THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS IN THE WORLD WAR.
Chapter I.
IN GENERAL.
When a state of war was declared to exist on April 6, 1917, the United States Marine Corps was composed of 462 commissioned officers, 49 warrant officers, and 13,214 enlisted men on active duty, a total of 13,725 and, while the corps was expanded to an actual strength, including reserves, of 75,101 officers and enlisted men, its high standard was never lowered. When these figures are compared with the approximate strength of 3,100 at the end of the Civil War, and of 4,800 at the end of the Spanish War, the growth of the Marine Corps is illustrated.
Despite the fact that on the outbreak of war, 187 officers and 4,546 enlisted men were on duty beyond the continental limits of the United States, and 49 officers, and 2,187 enlisted men were serving on board the cruising vessels of the Navy, only five weeks later, on June 14, 1917, the Fifth Regiment of Marines, consisting of 70 officers and 2,689 enlisted men, approximately one-sixth of the enlisted strength of the Marine Corps, competently organized and ready for active service, sailed on the Henderson, De Kalb, and Hancock from the United States, forming one-fifth of the first expedition of American troops for service in France.
This regiment was soon joined by the Sixth Regiment and the Sixth Machine Gun Battalion of Marines, and the Fourth Brigade of Marines was organized, and as one of the two Infantry brigades of the Second Division of Regulars engaged in actual battle in no less than eight distinct operations in France, of which four were major operations.
The French Army recognized the splendid work of the Fifth and Sixth Regiments of Marines by citing them no less than three times in Army orders for achievements in the Chateau-Thierry sector, in the Aisne-Marne (Soissons) offensive, and in the Meuse-Argonne (Champagne). The Sixth Machine Gun Battalion was similarly cited for its work in the Chateau-Thierry sector and Aisne-Marne (Soissons) offensive. The Fourth Brigade received a similar citation for its work in the Chateau-Thierry sector. Since two French Army citations are sufficient to make an organization eligible for the award of the French fourragère, the high standard of the Marine units is evident. Information was received in January, 1920, that the War Department had accepted the award of the French fourragère in the colors of the ribbon of the Croix de Guerre for several Army organizations and the three units of the Fourth Brigade.
Within one year after the outbreak of war the Marine Corps placed about as many enlisted men in France as there were in the Marine Corps when war was declared.