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

by J. Michael Miller, Lieutenant General Richard P. Mills (Foreword by)

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:	9780700629572
Publisher:	University Press of Kansas
Publication date:	06/29/2020
Pages:	472
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.40(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 ix

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

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction 1

1 May 31-June 1, 1918-Movement to the Marne: "I Could Feel the Warm Drop of His Tears on My Hand" 15

Belleau Wood Tour 22

Stop 1 Montreuil-aux-Lions 22

Stop 2 Le Thiolet, 2nd Division Boulder 22

Stop 3 Lucy-le-Bocage, 2nd Division Boulder 23

2 June 3, 1918-Digging In: "When One Hits You Direct, You Are Just Saving Someone from Digging a Grave" 25

3 June 4, 1918-First Contact: "Those Germans Just Melted Away" 45

4 June 5-6, 1918: "Would the Lieutenant Like Some Cow Stew, Sir?" 59

Belleau Wood Tour 84

Stop 4 German Cemetery 84

Stop 5 Bussaires 84

Stop 6 Les Mares Farm 85

Stop 7 Marigny-en-Orxois 86

Stop 8 La Voie du Chatel 86

5 June 6, 1918-Berry's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines: "It Is Uncertain Who Holds Bois de Belleau" 88

Belleau Wood Tour 105

Stop 9 Wheat Field Attack, Belleau Wood Road 105

Stop 10 Belleau Wood Monument 105

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?" 107

Belleau Wood Tour 132

Stop 11 Attack of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines 132

7 June 6, 1918-Evening: "Come on Down and Join the Party" 133

Belleau Wood Tour 159

Stop 12 Bouresches 159

8 Belleau Wood Conclusions: "America Became the Deciding Factor in the War" 160

Belleau Wood Tour 171

Stop 13 Aisne Marne Cemetery 171

Stop 14 Belleau 173

9 Grand Strategy: "Thanks to the Arrival of American Reinforcements, Time Was Working Not for Us but against Us" 174

10 July 16-17, 1918-Internal Battles and the Movement to Soissons: "We, the Lousy Infantry, SOL as Always" 184

Soissons Tour 204

Stop 15 Oise Marne Cemetery: Cimetiere Americain 204

Stop 16 Courcy 204

Stop 16A Taillefontaine 207

Stop 16B Grenadier Guards 208

Stop 16C Lieutenant Henri de Chasseval 209

Stop 16D General Mangin's Headquarters 209

Stop 16E Captain Joost van Vollenhoven 209

Stop 17 Longpont 210

1 July 18, 1918-Daybreak: "Revenge, Revenge" 211

Soissons Tour 233

Stop 18 Verte Feuille Farm 233

2 July 18, 1918-Morning Assault: "It Looks Like as If We've Got to Take on the Whole German Army by Ourselves" 235

Soissons Tour 261

Stop 19 Beaurepaire Farm 261

Stop 20 Maison Neuve Farm 261

Stop 21 Chaudon 261

Stop 22 Vauxcastille 262

13 July 18, 1918-Evening Assault: "Rage Carried Us over Those Last Few Yards to the Boche" 263

Soissons Tour 291

Stop 23 Vierzy Railroad Station 291

Stop 24 Vierzy Cemetery 291

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" 293

Soissons Tour 336

Stop 25 2nd Division Boulder 336

Stop 26 German Grenadier Positions 336

Stop 27 La Raperie 337

Stop 28 British Cemetery 337

Stop 29 Villemontoire 338

Stop 30 6th Marines' High-Water Mark 339

Stop 31 2nd Division Marker, Tigny 340

Stop 32 Hughes's Advance 342

15 Aftermath: "How Many Hopes, Cherished during the Last Few Months, Had Probably Collapsed at One Blow!" 344

16 Final Conclusions: One Battle Remembered, One Battle Forgotten 363

Soissons Tour 369

Stop 33 French Cemetery 369

Stop 34 German Cemetery 369

Stop 35 American 1st Division Monument 369

Stop 36 15th Scottish Division Cemetery 370

Appendix. Tables of Organization: Allied and German Units 371

Notes 377

Bibliography 429

Index 445

Editorial Reviews

"Whether a seasoned armchair traveler, a general World War I enthusiast, or a dedicated Marine historian, readers will benefit from Miller’s comprehensive study and battlefield guide."—Army History

"Highly recommended for anyone who wants to read detailed accounts of the 4th Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons."—Marine Corps History

"J. Michael Miller has written a superb new account of two battles with great significance to both the history of the Marine Corps and the events of World War I."—Michigan War Studies Review

“An excellent resource for anyone desiring a full understanding of these two battles, which are part of the same campaign.”—U.S. Military History Review

“A first rate military history of the 4th Marine Brigade at war in 1918, with particular focus on the bitter battles at Belleau Wood and Soissons.”—New York Military Affairs Symposium Review

“Relying on extensive reminiscences from Marines who fought at Belleau Wood and Soissons in the summer of 1918, Mike Miller’s book vividly re-creates what it was like to ‘be there’ on the battlefields. It especially underscores the personal experiences of the intense fighting that would mark the emergence of the US Marine Corps as a major fighting force for the AEF. The book’s tour guides are a valuable bonus that will allow battlefield visitors to consider up close what the brave Marines actually faced during that fateful summer.”—David J. Bettez, author of Kentucky Marine: Major General Logan Feland and the Making of the Modern USMC

“For three weeks in June 1918, an inexperienced 4th Marine Brigade clawed a bloody way through Belleau Wood in a triumph of bravery. But only a month later the same Marines complemented valor with skill in the allied victory at Soissons. The learning curve’s price was steep, comprehensive, and enduring. The Marine Corps’ list of defining battles is long—Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Khe Sanh. But this comprehensively researched work demonstrates that none overshadow Belleau Wood and its aftermath.”—Dennis Showalter, author of Instrument of War: The German Army 1914–18

“Although the Marines trace their origins back to 1775, the true birth of the Corps was in 1918 during the hard-fought battles of Belleau Woods and Soissons. Miller’s detailed, intimate, and exceptionally well-researched narrative vividly captures the moment when the Marines truly entered the American consciousness and the Corps transformed itself from a dispensable appendage of the US Navy to a vital national institution. Many historians have written about the Marines’ experience during the Great War, but few can match the power and perceptiveness of Miller’s chronicle of the 4th Marine Brigade.”—Richard S. Faulkner, author of Pershing’s Crusaders: The American Soldier in World War I

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