Ohio at Belleau Wood June 1918
By John Haas, Manuscript Curator, Ohio History Connection
July 24, 2018
One hundred years ago the Battle of Belleau Wood took place in France. Why were Ohio men there? How many were there and what did they do? What happened at Belleau Wood and what was the result? Where is Belleau Wood located in France?
Belleau Wood is near the town of Chateau-Thierry on the Marne River about 40 miles east of Paris. In May of 1918 the German Army launched the third in a series of massive offensives to try and crush the allies and end the war before fresh American forces could reinforce the tired French and British Armies.
How were the Germans able to carry out extensive offensive operations after three and a half years of brutal warfare? The Germans had ended their operations on the Eastern Front against Russia. The Czar had been overthrown and the revolutionary governments were in chaos. Eventually the Bolsheviks took power and sought peace at any price. This freed up hundreds of thousands of German troops that could be sent to the Western Front.
In the spring of 1918 the first two offensives hammered the British Armies in Belgium and Northern France and the third offensive broke through the French Army along the Aisne River and reached the Marne River and was threatening Paris. Thousands fled Paris, the government planned to move to Bordeaux, and the French Army seemed near collapse. (See map below)
American troops were rushed to the front and plugged the gap along the Marne River on either side of the town of Chateau-Thierry including the sector near Belleau Wood. That area was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division. The 3rd U.S. Infantry Division, commanded by Ohioan Maj. Gen. Joseph Dickman, was on their left, and earned their nickname, “The Rock of the Marne”, at this time.
The 2nd Division contained an interesting unit, a non U. S. Army unit. Its 4th Infantry Brigade was composed of the 5th and 6th Regiments and 6th Machine Gun Battalion of United States Marines! The other combat formations in the 2nd Division included the 9th and 23rd U.S. Army Infantry Regiments, the 12th, 17th, and 15th Field Artillery Regiments, the 2nd Engineers and many other supporting units. From May 30th to June 5th the 2nd Division and its Marines defended the Marne River-Chateau-Thierry sector against German assaults and stopped them cold and ended their third offensive.
Map credit: West Point Atlas of World War I
The Ohio Connection to Belleau Wood
There are dozens of excellent accounts of the intense fighting in and around Belleau Wood: Hill 142, the wheat field, Bois de Belleau, Bouresches, Vaux, and Chateau-Thierry. Many of these accounts can be found just by searching the internet but for more in-depth accounts see: Through the Wheat: The U.S. Marines in World War I. by Edwin H. Simmons and Joseph H. Alexander, Naval Institute Press, 2008.
When the US entered World War I the United States Marine Corps contained about 14,000 Officers and enlisted men. During the War the Marine Corps enlisted about 57,144 new officers and recruits and created many new units. Among these new recruits were 4,968 Ohio men, second only to New York with 6,782. Following Ohio was Illinois with 4,959 and Pennsylvania with 4,365. And among the new units were the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments and the 6th Marine Machine Gun Battalion who fought at Belleau Wood.
Map credit: A Brief History of the 6th Marines, by Lt. Gen. William K. Jones, USMC (Retired), Washington D.C., 1987.
The Numbers at Belleau Wood
During the month of June 1918 the 2nd Division suffered 1,811 battle deaths and of those 1,062 were Marines, and about 90 of those were Ohio men. The 2nd Division suffered 7,252 additional casualties, of which 3,615 were Marines. Consequently about 350 or more of those additional casualties would have been Ohio men. When they entered the Battle of Belleau Wood the three Marine units in the 2nd Division numbered about 9,000 men. As you can see from the numbers above they suffered 4,677 casualties in that battle.
There are several sources that list the names of the Ohio men who served in the Marines during World War I. Volume 22 of the Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the World War 1917-1918 lists the names of all the Ohioans that served as Marines in the war. Volume 23 of the above source, pages 904-934, contains List of Burial Places of Those Whose Bodies Remained in France.
Volume 1, History of Ohio, by Charles B. Galbreath, pages 669-708, lists the names of all 6,777 Ohioans who died in the war. It is arranged by county and branch of service. Pages 669-704 are Army, pages 704-706 are Marines, pages 706-708 Navy and page 708 Army Nurse Corps.
Ohio Losses by County and Day
The worst day for Ohio at the Battle of Belleau Wood was June 6th. Ohio suffered 24 fatalities that day, followed by June 8th and 13th with 7 on each of those days. On June 12th Ohio lost 6 men, followed by June 3rd, 7th, 11th and 15th with 5 deaths on each of those days. There were only eight days of the month of June 1918 when Ohio suffered no fatalities at Belleau Wood.
Of the large Ohio counties Hamilton and Summit suffered 19 fatalities at Belleau Wood, and Cuyahoga lost 16. Ten Ohio counties suffered only one Marine death during the war and it occurred at Belleau Wood: Clark, Darke, Erie, Fairfield, Medina, Hancock, Noble, Pike, Richland and Wayne.
Other Ohio Connections
A famous book named Through the Wheat, is a novel by Thomas Boyd. Boyd was born in Defiance Ohio on 3 July 1888. He enlisted in May 1917 and served with the 6th Marines at Belleau Wood. According to F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Through the Wheat” is not only the best combatant story of the Great War but also the best war book since the Red Badge of Courage.” Fitzgerald also noted: “At first the very exactitude of the detail makes one expect no more than another piece of reporting, but gradually the thing begins to take on significance.” Boyd wrote: “The whistle blew and the men advanced, stepping out in the open where the risen sun made them hideously conspicuous. The field separating the woods stretched far on either side, and was covered with green-stemmed wheat that reached hip high.”
The Ohio History Connection has the Thomas Boyd manuscript collection among our Archives Library materials.
Legends of Belleau Wood
According to Marine Legend during the attack on the morning of June 6th 1918 heavy fire pinned down one Marine unit and its Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly said: “Come on you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?” According to Gunnery Sergeant Daly what he actually said was: “For Christ’s sake men-Come on! Do you want to live forever?”
Another Belleau Wood incident involved Capt. Lloyd W. Williams, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. On June 2nd Capt. Williams and his company were taking over positions from the French Army units that were retreating and a French Colonel told him to retreat as well, the Germans were coming. Williams looked coldly at the Frenchman and said: “Retreat, hell! We just got here”. Capt. Williams died of wounds suffered on June 11th. When approached for care by medics he said: “Don’t bother with me. Take care of my good men.” He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Immediately after the battle the French Army changed the name of the wood, or bois, from Bois de Belleau to: “Bois de la Brigade de Marine.” All three Marine units were honored with unit Croix de Guerre award from the French Government.
Map credit: A Regiment Like No Other: The 6h Marine Regiment at Belleau Wood, by Lt. Commander J. Wayne Hill, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2012. That author got it from: Through the Wheat: The U.S. Marines in World War I. By Edwin H. Simmons and Joseph H. Alexander, Naval Institute Press, 2008.
Map credit: A Brief History of the 6th Marines, by Lt. Gen. William K. Jones, USMC (Retired), Washington D.C., 1987.
Sources:
A Regiment Like No Other: the 6th Marine Regiment at Belleau Wood, by J. Wayne Hill, 2012, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
A Brief History of the 6th Marines, by Lieut. Gen. William K. Jones, 1987.
The United States Marine Corps in the World War, Major Edwin N. McClellan, 1920.
The American Battlefield Monuments Commission web site lists all the Ohio Marines buried in French cemeteries. There are 27 Ohio Marines that were killed during the Battle of Belleau Wood buried in the Aisne-Marne Cemetery in France.
History of Ohio, Vol. 1, Charles B. Galbreath, 1928. Pages 633 to 710 cover Ohio’s role in World War I.
Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, In the World War, volumes 22 and 23.
Through the Wheat: The U.S. Marines in World War I. by Edwin H. Simmons and Joseph H. Alexander, Naval Institute Press, 2008.