From a Report on the Employment of Federal Troops

from A R E P O R T O N T H E E M P L O Y M E N T O F F E D E R A L T R O O P S 1 9 3 2

––––––––––––––––– General Douglas MacArthur ––––––––––––––––

In June 1932, economic hardships caused by the Great Depression led 15,000 World War I veterans to form as the Bonus Expeditionary Force and march on Washington. Their goal was a “bonus bill” providing $2.5 billion to immediately pay veterans a bonus originally slated for 1945. After the Senate blocked the bill, 10,000 veterans remained camped in Washington to publicize their plight. President Herbert Hoover called in the army to force their removal, and on July 28, General Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) led an infantry battalion, a cavalry squadron, and a tank platoon in an attack that injured dozens of veterans and resulted in one death. Below is an excerpt of MacArthur’s official report.

T H I N K T H R O U G H H I S T O R Y : Recognizing Bias Do you think this account is accurate and unbiased, or would you, as a historian, seek to corroborate (verify) this report with other accounts? Why or why not?

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August 15, 1932 Dear Mr. Secretary,

On the afternoon of July 28, 1932, in response to your instructions, Federal troops entered the District of Columbia for the purpose of assisting civil officials in restoring order in certain sections of this city where considerable bodies of persons had successfully defied police authority and were then engaged in riotous activity. Within a few hours this mission was substantially accomplished and with no loss of life or serious casualty, after the arrival of the troops, among either the civilian or military elements involved. By July 30th all Federal troops were withdrawn to their proper stations and the local situation was under the complete control of the civil authorities. I am giving below a comprehensive account of this incident, to include the sequence of events leading up to the employment of Federal forces, the authority under which the troops acted, the principal troop movements involved, and the results accomplished. Attached as appendices are copies of official communications having an immediate bearing upon the incident: a

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detailed report of Brigadier General Perry Miles, who was in direct command of the Federal troops; a photographic record of particular phases of the operation, and typical newspaper articles and editorials dealing with the affair. The purpose of this report is to make of permanent record in the War Department an accurate and complete description of a particular employment of Federal troops on a type of activity in which elements of the Army have often been engaged since the founding of the Republic.

G R O W T H A N D A C T I V I T I E S O F S O - C A L L E D B O N U S A R M Y During late May, 1932, large groups of practically destitute World War veterans, self-styled the “Bonus Army,” or “Bonus Marchers,” began arriving in the City of Washington with the announced intention of conducting an aggressive lobby in favor of the immediate payment of Veterans’ Adjusted Compensation Certificates, commonly called the bonus. With no normal means of support they established themselves, with the consent of local authorities, in vacant areas and abandoned buildings, principally governmentally-owned. Subsistence and supplies were obtained through donations from local and outside sources and for the large majority the only protection from the elements were rude huts constructed from scrap material. The largest of these encampments was named CAMP MARKS, situated on an alluvial flat on the left bank of the Anacostia River, northeast of the Bolling Field area. In the same vicinity was CAMP BARTLETT, on privately- owned ground. A portion of the Bonus Army took possession of an area southwest of the Capitol where demolition activities incident to the Federal Government’s building program had already begun. Smaller detachments were located in other parts of the city. The aggregate strength of the Bonus Army gradually increased until it reached an estimated maximum of some ten to twelve thousand persons, including in some cases families and dependents of the veterans. Speaking generally, all their early activities in the city were peaceably and lawfully conducted. They organized themselves under leaders of their own choosing, and these cooperated reasonably well with the civil authorities in the preservation of order. Manifestly, however, in a large body recruited as was this one, the inclusion of a lawless element was inevitable. As the Bonus Army’s increasing size gave to the members thereof a growing consciousness of their collective power and importance in the community, efforts to solve acute problems of existence often went beyond the limits of legality. Individual solicitation for material assistance was frequently couched in terms of demand rather than of request. In some cases merchants and others, when called upon for contributions, were confronted with covert threats which amounted to nothing less than a system of extortion or forced levy. But the principal and most weighty objection to the concentration of such a force in the District of

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Columbia was occasioned by the deplorable conditions under which these people were compelled to live, entailing an ever-present danger of disease and epidemic. Until the end of the Congressional session the marchers used every possible influence to secure support for their project among members of Congress. Even after the proposal was decisively defeated in the Senate on June 17th, these efforts were continued, and recruits for their cause were sought throughout the United States. Meanwhile the sanitary conditions under which they lived, with the arrival of the summer heat and rains and the further crowding of the occupied areas rapidly grew from bad to worse. After it became apparent that Congress would not favorably consider the bonus project there was of course no longer any legitimate excuse for the marchers to continue endangering the health of the whole District population by the continued occupation of these areas. From another viewpoint also the concentration in one city of so many destitute persons normally residing in other sections of the country was exceedingly unwise and undesirable. The natural outlets through which they could benefit from the resources heretofore made available for the care of the needy by the charitable instincts of the American people were the local institutions of their respective communities. In their own communities they and their relative needs were known or could be investigated, and each could receive assistance accordingly. By coming to Washington they deprived themselves individually of this assistance, while collectively they presented to the charitable resources of the District a problem of insurmountable proportions. But though the necessity for the dispersion of the Bonus Marchers daily became more evident, its accomplishment was plainly to be accompanied by many difficulties because of the destitute circumstances of the great majority. In appreciation of this fact Congress, just preceding its adjournment on July 16th, provided funds for transporting them to their homes, and some fifty-five hundred took advantage of this provision of law. As this partial evacuation took place an influx of newcomers occurred, in many instances later arrivals being of radical tendencies and intent upon capitalizing the situation to embarrass the Government. Former leaders of the Bonus Army lost, to a considerable degree, the authority they had so far exercised over the mass, and the subversive element gradually gained in influence. During the whole period of its stay in the city the Bonus Marchers were assisted in various ways by the local police force. Help rendered included the collection of clothing, food, and utensils; permitting the use of vacant areas and abandoned buildings; providing some medical service, and securing the loan of tentage and rolling kitchens from the District National Guard. In this matter the efforts of the police were humanitarian and more than praiseworthy. In the light of later events, however, it is likely that a portion of the marchers interpreted

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this attitude as an indication of timidity rather than of sympathy, and were ready to take advantage of this supposed weakness whenever it might become expedient to do so.

I M M E D I A T E C A U S E O F R I O T S In late July the evacuation of certain of the occupied areas in the vicinity of the Capitol became necessary in order that the Government’s parking and building program might proceed. On July 21st the Bonus leaders were formally notified by the police of this situation and requested to make prompt arrangements for the removal of occupants from the affected areas. Although there still remained ample time for veterans to apply for Government transportation to their homes, these requests were largely ignored. Prolonged negotiations were productive of no real results. Since the projected operations were part of the program for unemployment relief they could not be indefinitely delayed, and finally the District Commissioners directed the police to clear these areas, using force if necessary. Accordingly, on the morning of July 28th a considerable body of police went to the encampment near Pennsylvania Avenue and 4 1/2 Street and compelled the trespassers to evacuate. Within a short time large groups of men arrived from other camps, apparently under some pre-arranged plan, and a struggle for the possession of the disputed territory ensued. The police were overwhelmingly outnumbered and were quickly involved in a serious riot. The mob, composed of veterans and others who had intermingled with them, was incited by radicals and hot-heads to a free use of bricks, clubs, and similar weapons. Several policemen were hurt, one most seriously, while another, in defending himself, was forced to shoot and kill one of the Bonus Marchers. In the pictorial supplement attached hereto are several photographs showing the desperate nature of these encounters.

O P E R A T I O N S O F F E D E R A L T R O O P S The situation rapidly assumed such a threatening aspect that the District Commissioners reported to the President their inability longer to preserve law and order in the area affected and requested immediate assistance of Federal forces. They gave it as their opinion and that of the Superintendent of Police that if such help failed to materialize, considerable bloodshed would ensue.… The President promptly directed the Secretary of War to cooperate with the civil authorities in restoring law and order in the District of Columbia. The issue had now become a broader one than that of the simple expulsion of recalcitrant persons from an illegally occupied area in which they were physically interfering with essential Government activity. By their open and determined defiance of the Metropolitan police the members of this mob, recruited from all or most of the bonus camps in the city, had threatened the integrity of Federal

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authority within the confines of the Federally-governed District of Columbia. The dispersion and expulsion from the District of the force became thus the only logical answer the Government could make to the mob’s action. At 2:55 P.M., July 28, 1932, the following order was handed me by the Secretary of War:

To: General Douglas MacArthur, Chief of Staff, United States Army. The President has just now informed me that the civil government of the District of Columbia has reported to him that it is unable to maintain law and order in the District. You will have United States troops proceed immediately to the scene of disorder. Cooperate fully with the District of Columbia police force which is now in charge. Surround the affected area and clear it without delay. Turn over all prisoners to the civil authorities. In your orders insist that any women and children who may be in the affected area be accorded every consideration and kindness. Use all humanity consistent with the due execution of this order. PATRICK J. HURLEY, Secretary of War.

…Promptly at 4:30 P.M. the troops began moving east on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Cavalry and Tanks leading; the Infantry following in extended formation. The march to the Capitol area was made without incident. Upon arrival there, and while troops were taking up designated positions, repeated warnings to disperse were given to a large crowd of spectators on the north side of the Avenue. These people were in no sense law-breakers and their dispersion was desired only to safeguard innocent bystanders from accident incident to subsequent activity. These warnings were temporarily ignored, but later when it became necessary to release tear bombs against the rioters, the prevailing wind carried a light gas concentration into the crowd of spectators and the area was quickly cleared.

T R O O P E M P L O Y M E N T The rioting elements were immediately ordered to evacuate the area south of the Avenue, which order they ignored. In line with my determination to give a reasonable time to any and all groups to disperse, no troop movement was initiated against them until 5:30 P.M. At that moment they were still apparently determined to hold their ground. It is to be remembered that for many weeks members of the Bonus Army had seen all their wishes and desires, as far as the local situation was concerned,

acceded to by civil officials, and more recently they had successfully defied constituted authority and withstood police efforts to evict them. It is doubtful, therefore, that when the Regular troops were deployed in their front the rioters really believed that the eviction order was to be definitely enforced. At least it is a fact that as the troops started to move forward the mob showed a surly and obstinate temper and gave no immediate signs of retreating. As the soldiers approached more closely a few brickbats, stones, and clubs were thrown, and it became apparent that some hint must be given of the determination underlying the employment of Federal troops in this contingency. This hint was given through the medium of harmless tear gas bombs. A number of these were thrown by the soldiers among the foremost ranks of the rioters, and from that moment little organized defiance was encountered. Troop operations were strictly confined to evacuation of Governmentally- owned tracts. A short distance south of Pennsylvania Avenue was a bonus detachment reported by the police to be occupying leased property. These men were not molested. For the same reason no action was taken against a small group of bonus seekers on the 7th Street Wharves—a detachment brought to my attention by General Glassford in person. The program previously outlined for the day’s activities was carried out expeditiously, albeit with a leisureliness that permitted every member of the Bonus Army ample time to make his unhindered way, if he was so minded, out of the path of the troops. I was particularly desirous that the drift of the dispersed groups be toward the Anacostia encampment and away from the principal business and residence sections of the city. This was accomplished through appropriate dispositions and movements of the troops.

Source: The Bonus March: An Episode of the Great Depression by Roger Daniels (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Corporation, 1971), pp. 291–300.

T H I N K T H R O U G H H I S TO R Y : A N S WE R Students may answer that, as historians, they would seek to verify this report with other accounts for a number of reasons. They may answer that this report does not represent the point of view of the veterans and thus provides an incomplete historical picture. Students may also answer that the report claims the Bonus Army came under the control of radicals, a bias that profoundly shapes the report’s tone and content. Students may cite as an example the report’s description of the crowd’s “riotous behavior” and its “surly and obstinate temper.” Students may also observe some glaring factual inaccuracies in the report, such as the assertion that the Bonus Army was dispersed without “serious casualty.”