Belleau Wood.
The words conjure, in the minds of those who know anything of the events there 100 years ago this week, images of heroism and horror, symbolism and sacrifice.
Beginning on the 6th of June 1918, and raging for the next three weeks, the battle for the key ground of Belleau Wood -- astride a major avenue of approach for the German army advancing on Paris -- would see horrific fighting, even by the standards of a war already known for its horrors. By the battle's end -- when the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, Major Maurice E. Shearer, signalled "Woods now U.S. Marine Corps entirely" -- the Marine brigade, composed of the 5th and 6th Marine regiments, had suffered over half its initial strength in casualties, including over 1800 killed in action.
After the battle, the French government renamed Belleau Wood. Today it is known as Bois de la Brigade de Marine.
But this battle, one of the most famed in the history of the Marine Corps, almost didn't happen. In fact, that there was a United States Marine Corps at all in 1918 was in itself a bit of a wonder.
Two battalions of American Marines were raised in late 1775, pursuant to a resolution of the Continental Congress, for service with the fledgling American Navy. Although they conducted an amphibious raid or two during the Revolution, the role of Marines was primarily modeled after that of the Royal Marines -- maintaining order and discipline on ships crewed by very competent sailors, but men somewhat lacking in the order and discipline department. As such they were hated by the Navy.
The Army wasn't all that fond of Marines either. Their existence was viewed as duplicative and competition for scant resources. At the conclusion of the War for Independence, all Marine units were disbanded and mustered out. As a matter of fact, the Continental navy by and large ceased to exist as well.
But, then, in 1796, the "Quasi War" (an undeclared war -- much like those of the last 70 years) with France broke out over U.S. refusal to repay war debts owed France. The Quasi War was fought almost entirely at sea and primarily along the U.S. seaboard and in and around French possessions in the West Indies. During the first year of hostilities the French navy decimated the U.S. commercial fleet. The U.S. Congress finally got around to funding rearmament of an American Navy in 1798 and on 11 July 1798, Congress authorized the funding of a corps of Marines (a little over 800 officers and men) to man the to-be-built frigates and for other duties ashore "as the President, at his discretion, may direct."
The Marines had a new toehold on existence -- one they would hang onto, precariously at times, for the next century. The naval expeditionary nature of the, albeit miniscule, U. S. Marine Corps meant that whenever a scrap broke out anywhere around the globe, Marines were nearby and often "first to fight" -- a unofficial motto that, rightfully, rankled the Army.
When war broke out in Europe in 1914, the Commandant of the Marines Corps, Major General George Barnett, sent several officers to France as observers. As American entrance into the Great War became more and more likely, Barnett seized on the rush to expand the entire U.S. military (from less than 200 thousand to more than 3 million) and conducted a brilliant and aggressive recruiting campaign to expand the Marine Corps, the chief inducement being voluntary service with an elite formation rather than waiting to be drafted by the Army. When General John J. Pershing sailed to France with the lead elements of his American Expeditionary Force, a regiment of Marines sailed with him.
Pershing was not a fan of the Marine Corps, however. He insisted that the Marines wear Army uniforms, and instead of training them for combat used them initially in support roles in the French port facilities unloading ships, and as military police. As more U.S. support troops arrived, that first Marine regiment in France -- the 5th Marines -- and the newly arrived 6th Marine Regiment, were formed into the 4th Marine Brigade and assigned to the U.S. Army's 2d Division. Pershing's low regard for his Marines was made manifest by his placement of an Army brigadier general, James Harbord, from his staff as the commander of the 4th Marine Brigade. So, the officers and men of the 4th Marine Brigade were feeling a bit unappreciated and itching for a chance to prove themselves.
They got that chance at Belleau Wood.
But, wait... the Colonel said something earlier about the Battle of Belleau Wood almost not happening at all, didn't he?
He did indeed. Here's the story.
In March of 1918, the German Army, reinforced with 50 divisions from their now-peaceful former eastern front with Russia (the Russians had overthrown their Czar and sued for peace), kicked off a series of spring offensives in a bid to end the war before the American Expeditionary Force could be full-up and ready to influence the outcome of the war on the side of the French and British. By the end of May, the German Army had reached the Marne River just 60 miles from Paris. There at Chateau Thierry, the Germans ran into the U.S. Army's 3rd Division and were stopped cold. The 3rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army to this day refers to themselves as the "Rock of the Marne." The German thrust turned eastward down the northern side of the Marne valley.
On the 1st of June, the lead division of the German offensive broke through the French divisions' lines at the village of Belleau and advanced into the northern edge of Belleau Wood. The next day the Germans advanced through Belleau Wood and attacked south in order to reach and cross the Marne. The French army retreated in the face of their onslaught.
The 5th Marine Regiment of the 4th Marine Brigade was the only allied force in the way of the steamrolling German advance. They had been sent the night before to help plug the hole in the French lines and had reached a position astride wide open wheat fields in front of Belleau Wood. The French commander in their sector ordered the commander of the 4th Marine Brigade to withdraw and dig defensive trenches much further to the rear. General Harbord refused, instead ordering the Marines to "hold where they stand." The Marines dug shallow prone fighting positions along a low ridge through the wheat fields and allowed the Germans to advance to within 100 yards before opening up with their highly accurate '03 Springfield rifles. Decimated, the Germans fell back on Belleau Wood.
The French wanted the Marines to fall back on defensive trench works several miles to their rear and repeatedly implored the Marines to do so. In response to these entreaties, Marine Captain Lloyd W. Williams of the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines retorted with a line that echoes still in the lore of the Corps -- "Retreat, hell! We just got here."
Captain Williams succinctly summed up the feelings of all Marines past, present, and future. When Marines get a chance to fight, they take it. No backing down. And, they don't like occupying permanent defensive positions -- it's destructive to morale.
Had the Marines done as the French wanted, the fight likely would have settled back into the stalemate of trench warfare that had predominated the previous four years. The Germans would have swept through Belleau Wood and it would have remained nothing more than a patch of trees for eternity.
But, Marines are a stubborn bunch. That stubbornness in the wheat fields before Belleau Wood meant that the Marines would have to go in and root out the Germans in Belleau Wood.
And as long as one Marine draws breath, Belleau Wood will for eternity be the Bois de la Brigade de Marine.
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