On July 11, 1918, Brig. Gen. James G. Harbord, commanding general of the Marine Brigade, received notification of his appointment as a major general, and two days later left on a five days’ leave of absence. As Col. Neville had been evacuated to a base hospital after leaving the Chateau-Thierry sector, Lieut. Col. Harry Lee assumed temporary command of the brigade. Maj. Gen. Harbord and Col. Neville both returned in time to enter the Aisne-Marne offensive, the former in command of the Second Division and the latter in command of the Fourth Brigade.
Of the six Allied offensives taking place in 1918 on the Western Front, designated by the Americans as major operations, the Fourth Brigade of Marines, with the other units of the Second Division, participated in three, the first being the vast offensive known as the Aisne-Marne, in which the Marine Brigade entered the line near Soissons.
On July 17, 1918, the First Moroccan Division and the First and Second Divisions of American Regulars were hurriedly and secretly concentrated, by terribly fatiguing, forced night marches over roads jammed with troops, artillery, and tanks, through rain and mud, in the Bois de Retz, near Soissons. Headquarters of the Fourth Brigade was established at Vivieres.
The getting to the “jump-off” on time for this operation will always share in Marine Corps history with the glorious victory that followed.
Early on the morning of July 18, 1918, Marshal Foch threw these three picked divisions at the unsuspecting Germans with overwhelming success, and again on the following day. The American commander in chief in his first report stated:
The place of honor in the thrust toward Soissons on July 18 was given to our First and Second Divisions, in company with chosen French divisions. Without the usual brief warning of a preliminary bombardment, the massed French and American artillery, firing by the map, laid down its rolling barrage at dawn while the Infantry began its charge. The tactical handling of our troops under these trying conditions was excellent throughout the action. * * * The Second Division took Beaurepaire Farm and Vierzy in a very rapid advance, and reached a position in front of Tigny at the end of its second day.
In his final report he stated:
Gen. Petain’s initial plan for the counterattack involved the entire western face of the Marne salient. The First and Second American Divisions, with the First French Moroccan Division between them, were employed as the spearhead of the main attack, driving directly eastward, through the most sensitive portion of the German lines to the heights south of Soissons. The advance began on July 18, without the usual brief warning of a preliminary bombardment, and these three divisions at a single bound broke through the enemy’s infantry defenses and overran his artillery, cutting or interrupting the German communications leading into the salient. A general withdrawal from the Marne was immediately begun by the enemy, who still fought stubbornly to prevent disaster. * * *