The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons : history and battlefield guide / J. Michael Miller ; foreword by Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, USMC (Ret.).

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miller, J. Michael, author.

Contributor:

Mills, Richard P., writer of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Belleau Wood, Battle of, France, 1918.

Soissons, Battle of, Soissons, France, 1918.

World War, 1914-1918--Regimental histories--United States.

World War, 1914-1918.

United States. Marine Corps. Marine Brigade, 4th.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 470 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2020]

Summary:

"The Marines of the Fourth Brigade, one of two infantry brigades of the Second Division, US Army, carried out the major effort of the Marine Corps in Europe during World War I. The Marines' triumph in the Battles of Belleau Wood and Soissons-in June and July of 1918, respectively-is one of the greatest in Marine Corps history, and was so important to an eventual Allied victory in World War I that the only memorial in Europe dedicated to United States Marines commemorates Belleau Wood. Rather than using a top-down approach, Mike Miller draws on letters, diaries, memoirs, and interviews of Marines on the ground, resulting in a vivid and personal reconstruction of the battles. In addition to the extensive use of primary documents, this account puts equal emphasis on the Battle of Soissons, which is often neglected in other accounts. While Belleau Wood is rightly remembered as an engagement in which Marines fought with determination to clear out the Germans, it was at the Battle of Soissons that Allied forces overturned the Germans at last and turned the tide of the war. Miller amplifies the narrative with tour stops including GPS coordinates so readers visiting the sites or those in remote locations can see for themselves the terrain and other features of the battles."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Foreword

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

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

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

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?"

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

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

Stop 12. Bouresches

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

Stop 13. Aisne Marne Cemetery

Stop 14. Belleau

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

10. July 16-17, 1918-Internal 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. Grenadier 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"

Stop 18. Verte Feuille Farm

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

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"

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"

Stop 25. 2nd Division Boulder

Stop 26. German Grenadier 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. Hughes's Advance

25. 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

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

Back Cover.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 429-443) and index.

ISBN:

0-7006-2957-2

OCLC:

1378938039