Edwin North McClellan

“ After leaving the recruit depots at Parris Island and Mare Island, advanced training was given the men at Quantico, Va. This training was most intensive and as a result all the organizations which were trained there attained a high state of efficiency. It was made to approximate as nearly as practicable the real service which the men would have in the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Officers who were engaged in this training showed great ingenuity and efficiency in their attempts to make the training approach as nearly as possible what the men would be subjected to in actual service. ”

“ When in October, 1918, the Allied High Command desired to reinforce the French Army by American troops of great offensive worth, by real “shock troops,” you were loaned to Gen. Gouraud’s Fourth French Army and delivered your famous assault on Blanc Mont Ridge, releasing from German menace the historic city of Rheims.
In the closing phase of the Meuse-Argonne operations, certainly no troops contributed more to the enemy’s destruction than your division. ”

“ About 85 per cent of the troops forming the detachments arriving at the Overseas Depot for service in France had undergone not less than 8 nor more than 12 weeks’ training at the regular recruit depots of the Marine Corps. The preliminary training received at these recruit depots was such as to fit the men for general service throughout the Marine Corps, and resulted in the men being well disciplined, considering the short time they had been in the service. This facilitated the more advanced and specialized training they were to receive at the Overseas Depot. ”

“ Just before the Second Division left Germany the commanding general of the Army of Occupation expressed his appreciation of the services of that division in a letter dated July 2, 1919, which is published in General Orders, Second Division, No. 68, July 5, 1919:
As your magnificent division is about to leave his command, it is with a sense of gratitude for its splendid achievments while in the American Expeditionary Forces that the army commander expresses to you, and to your gallant officers and men his appreciation of your services. ”

“ Owing to the unusually large number of young men of excellent education and fine attainments who had enlisted in the Marine Corps after the outbreak of war, it was decided that no further appointments of civilians to the rank of second lieutenant would be made during the continuance of the war, and that all vacancies occurring in that grade, not required for graduates of the Naval Academy, would be filled by the promotion of meritorious noncommissioned officers. ”

“ The greatest battles in the world’s history are now being fought. The Allies are attacking successfully on all fronts. The valiant Belgian Army has surprised and defeated the enemy in Flanders; the English, who have been attacking the enemy without ceasing since August 8, have advanced beyond the Hindenburg Line, between Cambria and St. Quentin, capturing thousands of prisoners and hundreds of cannon; the heroic Allied Army of the Orient has decisively defeated the Bulgars; the British have captured over 50,000 prisoners in Palestine and have inflicted a mortal blow on the Turk ”

“ The hour has arrived when the convulsion which has shaken the foundations of the civilized world has ceased. The enemy is defeated and the principles of freedom and democracy have triumphed over barbarism and autocracy. We may all feel justly proud of the extent of our participation which has forced the enemy to a cessation of hostilities. ”

“ It is very gratifying in our pride over the achievements of the Marines, to know that that pride is shared by the War Department and your warm approbation of their conduct as a part of the Army will be treasured by the Corps as well as by the individuals. ”

“ RECRUITING—APPLICANTS, REJECTIONS, ENLISTMENTS—ENLISTMENTS BY STATES.
The recruiting service of the corps was enlarged greatly during the war and it was so well organized and its method of procedure was so efficient that it was able to stand the enormous increase of the corps. The real test of any organization comes when a very great increase is suddenly made and the recruiting service of the Marine Corps passed that test in a commendable manner. ”

“ In carrying out the policy of obtaining officers from the ranks, orders were issued to commanding officers of every post and station of the Marine Corps, both at home and abroad, as well as those on board ship, to the effect that all commissioned officers would be taken from the ranks, and that the number of men to be designated from each post to attend the training camp would be a certain percentage of the number of men stationed at such post or station. ”

“ Marines were in intimate contact with the Germans in Guam and Philadelphia in conjunction with the Navy in the first hours of the war.
One brigade of Marines was held in readiness in Texas for possible trouble in Mexico which might endanger the Allies’ oil supply. Another was scattered throughout the island of Cuba. Large detachments of Marines were stationed in the Azores and Virgin Islands in the nature of advanced base forces, while an advanced base force at Philadelphia was available at all times for naval needs. ”

“ This decisive blow broke the enemy’s defense and opened the way for the rapid advance of the Army.
With reference to the first day’s attack, the commanding general, Fifth Army Corps, wrote officially on November 2, 1918, in part as follows:
The division’s brilliant advance of more than 9 kilometers, destroying the last stronghold on the Hindenburg Line, capturing the Freya Stellung, and going more than 9 kilometers against not only the permanent but the relieving forces in their front, may justly be regarded as one of the most remarkable achievements made by any troops in this war. ”

“ The Marine Brigade captured Hill 142 and Bouresches on June 6, 1918, and in the words of Gen. Pershing, “sturdily held its ground against the enemy’s best guard divisions,” and completely cleared Bois de Belleau of the enemy on June 26, 1918, a major of Marines sending in his famous message: “Woods now U. S. Marine Corps’ entirely.” The American commander in chief in his first report calls this fighting “the battle of Belleau Wood” and states, “our men proved their superiority, and gained a strong tactical position with far greater loss to the enemy than to ourselves.” ”

“ TRAINING OF OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN.
During the war the Marine Corps selected and trained its own flyers and mechanics, and had its own aviation field and equipment. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass., enlisted Marines selected as promising flying material and given the rank of gunnery sergeant, took a 10 weeks’ course in groundwork, and about 80 men a month were graduated. After ground graduation they did their actual flying at the Marine flying field, Miami, Fla. ”

“ To summarize, the average Marine who arrived in France received at least six weeks’ training in the United States in a recruit depot and a very short period at Quantico. This is a contrast to the six months’ training received by the average enlisted man of the Army. After arrival in France the Marines, except those of the original Fourth Brigade, received practically no training in a training area since they joined the brigade almost immediately. The Marines comprising the Fifth Brigade of Marines received no training in a regular training area in France. ”

“ Owing to its world-wide reputation for skill and valor, the Second Division was selected by the commander in chief of the Allied Armies as his special reserve, and has been held in readiness to strike a swift and powerful blow at the vital point of the enemy’s line. The hour to move forward has now come, and I am confident that our division will pierce the enemy’s line, and once more gloriously defeat the Hun. ”

“ Upon qualifying they were commissioned as second lieutenants in the Marine Corp Reserve Flying Corps. Marine flying candidates were all enlisted Marines, of superior physique, weighing from 135 to 165 pounds, and with at least two years’ college or university study to their credit. The age limits were 19 to 39 years. Marine Corps mechanics, riggers, and armorers were trained at the Marine Corps section of the naval school for mechanics, Great Lakes Training Station, Chicago, Ill., the course covering eight weeks, and at a similar school in aviation mechanics at San Diego, Calif. ”

“ The demand for clerks for both home and overseas service, however, was so great for some time before the close of the war, that it was not possible at any time to keep the men under instruction in the school or in the offices for sufficient length of time to complete the prescribed course that had been laid out for them. As a consequence, many men had to be sent out with but a meager idea of the duties they were to perform. ”

“ When four such platoons had been formed they were assembled into a company. The company headquarters, trained in the enlisted staff school, was added to the four platoons and the company organization was turned over to the company commander complete in all details. Battalions were likewise formed by the consolidation of companies. In every instance the platoon, company, and the battalion, carried out a regular schedule of drills and instructions under the supervision of the depot, but all administrative details were left in the hands of the company and the battalion commanders. ”

“ When a state of war was declared to exist on April 6, 1917, the United States Marine Corps was composed of 462 commissioned officers, 49 warrant officers, and 13,214 enlisted men on active duty, a total of 13,725 and, while the corps was expanded to an actual strength, including reserves, of 75,101 officers and enlisted men, its high standard was never lowered. ”

“ In July, 1918, Marines from the Brooklyn acted as guards over German and Austrian prisoners of war on Russian Island, about 5 miles from Vladivostok, while Marines from the same vessel constituted part of an Allied military force of American and British marines, Japanese and Chinese bluejackets, and Czecho-Slovak soldiers, which was organized to prevent a threatened strike and disorder among the workmen in the Russian navy yard at Vladivostok. ”

“ A few Marine officers and enlisted men engaged in Army aviation operations and suffered casualties. About 20 Marine officers were sent to France as observers and as such participated in operations with American, French, and British forces. Marine aviation personnel served in France as the Day Wing of the Northern Bombing Group of the Navy. ”

“ The depot departments were so organized that it was only necessary to expand each division of the office forces and increase the number of employees and machines in the manufacturing departments in order to meet the increased demands during the war. The personnel of the depot on June 30, 1919, was as follows: Thirteen commissioned officers, 7 warrant officers, 2 civilians, 102 enlisted men of the regular service, 21 reservists, and 1,095 other employees of all classes, making a total personnel of 1,240. ”

“ CASUALTIES OF NAVAL PERSONNEL.
Of the 60 naval medical officers, 12 naval dental officers, and 500 enlisted men of the Medical Corps of the Navy serving with the Marines in the American Expeditionary Force, 1 commissioned officer, and 12 enlisted men were killed; 8 commissioned officers and 101 enlisted men were wounded or gassed. ”

“ A similar system of emergency or casual payments to wounded men was adopted by the department in France, but wounded men in France were evacuated so frequently from one hospital to another, that no system of reporting was practicable. Each hospital there had to be visited in person by a paymaster at least once a month and such wounded Marines as were found, had to be paid on their own representations a sum sufficient to meet their immediate needs. ”

“ Après approbation du général commandant en chef les forces expéditionnaires américaines en France, le général commandant en chef les armées françaises du nord et du nord-est, cite à l’Ordre de l’Armée:
“4o Brigade Americaine sous les ordres du Général de Brigade James G. Harbord, comprenant: Le 5e Regiment de Marine, sous les ordres du Colonel Wendell C. Neville, le 6e régiment de Marine, sous les ordres du Colonel Albertus W. Catlin, le 6e Bataillion de mitrailleuses, sous les ordres du Commandant Edward B. Cole:
“A été jetée en pleine bataille, sur un front violemment attaqué par l’ennemi. ”

“ By reason of the large number of wounded men, some of whom were scattered in various hospitals throughout France, and others of whom were returned to the United States without due notice to military authorities, and sent to both naval, military, and civil hospitals at widely scattered points throughout the States. ”

“ Doyen who had been ordered to the United States on account of his physical condition. Brig. Gen. Doyen relinquished command of the brigade most unwillingly, and the reasons for his relief are best set forth in the words of the citation of a Navy distinguished service medal posthumously awarded to him, reading as follows:
By reason of his abilities and personal efforts, he brought this brigade to the very high state of efficiency which enabled it to successfully resist the German army in the Chateau-Thierry sector and Belleau Woods. ”