General Ludendorff set the stage in World War I for the Battle of Belleau Wood when he launched his Chemin des Dames offensive against the Allied Northern Front on 27 May 1918. The Fourth Brigade, American Expeditionary Forces, with other Allied units, was ordered to move up from training areas. At four o'clock on the morning of 30 May, Marines climbed into trucks and headed north. The caravan took a road that skirted Paris.
The Americans were placed astride the strategic Paris-Metz highway. Fragments of the Allied armies began retreating along the highway, and a senior French officer advised the Marines to join them.
A Marine officer replied: "Retreat hell. We just got here." To the left of the Marines was Bois de Belleau, three square miles of rocks, wood, and 1,200 elite soldiers from the 461st Imperial German Infantry. On 4 and 5 June, Marines held their positions along the highway. On 6 June, the Fifth Marines counterattacked against the woods and Hill 142. By day's end, the edge of Belleau Wood and Hill 142 were taken at the expense of over 1,000 casualties.
For four days, Marines hammered their way through the woods. On the 13th, the Germans counterattacked. The entrenched Marines started to drop the enemy at 400 yards with concentrated rifle fire. After the attack waned, the lines did not change until the 24th, when Marines began mopping up the area. On 26 June, they proudly announced that the "Woods are now United States Marine Corps' entirely." At the end of the battle, the Marine brigade had suffered 55 percent casualties, 1,062 killed and 3,615 wounded.
What was gained was not just small battered woodland. The action stopped the last major offensive of the war by the Germans. In doing so, it drew the Corps the respect and admiration of our allies and our country. The 4th Brigade was awarded the French Citation, A L'Orde de L'Armee, and the wood was officially renamed Bois de la Brigade Marine.
German soldiers later referred to the U.S. Marines, respectfully, as "Teufelhunde," Devil Dogs, because of their fierceness in battle.
