Battle of Belleau Wood (1918): US Marines in World War I

The Battle of Belleau Wood (1–26 June 1918) was fought by the United States 2nd Division, including a brigade of US Marines, against German forces in a small forest near Château-Thierry in northern France. Over nearly four weeks the Marines attacked repeatedly through woods and wheat fields until the wood was finally cleared. The battle helped halt the German advance towards Paris and became a founding legend of the modern Marine Corps.

Background

On 27 May 1918 the Germans launched the third of their great spring offensives, on the Aisne river. It smashed through French lines and in a few days advanced around 50 km, reaching the Marne at Château-Thierry. With Paris under threat, the French asked for help from the newly arrived American Expeditionary Forces under General John J. Pershing.

The US 2nd Division, commanded by Major General Omar Bundy, was rushed to the area by lorry. It was an unusual formation: one of its two infantry brigades was the 4th Marine Brigade (5th and 6th Marine Regiments and a machine-gun battalion), led by Brigadier General James Harbord, an army officer. The division took up positions astride the Paris–Metz road west of Château-Thierry in early June, as retreating French troops passed through its lines.

What happened

From 1 to 4 June the Americans held their ground against German probing attacks, and accurate Marine rifle fire at long range helped stop the advance. According to a well-known Marine tradition, Captain Lloyd Williams answered a French suggestion to withdraw with the words “Retreat? Hell, we just got here!”, though the attribution is disputed.

On 6 June the brigade went on the attack, first taking Hill 142 and then advancing across open wheat fields towards Belleau Wood and the village of Bouresches. German machine guns hidden in the wood caused terrible losses. Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly, already twice awarded the Medal of Honor, is said to have urged his men forward that day, and the brigade suffered more than 1,000 casualties, the worst single day in Marine Corps history up to that time. Bouresches was taken that evening, but only the southern edge of the wood.

For the next three weeks the fighting inside the wood was close and confused. The forest was dense, full of boulders and ravines, and the Germans defended it with machine-gun nests and repeated counter-attacks. Both sides used gas, and artillery reduced much of the wood to splintered stumps. Marine battalions captured parts of the wood, lost them and took them again, while exhausted units were briefly relieved by army infantry. Finally, on 26 June, a battalion of the 5th Marines cleared the northern edge, and Major Maurice Shearer reported that the woods were now entirely held by the Marine Corps.

On 1 July the division’s army brigade captured the nearby village of Vaux, ending the 2nd Division’s operations in the sector.

By the numbers

German losses are not known precisely. Figures vary between sources.

Consequences

Belleau Wood was a small battle by Western Front standards, and some historians argue that its strategic importance was limited, since the German offensive was already running out of momentum. But it showed both Allies and Germans that the inexperienced American divisions would fight hard. German intelligence reports noted the Americans’ determination, and Allied morale rose at a critical time.

The battle also exposed inexperience: attacks across open ground without adequate artillery support caused heavy and avoidable casualties. American commanders drew lessons that they applied, unevenly, in later battles such as the Second Battle of the Marne and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Legacy and myths

The French renamed the forest the Bois de la Brigade de Marine and awarded the brigade the Croix de Guerre. The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, where more than 2,000 American soldiers are buried, lies at the edge of the wood, and a Marine memorial stands inside it.

Belleau Wood became a cornerstone of Marine Corps identity, aided by intense press coverage that named the Marines while censors left army units anonymous. The famous “Devil Dogs” nickname, supposedly coined by German soldiers, first appeared in American newspapers; there is no firm evidence that Germans actually used it. Marine recruits still learn the story of the battle, and Marines visit the wood each year on the anniversary.

Timeline

• 1918, 27 May: German Aisne offensive begins.
• 1918, 1 June: US 2nd Division takes up positions near Belleau Wood.
• 1918, 6 June: Marines attack Hill 142, Belleau Wood and Bouresches.
• 1918, 11 June: Renewed Marine assault takes much of the southern wood.
• 1918, 26 June: The wood is reported entirely in Marine hands.
• 1918, 30 June: French order renames the wood in the brigade’s honour.
• 1918, 1 July: Army infantry of the 2nd Division capture Vaux.

Why it matters

Belleau Wood was the first major test of American troops in the First World War and a symbol of the United States’ growing weight in the conflict. For the Marine Corps it marked a transition from a small expeditionary force to an elite assault force, and its memory still shapes the Corps’ sense of itself.