OPERATIONS IN GENERAL.
While the battle operations of the Fourth Brigade as an infantry
brigade of the Second Division of Regulars overshadowed all others
taken part in by Marine Corps personnel, those operations were by no
means the only ones participated in by officers and men of the Marine
Corps.
The commanding general of the Second Division from early in August,
1918, to the date of demobilization, and several officers on his
staff were Marine officers. Officers of the Marine Corps were
at various times attached to the First, Second, Third, Fourth,
Sixth, Twenty-sixth, Thirty-second, Thirty-fifth, Ninetieth, and
Ninety-second Divisions, and in some cases engaged in operations with
them. Brig. Gen. John A. Lejeune assumed command of the Sixty-fourth
Infantry Brigade of the Thirty-second Division, then in the front
line on the Swiss border in the Suarce sector, on July 5, 1918.
He was in command of this brigade on July 22, 1918, when it was
withdrawn from the above-mentioned sector and continued in command
until July 25, 1918, when he left to command the Fourth Brigade of
Marines. Between July 5, 1918, and July 22, 1918, Brig. Gen. Lejeune,
in addition to the Sixty-fourth Brigade, commanded three French
infantry regiments. Col. Robert H. Dunlap was in command of the
Seventeenth Field Artillery Regiment of the Second Field Artillery
Brigade, Second Division, from October 30, 1918, to February, 1919.
Col. Hiram I. Bearss commanded the One hundred and second Regiment
of the Fifty-first Infantry Brigade, Twenty-sixth Division, in the
St. Mihiel offensive. Col. Frederic M. Wise commanded the Fifty-ninth
Regiment of the Eighth Infantry Brigade, Fourth Division, from
September 5, 1918, to January 4, 1919, during which period he
participated in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne major operations.
From January 1, 1919, to February 9, 1919, Col. Wise commanded the
Eighth Infantry Brigade of the Fourth Division.
A few Marine officers and enlisted men engaged in Army aviation
operations and suffered casualties. About 20 Marine officers were
sent to France as observers and as such participated in operations
with American, French, and British forces. Marine aviation personnel
served in France as the Day Wing of the Northern Bombing Group of the
Navy. Marine flyers served with Squadrons 213 (pursuit squadron),
217, and 218 (bombing squadrons), Royal Flying Corps of England; and
with pursuit, observation, and bombing squadrons of the French Flying
Corps. Quite a few casualties were suffered by the Marine aviation
personnel.
The First Marine Aeronautic Company, naval base No. 13, Ponta
Delgada, Azores, equipped for water flying only, performed patrol
duty from January, 1918, until November 11, 1918.
The Marine Aviation Section, naval air station, Miami, Fla.,
performed arduous patrol duties in the Florida Straits in connection
with the Navy from July, 1918, until the date the armistice went into
effect.
Marine detachments served on board all the American battleships
attached to the British Grand Fleet and also on the American
battleships which based at Castletown Berehaven, Bantry Bay,
Ireland. Marines also served on board many of the cruisers which
escorted the vessels transporting Army troops to Europe. They were
also attached to many other naval vessels such as the _Brooklyn_,
_Helena_, and _Wilmington_, in China and Siberian waters, at one
time landing at Vladivostok in conjunction with other naval forces;
on the _Galveston_ on the Murman Coast; and on the _Pittsburgh_ in
South American waters. Marines were also on the _San Diego_ when that
vessel was sunk, and the _Minnesota_ when that ship was damaged by
German mines. Marines were in intimate contact with the Germans in
Guam and Philadelphia in conjunction with the Navy in the first hours
of the war.
One brigade of Marines was held in readiness in Texas for possible
trouble in Mexico which might endanger the Allies’ oil supply.
Another was scattered throughout the island of Cuba. Large
detachments of Marines were stationed in the Azores and Virgin
Islands in the nature of advanced base forces, while an advanced base
force at Philadelphia was available at all times for naval needs.
Marine forces were also stationed in Guam, Philippine Islands,
Peking, Pearl Harbor, and Nicaragua and they assisted materially,
under the limited conditions, in the war.
Active operations were conducted in Haiti and Santo Domingo against
bandits during the period of the war by Marine forces, the Haitian
Gendarmerie and the Guardia Nacional Dominicana, the two latter
organizations being composed of natives and administered and
officered by the Marine and Navy personnel. Casualties were suffered
by Marines in the operations in Santo Domingo, 4 Marines being
killed, 13 wounded, and 1 officer wounded, between April 6, 1917, and
November 11, 1918.