The year 1917 started off disastrously for the Allies. The spring offensive launched by the French under General George Robert Nivelle resulted in horrendous casualties with few gains and ignited mutinies throughout the French Army that were put down with a combination of executions and concessions.
In June, the British launched their own offensive in Flanders that matched the French effort in terms of casualties as well as failure to achieve a decisive result. From then on, the Allies focused on defense until U.S. troops could arrive in significant numbers.
On 3 March 1918, Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. With Russia out of World War I, Germany launched an offensive of its own in the West, hoping to end the war before U.S. forces could tip the balance in favor of the Allies.
The offensive started the same month that the fighting on the Eastern Front ended. Launched against the British Third and Fifth Armies in the north, the drive stalled, as did another assault farther north in April. This was followed by yet another effort in the French sector of Aisne, between Soissons and Rheims. The French Sixth Army took the brunt of the offensive, and retreated, allowing the Germans to advance as far as the Marne River. The German intent was to reach as far as Paris, and hopefully force a surrender.
Colonel Fox Conner, chief of staff to General Pershing Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, allowed himself to be convinced by the French of the urgency of the situation in late May. And although not having yet been trained in trench warfare, the 3rd Division, U.S. Army, was rushed to Chateau Thierry, a town on the Marne River just to the east of Belleau Wood. A few days later, the U.S. 2nd Division’s 4th (Marine) Brigade was ordered to attack German positions in Belleau Wood.
The brigade, under the command of Brigadier General James Harbord, U.S. Army, had taken up positions south of Belleau Wood near the village of Lucy-le-Bocage in early June. A French Army officer is purported to have advised Captain Lloyd Williams of the 5th Marines to retreat. His reply: “Retreat? Hell, we just got here!” Williams was killed ten days later in the woods.
The 4th Brigade launched their initial main attacks at 1700 on 6 June but suffered grievous casualties as the Marines advanced through wheat fields toward Belleau Wood. When the fighting died down that night, Leathernecks had only managed to capture a relatively small section of the woods. Fighting continued for three more weeks in and near Belleau Wood, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides, before the Marines could claim victory. Four Marine Corps officers who survived the battle went on to serve as Commandants of the Marine Corps: Wendell C. Neville (1929–30), Thomas H. Holcomb (1936–43), Clifton B. Cates (1948–51), and Lemuel Shepard (1952–55).
Other notable Marines who survived the fighting at Belleau included Sergeant Daniel Daley and Sergeant Merwin Silverthorn. Daley was born in New York in 1873. He was one of only 19 Americans to earn the Medal of Honor twice. The first time was in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion in China. He received his second MoH 15 years later fighting Cacos rebels in Haiti. At Belleau Wood, he was recommended for a third Medal of Honor but was instead awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross.
Silverthorn enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1917 and elected to stay in the Corps after the World War I. During World War II, he was the amphibious warfare adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He retired as a lieutenant general.
Belleau was not the only battle in which U.S. Marines were tested during the Great War, but it did define the Marine Corps’ can-do reputation despite sustaining horrendous losses. Marines also shed their blood at Soissons, St. Mihiel, the Meuse-Argonne, and Blanc Mont Ridge. However, in terms of continuous back and forth fighting, Belleau Wood stands out.
To give some idea of the U.S. Marines’ steadfast resolve in achieving victory at Belleau Wood, the U.S. Army in the Civil War suffered 300 casualties per 1,000 soldiers serving (30 percent)—the highest branch-of-service loss rate in U.S. wars spanning 1775 to 1991. By comparison, Marines at the Battle of Belleau Wood suffered an astonishing 200 percent casualty rate, or 6.7 times the U.S. Army rate in the Civil War. The only battle comparable to Belleau Wood in terms of casualty rate might be Iwo Jima, where some Marine units suffered a 100 percent casualty rate.
W. Michels, graphical analysis of US DOD casualty data available at: https://dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/report_principal_wars.xhtml
Every year on Memorial Day Americans pays homage to its war dead, not only those buried in the United States but also those at U.S. military cemeteries overseas. The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) was created by an act of Congress in March 1923. The cemeteries and memorials in France as well in other countries were granted to the United States in perpetuity, free of cost, rent, and taxation. The ABCM superintendents are all Americans, but groundskeepers and trades people are of the local nationality.
Interred at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, adjoining Belleau Wood and 50 miles west of Paris, are 2,039 identified dead and 250 unknowns; 1,060 missing U.S. Marines and soldiers also are commemorated there. It is one of eight permanent World War I American military cemeteries overseas.
The cemetery is laid out in the form of a “T,” with an avenue running up the middle. The “T” is crowned by a chapel that was built over 4th Brigade trenches; 200-acre Belleau Wood extends behind the memorial chapel.
More than 116,000 Americans lost their lives in Europe during World War I. Out of respect for the families of the fallen, a burial and repatriation policy was established. Most families chose to repatriate the remains of their deceased loved ones; about 30 percent opted for permanent interment in ABMC cemeteries. In a few cases, families requested that their loved ones be left where they fell. In these cases, the burials are maintained by local communities. This holds true for other nationalities for both World War I and II.
Among the most frequent visitors to the American cemeteries are U.S. Marines and soldiers stationed in Europe.
