The Forgotten Army Soldiers That Fought Alongside the Marines at Belleau Wood

Belleau Wood is where the Marine Corps became the legend we know of today. It’s the battle that gave birth to the term “Devil Dogs,” the fight that turned a small naval infantry branch into a legendary fighting force. Every Marine knows the name as each recruit is still required to learn the story.

But few remember that U.S. Army soldiers fought and died in the battle, charging alongside the Marines into German machine-gun and artillery fire. Though they suffered thousands of losses, most Americans don’t realize the role they played in one of the most legendary battles in American history.

The Army Moves to Block the Germans

Colonel Paul B. Malone was already racing his automobile toward the front when orders caught up to him on the night of June 1, 1918. The 40-year-old West Pointer commanded the 23rd Infantry Regiment, part of the 2nd Division’s 3rd Infantry Brigade. German forces had just punched a hole in the French lines west of the Marine positions. If the breach was not sealed, the entire American line could collapse.

Malone’s regiment had been in reserve. Now they had to move. The 23rd Infantry, along with the 1st Battalion of the 5th Marines and elements of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion, conducted a forced march exceeding ten kilometers through the darkness. They had no time for reconnaissance, no opportunity to study the ground.

By dawn on June 2, they had plugged the gap. The Americans now presented an unbroken front from Triangle Farm south toward the Paris-Metz Highway. The German advance had been checked, but the real fight was about to begin.

The Second Battle of the Marne map, with Belleau Wood and Vaux pictured in the center of the line. (Wikimedia Commons)

Attacking Alongside the Marines

On the afternoon of June 6, the Marines launched their assault on Belleau Wood. History remembers this day for the waves of Leathernecks advancing through waist-high wheat under murderous machine gun fire. What history forgets is that the 23rd Infantry attacked with them.

The regiment received its attack orders just fifty minutes before the Marines jumped off at 5 p.m. Colonel Malone drove his automobile directly into the front line to ensure his battalion commanders understood their mission, sketching positions on their maps before being recalled to brigade headquarters. The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 23rd Infantry were to support the Marine right flank, advancing toward the road connecting Bouresches to Vaux.

German Maxim machine guns opened fire from multiple directions. The right-flank platoon of the Marines had orders to hold fast, creating confusion about who was supposed to move and when. But the men of the 23rd could not restrain themselves when their comrades on the left were fighting for their lives. That evening, the soldiers climbed out of their positions and charged the enemy.

The regiment advanced roughly a kilometer through withering fire toward the road connecting Bouresches to Vaux. Machine gun rounds tore through the wheat from positions the Americans could not see. When the leading companies began to lose cohesion, Major Edmund C. Waddill moved into the open to reorganize them. Artillery and machine gun fire raked his position but he pulled scattered groups back into fighting shape and urged the attack forward. He earned a Distinguished Service Cross for his actions that day.

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