The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons: History and Battlefield Guide
The battles of Belleau Wood and Soissons in June and July of 1918 marked a turning point in World War I and in the stature of the US Marine Corps, whose fighting proved so critical in repelling the Germans that the French would later rename Belleau “Bois de la Brigade de Marine.” In this book J. Michael Miller, a historian of the Marine Corps and veteran chronicler of battle, takes us to the battlefields of Belleau Wood and Soissons, immersing us in the experience of a single brigade of marines at the forefront of the fighting. Through a close-up look at the doughboys' singular impact on Allied victory in 1918, his work illuminates America's bloody sacrifice during World War I.

The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons for the first time treats these two battles as one campaign and demonstrates why it is impossible to fully understand one without the other. Miller outlines the company and platoon levels of combat throughout the campaign, establishing a basic tactical understanding of the fighting; he also draws on letters, diaries, memoirs, and interviews to create a vivid and personal reconstruction of the battles. His use of French and German sources, also a first, adds unprecedented insights to this boots-on-the-ground account. The book includes detailed mapping of both battlefields, with a thirty-six-stop guide linking the text with the actual terrain. For each of these stops Miller gives GPS coordinates to provide a virtual tour of the sites he discusses.

With its strategic overview and ground-level perspective, Miller’s work suggests a new interpretation and offers a new experience of an iconic moment in American military history—and in the story of the Marine Corps.
1134999310
The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons: History and Battlefield Guide
The battles of Belleau Wood and Soissons in June and July of 1918 marked a turning point in World War I and in the stature of the US Marine Corps, whose fighting proved so critical in repelling the Germans that the French would later rename Belleau “Bois de la Brigade de Marine.” In this book J. Michael Miller, a historian of the Marine Corps and veteran chronicler of battle, takes us to the battlefields of Belleau Wood and Soissons, immersing us in the experience of a single brigade of marines at the forefront of the fighting. Through a close-up look at the doughboys' singular impact on Allied victory in 1918, his work illuminates America's bloody sacrifice during World War I.

The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons for the first time treats these two battles as one campaign and demonstrates why it is impossible to fully understand one without the other. Miller outlines the company and platoon levels of combat throughout the campaign, establishing a basic tactical understanding of the fighting; he also draws on letters, diaries, memoirs, and interviews to create a vivid and personal reconstruction of the battles. His use of French and German sources, also a first, adds unprecedented insights to this boots-on-the-ground account. The book includes detailed mapping of both battlefields, with a thirty-six-stop guide linking the text with the actual terrain. For each of these stops Miller gives GPS coordinates to provide a virtual tour of the sites he discusses.

With its strategic overview and ground-level perspective, Miller’s work suggests a new interpretation and offers a new experience of an iconic moment in American military history—and in the story of the Marine Corps.
99.99 Out Of Stock
The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons: History and Battlefield Guide

The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons: History and Battlefield Guide

The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons: History and Battlefield Guide

The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons: History and Battlefield Guide

Hardcover

$99.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Temporarily Out of Stock Online
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Your local store may have stock of this item.

Related collections and offers


Overview

The battles of Belleau Wood and Soissons in June and July of 1918 marked a turning point in World War I and in the stature of the US Marine Corps, whose fighting proved so critical in repelling the Germans that the French would later rename Belleau “Bois de la Brigade de Marine.” In this book J. Michael Miller, a historian of the Marine Corps and veteran chronicler of battle, takes us to the battlefields of Belleau Wood and Soissons, immersing us in the experience of a single brigade of marines at the forefront of the fighting. Through a close-up look at the doughboys' singular impact on Allied victory in 1918, his work illuminates America's bloody sacrifice during World War I.

The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons for the first time treats these two battles as one campaign and demonstrates why it is impossible to fully understand one without the other. Miller outlines the company and platoon levels of combat throughout the campaign, establishing a basic tactical understanding of the fighting; he also draws on letters, diaries, memoirs, and interviews to create a vivid and personal reconstruction of the battles. His use of French and German sources, also a first, adds unprecedented insights to this boots-on-the-ground account. The book includes detailed mapping of both battlefields, with a thirty-six-stop guide linking the text with the actual terrain. For each of these stops Miller gives GPS coordinates to provide a virtual tour of the sites he discusses.

With its strategic overview and ground-level perspective, Miller’s work suggests a new interpretation and offers a new experience of an iconic moment in American military history—and in the story of the Marine Corps.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780700629565
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Publication date: 06/29/2020
Pages: 472
Product dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

J. Michael Miller is the former lead historian of the Marine Corps History Division at Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. From 2005 to 2013 he was director of the Marine Corps Archives. His books include From Shanghai to Corregidor: Marines in the Defense of the Philippines.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Foreword by Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, USMC (Ret.)

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. May 31 - June 1, 1918—Movement to the Marne: “I Could Feel the Warm Drop of His Tears on My Hand”

Belleau Wood Tour

Stop 1. Montreuil-aux-Lions

Stop 2. Le Thiolet, 2nd Division Boulder

Stop 3. Lucy-le-Bocage, 2nd Division Boulder

2. June 3, 1918—Digging In “When One Hits You Direct, You Are Just Saving Someone from Digging a Grave”

3. June 3, 1918—First Contact: “Those Germans Just Melted Away”

4. June 5-6, 1918: “Would the Lieutenant Like Some Cow Stew, Sir?”

Belleau Wood Tour

Stop 4. German Cemetery

Stop 5. Bussaires

Stop 6. Les Mares Farm

Stop 7. Marigny-en-Orxois

Stop 8. La Voie du Chatel

5. June 6, 1918—Berry’s 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines: “It Is Uncertain Who Holds Bois de Belleau”

Belleau Wood Tour

Stop 9. Wheat Field Attack, Belleau Wood Road

Stop 10. Belleau Wood Monument

6. June 6, 1918—Sibley’s 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines: “Come on You Bastards and Just Go. . . . What Do You Want to Do, Live Forever?”

Belleau Wood Tour

Stop 11. Attack of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines

7. June 6, 1918—Evening: “Come on Down and Join the Party”

Belleau Wood Tour

Stop 12. Bouresches

8. Belleau Wood Conclusions: “America Became the Deciding Factor in the War”

Belleau Wood Tour

Stop 13. Aisne Marne Cemetery

Stop 14. Belleau

9. Grant Strategy: “Thanks to the Arrival of American Reinforcements, Time Was Working Not for Us but against Us”

10. July 16-17, 1918—International Battles and the Movement to Soissons: “We the Lousy Infantry, SOL as Always”

Soissons Tour

Stop 15. Oise Marne Cemetery: Cimetière Américain

Stop 16. Courcy

Stop 16A. Taillefontaine

Stop 16B. Grenedier Guards

Stop 16C. Lieutenant Henri de Chasseval

Stop 16D. General Mangin’s Headquarters

Stop 16E. Captain Joost van Vollenhoven

Stop 17. Longpont

11. July 18, 1918—Daybreak: “Revenge, Revenge”

Soissons Tour

Stope 18. Verte Feuille Farm

12. July 18, 1918—Morning Assault: “It Looks Like as If We’ve Got to Take on the Whole Germany Army by Ourselves“

Soissons Tour

Stop 19. Beaurepaire Farm

Stop 20. Maison Neuve Farm

Stop 21. Chaudon

Stop 22. Vauxcastille

13. July 18, 1918—Evening Assault: “Rage Carried Us over Those Last Few Yards to the Boche”

Soissons Tour

Stop 23. Vierzy Railroad Station

Stop 24. Vierzy Cemetery

14. July 19, 1918—Attack of the 6th Marines: “We Threw Away the Hope of Life, and Yelling at the Top of Our Voices, We Struck Their Line”

Soissons Tour

Stop 25. 2nd Division Boulder

Stop 26. German Grenedier Positions

Stop 27. La Raperie

Stop 28. British Cemetery

Stop 29. Villemontoire

Stop 30. 6th Marines’ High-Water Mark

Stop 31. 2nd Division Marker, Tigny

Stop 32. Highes’s Advance

15 Aftermath: “How Many Hopes, Cherished during the Last Few Months, Had Probably Collapsed at One Blow!”

16. Final Conclusions: One Battle Remembered, One Battle Forgotten

Soissons Tour

Stop 33. French Cemetery

Stop 34. German Cemetery

Stop 35. American 1st Division Monument

Stop 36. 15th Scottish Division Cemetery

Appendix. Tables of Organization: Allied and German Units

Notes

Bibliography

Index

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews