This mere outline of the outstanding fighting history of the Marines in France, tells only a small portion of what was done by the "Devil Dogs," as these Soldiers of the Sea were called by the Germans. Overseas the largest army concentration camp was Pontanezen at Brest. It was placed under the command of Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler, who organized, trained and carried over the Thirteenth Regiment of Marines. Approximately 1,600,000 men passed through that camp. It was one of the biggest jobs in France and General Butler performed the difficult duty with ability and satisfaction. The citation for an Army Distinguished Service Medal said of him: "He has commanded with ability and energy Pontanezen Camp at Brest during the time in which it has developed into the largest embarkation camp in the world. Confronted with problems of extraordinary magnitude in supervision, the reception, entertainment, and departure of the large numbers of officers and soldiers passing through this camp, he has solved all with conspicuous success, performing services of the highest character for the American Expeditionary Forces." After his return to America General Butler was made commandant of the chief Marine training camp at Quantico, Va.
Thirty thousand Marines were sent overseas to join the American Expeditionary Forces. When, in May, 1917, I tendered the Marines for service with the land forces abroad, there was objection on the part of some high ranking officers of the Army. But Secretary Baker, with the breadth that characterized him in the conduct of the war, accepted the tender, and the Fifth Regiment, under command of Colonel (afterwards Brigadier General) Charles A. Doyen, sailed on June 14 with the first expedition sent to France. The Sixth Regiment and Sixth Machine Gun Battalion followed later, and the Fourth Brigade of Marines was organized in October, as a part of the Second Division, which General Doyen commanded until relieved by Major General Omar Bundy, on November 8. General Doyen continued at the head of the brigade until ill health compelled him to relinquish his command on May 9, 1918.
The fighting ability which distinguished the Marines in France was the natural result of training and experience, the "spirit of the corps" with which they were instilled. When war was declared there were only 511 officers, commissioned and warrant, and 13,214 enlisted men in the Marine Corps, which eventually contained 2,174 commissioned and 288 warrant officers, 65,666 enlisted regulars, 6,704 reserves and 269 female reservists—a total strength of 75,101.
Recruiting, training, equipment and supply of this large force was a task without parallel in the history of the Corps. It was conducted with an energy and ability that reflected the utmost credit upon Marine Corps Headquarters—Major General George Barnett, Commandant; the Assistant Commandants, first General John A. Lejeune, afterwards Brigadier General Charles G. Long; Brigadier General Charles H. Lauchheimer, Adjutant and Inspector; Brigadier General George Richards, Paymaster; Brigadier General Charles L. McCawley, Quartermaster; and others on duty at posts and in the field.
What they did in France was only one phase of the operations of the Marines. They were employed in practically every area in which the Navy operated—on battleships in the North Sea, on cruisers in the Asiatic; in Haiti, Santo Domingo and Cuba, and the isles of the Pacific. In fact, they claim the honor of firing the first shot of the war in the far distant island of Guam, where a Marine fired on a motor-launch which was trying to get to the German ship Cormoran with the news of the declaration of war before an American naval officer could reach that vessel and demand its surrender. That was the only German vessel in our territorial waters which we did not get. Her crew blew her up, and a number of her officers and men went down with the vessel.
Wherever they were, these Soldiers of the Sea, upon whom Uncle Sam has called so often when he had a duty to perform anywhere in the world—these men who, in many conflicts, have been the "first to land and first to fight"—served well and added fresh laurels to those so often won in the long history of the Corps. They may be pardoned for singing with a will their marching song:
If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines.