army’s “war games,” carried out across the undeveloped hills and region.

An April 13 San Diego Union article was headlined Troops Work Out Extensive Problems in War Tactics. It explained the overall training goals of the regiments’ stay in the “wildlands” of 1911 La Mesa.

But standing out in that same April 13 edition was a more shocking headline:

Boy Scouts “Exterminate” Entire Army at Grossmont

This article reported that the entire 8th and 30th regiments had been “completely annihilated—theoretically” by two San Diego Boy Scouts. 

The Union reported:

Under cover of darkness Monday night the boys left their little camp a mile from the main camp, with the rendezvous of the regulars as the object of the attack. Steathily creeping past sentries and into the camp of the infantrymen, the youthful soldiers carrying bottles labeled “arsenic” but containing nothing but Grossmont air, “poisoned” the water supply of the “dough boys” and theoretically annihilated every man … without being discovered.

Scoutmaster Harold Reed, leader of the YMCA-sponsored troops, was of course quite proud of his “future defenders of the United States.” 

Reed bragged about the capabilities of his youthful “troopers” and the important experiences they were having “maneuvering” with the regulars.

The scoutmaster went on to note the cooperation of the Army infantrymen in welcoming, accommodating and mentoring his young charges. 

“The regulars have been very good to us,” Reed remarked.  He went on to explain how his lads learned valuable skills and experience about camp life along with “military knowledge” from the soldiers. 

Such familiarity with the “regulars” fuels cynics of today into questioning the legitimacy of the Boy Scouts’ covert actions without some knowledge by their Army acquaintances. But how could a reporter turn down such a story?

Over the next few weeks, regular articles chronicled Army activities at Grossmont Camp.  One of the typical “maneuvers” included a round-trip march down into the El Cajon Valley to a temporary encampment at Flynn Springs. 

Upon their return the following day, Col. Mason of the 30th Infantry led the attack against the previously returned 8th Infantry regiment—now entrenched on the heights above the valley.  In a sweeping flank attack, the 30th had “captured” their “foes” and retaken Murray Hill.

A few days later, the Union reported that it was the turn of the 8th Infantry under command of Col. R.B. Bullard to return the favor to the 30th, as they “captured Grossmont Camp.”

After another week, the Bliss Army was ready to begin the search for their next campsite.  Gen. Bliss was reportedly interested in finding sites that could help in recreating actual field conditions that the soldiers might face when protecting the border against elements then fighting in Mexico. 

Once again Col. Ed Fletcher was enjoined to help in the search.  Fletcher, Bliss and several officers in an automobile scouted the backcountry for future campsites on April 23-24.

On April 26, Bliss reported that Lakeside would be the next site for the provisional brigade headquarters and camp.  The choice being a bit more “civilized” than the undeveloped Murray Hill area.

The general chose 40 to 50 acres across Lindo Lake from the popular Victorian-era Lakeside Inn.  The resort hotel was reportedly a popular choice with the officers as they would be able to invite “their wives and women friends” to visit.

On May 1,  the 8th and 30th regiments moved to their new Lakeside Camp.  Over the next two months, they would use Lakeside as their base camp—enjoying the increased social calendar of the hotel with banquets for the officers, full review parades of the troops and numerous military skill demonstrations for the crowds attracted by the hotel and famous automobile racetrack where legendary driver Barney Oldfield would occasionally race.

After the Mexican Revolution action peaked along the Baja California/Alta California border in early June, the threat of the revolution crossing the line diminished. 

In early July, the two regiments returned to their Northern California posts with various companies rotated to border protection posts at San Ysidro Campo, and Jacumba over the next few years.

With the regiments’ return to their permanent bases, the “Bliss Army” and Grossmont Camp passed into history. 

Murray and Fletcher’s property would continue to sit undeveloped for nearly three  decades—although the U.S. military would return to what would then be known as Fletcher Hills during World War II. But that’s a story for another time.