To help implement his idea, Marshall called on Lt. Gen. Stanley D. Embick . . . to find a suitable location where thousands of US troops could be deployed in a series of maneuvers to test their readiness. Armed with these instructions . . . Embick traveled to central Louisiana, where the Army had trained many of its soldiers during World War I. With a tattered road map as a guide, Embick and [his aide] tramped through Louisiana’s backcountry, noting the roads, trails, swamps, and forests.
Sparsely populated, thick with undergrowth and uncharted swamps, and scarred by rural traces that turn to muck at the slightest hint of rain, central Louisiana was an ideal place to prepare an army, with vast tracts of land that could accommodate the large-scale maneuvers the Army needed to conduct. The north-central part of the state is home to Kisatchie National Forest, a 604,000-acre virtual wilderness of pinewood hills. Just south of the national forest was Camp Evangeline, a 23,000-acre tract established by the Army in 1930.
—“Louisiana Maneuvers” by Mark Perry
Why was central Louisiana chosen as the site of the maneuvers? Check all that apply.
Central Louisiana had a large population.
The geography provided some challenges.
A number of military bases were already located there.
There were large areas of forest and wilderness.
The area had been used for training during World War I.
