In 1908, Herbert and Mary Greer purchased Fort Boykin and turned it into a place of beauty with flowers, shrubbery, a large formal flower garden, and a wildflower garden. In 1918, Mrs. Greer was outside tending to her roses and honeysuckle when two shells from a 155mm coast artillery gun whizzed overhead from Camp Eustis, now Fort Eustis, just across the James River. The U.S. Army had diligently cleared the river of boats and bathers before the exercise but had forgotten that shells and stones can skip across water when fired at an appropriate angle.