Battle History of the United States Marine Corps, 1775-1945

Battle History of the United States Marine Corps, 1775–1945 ALSO BY GEORGE B. CLARK AND FROM MCFARLAND United States Marine Corps Medal of Honor Recipients (2005; paperback 2010) United States Marine Corps Generals of World War II (2008) Decorated Marines of the Fourth Brigade in World War I (2007) The Second Infantry Division in World War I (2007) The Six Marine Divisions in the Pacific: Every Campaign of World War II (2006) Hiram Iddings Bearss, U.S. Marine Corps (2005) Battle History of the United States Marine Corps, 1775–1945 GEORGE B. CLARK McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina, and London LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Clark, George B., 1926– Battle history of the United States Marine Corps, 1775–1945 / George B. Clark p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7864-4598-1 illustrated case binding : 50# alkaline paper 1. United States. Marine Corps—History. 2. Battles—History. I. Title. VE23.C4929 2010 359.9'60973—dc22 2010022735 British Library cataloguing data are available ©2010 George B. Clark. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Front cover: Iwo Jima Memorial, Arlington Cemetery ©20¡0 Getty Images; American flag ©20¡0 Shutterstock Manufactured in the United States of America McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com Contents Preface 1 Introduction 3 Glossary 7 Abbreviations 9 1. American Revolution 11 2. The Fighting Tops 19 3. Barbary Wars 26 4. War of 1812 32 5. Between the Wars 41 6. War with Mexico 51 7. American Civil War 60 8. China 67 9. Colombia/Panama 81 10. Spanish-American-Cuban War 87 11. Philippine Islands 91 12. Cuba 95 13. Mexico 1914 102 14. Haiti 105 15. Dominican Republic 109 16. World War I 114 17. Nicaragua 141 18. World War II 147 Notes 237 Bibliography 245 Index 253 v This page intentionally left blank Preface The concept for this book came along a number of years ago and to the best of my knowledge no one has produced anything like it. It condenses the history of the Corps to just its battles. My intention is to provide a resource for anyone reading the history of the Corps which, generally, covers each battle with the necessary details, without the detailed overview. Or, perhaps, provides a quick reference point. This will allow further reading for persons interested in a specific battle or period. The Marine Corps has provided the best of that material in each of its later wars (see the bibliography), especially beginning with World War II. Although this manuscript’s purpose was to be a “complete” history of “every” engagement, I soon learned that goal was next to impossible to achieve. This book includes “almost” every engagement. A few of the small entanglements might have been overlooked. However, I believe you will be satisfied that I made an honest effort. One of the areas I seemed to have ignored (but didn’t) was the part played in World War II by Marine aviation. In fact, Marine aviators were all over the place, but played a part mostly as individuals. To have written about individuals would have taken up more space than I was allotted in this book. Only in certain encounters, like the support given the U.S. Army in its Philippine Campaign, and before that at Midway, has their part been developed. This is because they played an important role at Midway and the Philippines; in the latter, their role was solely that of Marines in an Army fight. The exception to this is their part in World War I, which was relatively minor, but that is where they developed their skills for future engagements, and the period is small enough to be covered in modest detail. This book, like so many others, would have never been completed were it not for the support, without condition, of my wife of more than a half century, Jeanne J. D. Clark. So if you don’t like what you find within, blame her. My son Patrick T. Clark has been most supportive of my meager efforts for many years and there has been an occasional nod from my son Michael G. Clark and daughter Susan A. Evett and her family. While most of the material you will find below has been derived from federal publi- cations in my own collection, there are several people who have helped and encouraged me over the years. The list must include James T. McIlwain, MD, a friend and historian of many years; Col. Richard “Rich” Hemenez, friend, historian and author; Harry Tinney, a real support group all by himself; Comdr. Neil Carey, USN (Ret.), a friend of Marines, who, along with General Merrill B. Twining, created that marvelous tribute to the 1st MarDiv on Guadalcanal, No Bended Knee, and another long-time pal of mine; Lt. Col. “Pete” Owen, 1 2 Preface one of the Corps’ finest and a splendid author himself; Col. Walt Ford, Leatherneck’s editor who has helped when asked; Gunnery Sgt. Richard “Dick” Gaines, who spreads the word; Maj. Gary Cozzens, and the many others who have kept me in business; and my many friends who also find the USMC in World War I the most fascinating period for military history. Thanks to all. George B. Clark Introduction Much of the early history of the very small body of men that made up what was known as the United States Marine Corps was about service aboard ship, for that was their primary reason for being. Marines, as they have been known throughout history, are soldiers of the sea, and they have been since ancient times. Greek and Roman warships carried marines, as did all other seafaring nations from the earliest times forward. Therefore the early his- tori-cal periods will, for the most part, be written about their history aboard ships. Later they served, frequently with the U.S. Army, in land campaigns against our own aborigines, or remained at sea fighting the usual troublemakers (British, French, Spaniards, Moors and others). After their resurrection in 1798, the U.S. Marines were assigned to the War Department. Much later they were reassigned to the U.S. Navy Department. Thereupon confusion as to who “owned them” reigned. On occasion the U.S. Army leadership tried to command them and for many more years the chief of Naval Operations, or the equivalent position in earlier times, often tried imposing his will directly upon the Marine Corps, with an angry Marine commandant fighting it all the way. In recent times, both other services have backed off, at least temporarily. Later, as the wars became ponderous, Marine service expanded to land engagements as well as those at sea. During the first war with Mexico Marines served with the U.S. Army in Mexico and in California. The Civil War saw them aboard ships but utilized, mainly by the U.S. Navy, as a landing force to attack Confederate installations. For the following near- forty years, the Marines were mainly a landing force in the Pacific islands where local natives offended our Navy, such as in Hawaii, Samoa, the Fiji Islands, as well as in China and Korea. Then came the war in which the United States began to develop an empire. It was called various names but has more recently become the Spanish-American-Cuban War, and as far as the U.S. was concerned it was over almost before it began. The U.S. Navy destroyed the ancient Spanish fleet in Philippine and Cuban waters, the U.S. Army landed and took Cuba from Spain about four minutes after arriving ashore, while Marines also landed in Cuba, later at Guam in the Mariana Islands, and in and around Manila. However, the U.S. Army quickly gathered sufficient troops to displace those latter Marines, who soon returned aboard their ships. From early in the 19th century our government insisted upon enforcing our doctrine, the so-called Monroe Doctrine. 3 4 Introduction Monroe Doctrine This famous declaration was essentially a two-part document. John Quincy Adams wrote the part concerned with Russian aspirations in what we now know as our Northwest (Washington, Oregon and Northern California) in 1823. Other historians pull in President Monroe as the other author but more likely it was a staff functionary. At any rate, the declaration was really aimed against Spain, then trying to defeat the rebels in Latin and South America and retaking previously owned land. It was also a warning to France and a few other nations in Europe to keep their hands off any lands in the Western Hemisphere. Inter- estingly, the British were solidly behind the U.S., mainly because they wanted to keep the rest of Europe out of the Western Hemisphere without actually declaring that to the rest of the world. Although the doctrine had no legal standing in international law (until 1940), most nations didn’t want a fight with the infant U.S. if it could be avoided. Consequently no serious trouble ever evolved because of it. The Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: Our very aggressive president Theodore Roo- sevelt decided to add to the doctrine in December 1904, when several nations, notably Ger- many and Great Britain, and later Italy, established a naval blockade about Venezuela. Many nations were owed substantial sums by the dictator of Venezuela, Cipriano Castro, and he refused to consider negotiations at The Hague Tribunal.

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