Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Acting Secretary of the Navy.
Chapter XXV.
OFFICE OF THE MAJOR GENERAL COMMANDANT—ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR’S DEPARTMENT.
Maj. Gen. Commandant George Barnett was the Major General Commandant of the United States Marine Corps during the entire period of the World War. Originally appointed on February 25, 1914, he was reappointed on February 25, 1918, for a second term of four years.
On September 29, 1918, Maj. Gen. Commandant George Barnett, accompanied by Brig. Gen. Charles L. McCawley, sailed from New York on board the Leviathan, arriving at Brest, France, October 7, 1918. The object of the visit of the Major General Commandant to France was an inspection of all the Marines serving with the American Expeditionary Forces, but he fell a victim to the influenza epidemic which prevented him from carrying out his plans. He departed from Paris, December 7, 1918, sailed from Brest, December 9, 1918, on board the Leviathan, and arrived in the United States, December 16, 1918.
Brig. Gen. John A. Lejeune was the Assistant to the Major General Commandant from December 14, 1914 to September 26, 1917, when he was transferred to Quantico, Va., to command the Marine barracks. Brig. Gen. Charles G. Long relieved Brig. Gen. Lejeune and has acted as Assistant to the Major General Commandant from that date to the present.
Activities directly under the office of the Major General Commandant such as personnel, target practice, and aviation, were carried on efficiently during the war. The Planning Section was established on December 24, 1918.
Brig. Gen. Charles H. Lauchheimer was the Adjutant and Inspector of the United States Marine Corps, with station at Headquarters, during the World War. He became seriously ill, was admitted to the hospital on July 10, 1919, where he died on January 14, 1920. Col. Henry C. Haines assumed the duties of Acting Adjutant and Inspector on August 3, 1919, and upon the death of Brigadier General Lauchheimer was appointed the Adjutant and Inspector.
A great amount of additional work was caused by the large increases and by the war, but the personnel of the Adjutant and Inspector’s Department performed their duties with efficient satisfaction.