the united states marines in the guadalcanal campaign

8/7/2019 The United States Marines in the Guadalcanal Campaign

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THE UNITED STATESMARINESin the

GUADATCANAL AMPAIGNNSVIEUM AI{IDAPPROYED 4 JUN 1962

' ,r'. /' 27noz


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Tbe Unl ted states Mar lnes 1n the Guadalcanal Sg4Pglglby

Henry I . sbaw, Jr .The flrst Anerlcan ground offenslve 1n the Paclflc durlng

Wortd War II took place at an obscure lsland ln the soulhernSo lomons- -Guada lcana l .There , he h igh t lde o f Japaneseconqueatlras reached and the ebb began.

Unt l f the dec ls l ve nava l Bat t le o l M ldway (4-6 June 1942) ,Al l led forces cou ld do l l t t le more lhan ho ld wha ' l t hey i l ad ,wa l t , and prepare , Af ter Midway, the U. S ' Jo ln t Ch ie fs o fStalf declded that the strateglc sltuatlon had lnproved e ouglrto r l sk the mount lng of a l ln l ted of fens lve ' The ta rge t chosenwa Tu lag l , a smal -1"s l .and once the headquar te rs of the Br l t IshSo lomon lands Pro tec tora te , and wt th I t such par ts o f sur -round lng lsLands ae seemed ecesoary to ho ld the obJect l ve ' Af lne deep-water anchorageex ls ted betweenTu lag l and ne lghbor -lng F lor lda Ts]and, and on Guada lcana l , 20 m11essoutb ac t 'o$aSea l .a rkChanne l , kuna l grasE p1a1nsamlds t the Jung le weresu l tab le for ex tens lve al r . f le ld deve lopment . In Ju1y , wher )aerlal reconnalsgance showed hat bhe Japanese had begun tobu l ld an a l r l l e ld on Cuada lcana l , the la rger 1s land became hepr lnc pa] ta rge t .

The d lv l s lon o f the Pdc l f l c ln to opera t lona l conu land rd . '3madeby the JcS on 30 Match 1942 placed all of the solomonscha ln 1n Genera l Doug las MacAr thur rs SouthwestPac l f l c Area,In revlewlng lrhe forces avallabfe for the Cuadafcanal Tu1ag1


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- operatlon, bowever, the Jolnt chlefs deternlned that all ofthe $h1ps and most of the assault troops would have to comefrom Adml ra l ches tep W. Nln l t z ' Pac l f i c F lee t and Pac l f l c OceanAreas. Accordlngly, on 2 JuLy, the boundary between Nlnitzr andMacArthurrs comnandswas shlfted west Just far enough to brlng,the lower Solonons wlthln the admlralrs South Paolflc Area,At the same t1ne, lthe tcs agreed upon a seriee of o peratlons intbe Solonons and Blsmarcks that would lead eventuall.y to thecapture of the Japanese gtronghofd of RabauL on NewBrlta1n,oeneral MacArthur was glven resportstrbll l ty for plannlng andcoordlnatlng the advance and command f all Its phases afterouada lcana l r {as secured,

On 25 June, v l ce Adml ra l R lchard L . Ghorn ley , N ln l t z lSouth Paclflc Area comrnander,was told to begln preparatlonslo take the So lomonsobJect l ves ,w l th a ten ta t l ve D-Dayof IAugust . A t l eas t a d lv l s lon o f t ra lned arnph lb lousassau lbtroops was needed for WATCHToWER,he code-name of the Guadal-cana l -Tu lag l opera t lon , and on ly one such unl t was ava l lab feln the Pac l f l c - - the l s t Mar lne D lv l s1on. Other d lv l s lon8 thatmlght have been asslgned the task lacked the anphlblous experl-ence or were spread th lnLy to hoLd v l ta l s t ra teg lc bases, Therelnlorcements that vrere tentatively slalred for WArCHTOWERouldbe avallabfe only when garrlson forces came out lrom the Statesto re l l eve combat L roops 1n NewCaledon la , Samoa,and Hawa11.l n l t l a l l y , b h e l s t D t v l s l o n w o u l d g o 1 t a l o n e .

Whenhe got the word that h1s dlvlsloD was headed for ac-tlon J-n the Solomons, MaJor Ceneral Alexander A. Vandegrlft was


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Just gettlng set up 1; i iew Zealand where Lhe 1st was scheduiedlo undergo s1x months of lntenslve cornbat tralnlng' l ' I l thvandeErlft at welflngbon were hla comrnand ost' the 5th Marlnes'and elements of the lLth Marlnes; at oea en route to New Zea-land were the d1v ls lon rear eche lon , the l s t Mar lnes ' and the re-nalnder of the llth. Since one of the dlvl8lontB lnfantry regl-ments , the 7th Mar lneE, waa a l ready cor n l t ted to the defenseof Samoa ' he 2d Mar lnes of the 2d D1v1s1onwas d lspaLchedfrom San Dlego to brlng Vandegrlftrs com'nand p to strength'Olrher naJor elernenls attached to the lst Dlvlslon had 1'o beassembled rom overseas base6, the 1st Ra lder Bat ta l l on f romNew Caledontra and the 3d Defense Battal-1on from I{awa11'

Faced wlth the task of asserAblLngand loadlng out a reln-fo rced d lv l s lon wl th ln a monthrs t1me, Vandegr l f t asked forand got a weekrs delay of D-Day to 7 August Feverlsblyn lrn-prov181ng as necessary' the Marlnes ln I'tel l lngtton unloadedthe transports as they arrlved, sorted and repacked equlprnentand supplles for combat, and loaded thlp aglaln' There was notenough roorn for all the dlvlslonrs motor transporN' and n)ostof the heavler cargo lrucKs were left behlnd to come up wlbha rear echelon. Re-embarkatlon was conlpLeted by 22 July andthe ccnvoy salled from we111ngtot1 he same day' As fJnallyloaded, the Marlnes carrled along 60 daya tuppl1e8' erlo\r ' ' l' l r lm-nunltlon for 10 days of heavy flghtlng, and the rnlnlmun 1rrl: l : lvlduaf baggage actually requlred Ito 1lve and flghl' '

Rehearsa ls , unsat l s fac tory and lncomple te ' were conductedat Koro ln the FlJl Islands, where the varlous componenta ol the


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foi ies asslgned to take GuadaLcanaf and Tulag{ .assembled orthe flrst t1me. Rear Adm{raf Rlchmond K, Turner, the connanderof the amphlbj.ous force whlch ineluded the Mar,tne dlvltsr,r, ,1?stransports, and lhe bornbardment nd escort ves$e,ls, wa.E lvenresponslbll l ty for the oonduct of the,bperatlon. The Mar{neCorp$rpolnt of v1ew, one that pfevalled and becarneFfandandamphtrtj lousdoctrlne in late!, stages of the war, waF that theland lng fo rce comnandershou ld hAve comple te cont ro l o l .oper_ations ashore. Durlng WATCHTOWER,owever, tbe comnrand etupof an earl ler era hel_d Ilorth, and the.naval conmander conlitnuedto have the.last word ln the ernploJ,,mentf ground troopE.

The.plan f,or WATCHTOWERalLed for i;wo separate tandlngsr.one by the divlslonts maln body neal, [unga pol-nt on Cuadal_canal and the other on the Florlda tde of Sea1ark Channel byan assaull, group bu1lt around the 2d Battalion, 5th Marlnes,and the ls t Ra lder and parachute Bat ta l l on8. Accord lng !o tn_telf lgence of the enemy gleaned from Al_lIed coastwatcher rporlrsand reconna lssance 1 lgh ts , the s t rongest ies ts tance cgufd beexpected from JapaneEe defendlng Tulag1 and two nearby fortl-f led ls1ets, Gavutu and Tanarnbogo. Enerny 1r and naval reac_tlon to the assault was expected to be vlofent and gtrong,

on 7 August, tbe prelandlng estlmalrs of Japanese defensesproved accurate. After a prellmlnary bombardmentby crulsersand des t royers , the assau l t waves boated 1n sh lps , land lng cra f traced ashore on both Guadalcanal and Tulagl, On the blg l6tandthere was no eneny response; naval gunflre had drlven the labortroops worklng on the alnfleld lnto the hll lF that rlnxled the

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kunal grass plaln' ' lne prlnary obsiacles to the MarJne advancewere the Jung le and 1;heenerva t lng ef fec t o f the hot ' humldcl lmate on men not used to the t rop lcs ' By nl -ght fa l " l on D-Day'Cenera l Vandegr l l t ' s rnenwere dug 1n In pos l t l ons Jus t shor to f the a l r f1e1d sl te and had yet to contac t the l r f l rs t enernys o l d l e r .

The capture of Tulagl and lts nelghborlng lslets tookthree desperai,e days of flghtlng durlng whlch the three bat-tallons of the 2d Mal:Ines were cornmltted to add ltelght to Amer-

l c a n a l t t a c k s ' T h e J a p a n e s e d e f e n d e r s ' a b o u t l ' ' O O O n a v a l l a n d -1ng, av la t lon , and labor t roops, ho led up In oaves and p111-boxes and foui th t to the death aga lns t tank- ln fan t ry a t tacks 'po ln t -b lank ar tJ . l fery l l re , and c lose-1n grenade and snaL l armsassau l t$ . lwenby-seven pr laoDers and a spr lnk l i n lg o f surv l vorsthat sltam to Florlda Island vtere all that was lefl i of the enemygar r lson when the las t shot had been f l red '

The siJxongest Japanese countetmoves were launched fron a1rand sea. On D-Day afternoon, eneny bombers-attacked and scoreda h1t on an Alncr l can destPoyer " Da11y for month 's hereaf te r 'except when fou1 weather gave the Mar lnes a respl te or A1 l1edal rcraf t l n te r : cepted ' Japanese p lanes ra lded ' concent ra t lng onshLpplng vlhcn 1t was present olf the beaches but turnlng fre-quent a t ten t lon to the d lv l r j l on beachhead on Guada lcana l ' T feunwelcome lntruslons of enemy warshlps had an even more lmpor-tan t e f fec t on tne course of the carnpa lgn ' Seven Japanesecru iser$ at tacked on the n lgh t o f 8-9 August and the bavocwrought vras stallger1ng. Torpedoes and gunllre sank four All led


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crulsers and badly damaged another and two destroyers. Theattacklng force sa11ed alray lntact.

The grave rlsk posed by enemy alr and naval attackspronpted Adnlral Turner to wllhdraw the transports and cargovease ls g tand lng of f the beaAhes la te on 9 August . On boardthe shlps that left was a good part of the ratlons and amrnunl-t lon that the 1st Dlv ls lon had counted upon hav lng 1n l rssupp ly dumps and near l y f , l too Mar lnes o l sh lp8r \ rn load lng de_ta1 ls and reserve un l t s . ' I ' henen and supp l les re turned toEsp l r l t u Santo and New Cal .edon1a, jwo of the neares t forqvardbases, eventua l l y reach lng Gua( ta l cana l aga ln but not beforebhe l r absense was sore ly fe] t .

Cast loose, or a , bes t promlsed oDly a tenuou8 l l fe f lneback to rear. ar:eas, the .L$t lvtar,J-ne 1vl.slon set out to make dowl th what lL had. oaD1,u) lednen iynater le l was used to thefu f les t ex ten t i urapon$were made par t o f the defenFeB, foodstocks wer .e added to bt te r "at lon dumps, and t rucks were pu ! rowork hau l lng supp l les . Genera l Vandegr , l t t pos ted h: ls t roopsto ho ld per lmcLer defcnses a.Long5,OOO axde of the coast bet r^ reenAl l l 8a tor Creek and Kuh:m v l l l age and a long an arc ln land whlchencompassed he a l r ' f le ld s1te, Wl th ln the per lmeter , eng lneeraworked arout )d t i l e c lock , f l nJsh lng bhe Job the Japanese had be-gun, 1n order to ready an a l . . sbr1p to hand le p lanes. By _tBAugu6t ,1t wa-sready, bul; au en(jr j lybon,bl.rrg :ald l.n{:Jck{r,l t out, and 1twas the 2o1rhbefore the I ' l rs t , A : l l 1ed a1r un l t s tanded.

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Irundamental ta succeas of }^IATC}]1'OIJERlans ttas the con-cept tha t a l r c ra l t wou ld form par t o l the defend lng lo rce and.eventually the means of caryylng the f1ght up the Solononscha ln to eneny bases. The 1n1t la1 runway, and the a l r f le ldcomplex thab was gradua l l y bu l l t w l th ln the Mar lne perJ-mel rer ,was namedHenderson F le ld af ter a Mar lne f f yer who was kI l fedat the Bat t l l e o f M ldway, The f l r .s t f l y lng unl . l s to reachIlendcreon were Marlne Fl8hber Squadron 223 and Marlne Scout-Sonbel' Squerdr'on23i: whicl, f lcw Ln fron the escort carrler Lo-ngTsIand. [ ; Jc4ocdtng f ] l , _ ,hLs f Mar l .nc and Army p lanes s t ragedthrou igh the New Hebr ldes to reach the I ' l e ld , ahd Navy d lve'uonlbor:,0from tihe danraged cal.r. ler l ln,l-ep_r1se Jolned the growlng1 'o l ] car .

On S l iepLember , I l eadquar i ,er$ o f the 1sL Mar lne A l r c ra f tWIng i rnder l l r l .gac l ler Genera l Roy S, 0e lger ar r l ved on Guadal - -{:rrral itnd took conrDand )1' the conDoslte organlzatl.on that camelo be known as CACTUSA1r lrorce after the code name of the 1s-Land. A l . thou8h Gelger r$ cbmrnand as a1 ! , /aysppedorn lnent l y aiv lar l -oc u t f l t , 1 t never l os t l jhe Jo ln t serv l cd rnake-up of l tse i l r l y dayr i . The J11gh1reche lons o f 21 Mar lne squadrons served: i r i t he lo rward a i :ea dur ' l nB the bat l r l e to ho fd Guada lcana l , buton ly a few o f Lh( : un l t g round eche lons reached the l s land. Thel. 'csuftlfr8 burdelr thr: 'own on lhe unc:erstlength grolurd crews thatkept the rn l sce l l aneous co l . l . ec t1on o f pa1;chedand shot -up a1r -c ra f t f l y lng was t reneDdous, but the Job was accompl l shed w l thIngenu lby and d lspatch . The l$o la ted na ture o f the f l r s t monthoof f ightlng on Guadalcanal bred a conlradeshlp of adverstty wlth


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an a t t l t ude that the I s t Mar lne Dlv ls lon and l t s suppor t l nga1r cou ld acconpf l sh the lmpos91b le .

The Japanese hlgh conmand at Rabau:Lasslgned bhe taak ofe las lng the Amer lcan pos l t l on on Guada lcana l to the SeventeenthArmy, but rnade the nlstake of undere st lmab1ng. the s|rength andtenaclty of the Marlnes ashore and ln the a1r. The nirmber ofeneny troops avalfable and unco! nltted In August and September,i rny of them combat ve terans of the f lght lng 1n Ch lna and thePhtl1pp1nes, was more than enough to have overwhelmed the Hen-derson F1e ld defenses. But l ,he Seventeenth Arny sent 1 ts fo rcesto the l s lanc l p : teoemeal , a babta l l on or a reg lment a t a the ,never ln su f l l c len t . fo rce l to moun l ;and gr ls ta ln a p l :o fongeda t L a c k ,

Gener :a l Vanc legr l f l t , on l i l . s parb , l (ept 8t l :ong anc l agBres-s l ve cornbat pa l ) . ' o . l fo ln tard oJ 'h1$: l i nes and ' laur rchec llml tedof fens lves to keep the ' Iapanese o f r ba lance. He never over -comrnltted hls nen or unclertook taFll(s that would place a severest ra ln on h ls resources . t le l rad a mJss lcn- -ho ld l l enderson! ' l e f d . - a r , o I e r I l { l l e d J . t .

The Japanese meihod ot' bu1ldl.ng up thelr forceo on 0uadal-cana l , and the lnpetuos l t y o l . i apanese Ieaders , l u rn l shed thepat te rn o f the s l x -mol l th -1ong bat r t le to re take the 1s1and. Afew thousand men at d t lrne woul(l land from fransports outsldethe perimeter and then would attack almost J.nmed1ately. Theactlon at the threatened poil i t would be bltberly fouiht wlthfocal advantage whlpFawlng bac}: t ln{l forth, but wl1-,h he de-fendera a lways ab le l ,o cor rc . r l i r . 'a l , : t - 'enoLrgh.c ; j e rve s t reng lh tobeat the Japane$e back w- ! lh c l r tg8er '1 l lg Io i r res.


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The ground actlon on Guadalcariaf revolved around a serleso f h lghpo ln ts o f l n tense f lght lng wl th lnLerva ls marked byv lgorous pat ro l oonbat . In n1d-August , the Mar lnes loca tedand engaged the or tg lna l 1s1and gar r lson ln pos l . t l ons about6,000 yards west ol Kukum beyond the Matanlkau Rlver- Then onthe 21st , a re ln lo rced enemybat ta l l on whlch had Just landedeast o f the per lmeter rushed the Mar lne defenses a long Al l l ga torCreek, often rnlsnamecl he Tenartr R1ver. The JapaneE-' force wasd e s t r o y e d .

1 'he sarne aNe befe l l a br lgade o l 6 ,000 men wh l ' ch landddon both $ lde$ of the per : lmeter ln la te Ar rgus t and ear l y Sep-tember. Movlng through the June;]e wlth h1s maln body, theeneny commandera t tempted to launch a three-pronged at tackfrom lnland and both flanks, The spolt choosen for lthe J-nlanddrtve throuelh to fhe alrf leld was a rld8e nlanned by tl)e orlg1nal"assault troops at Tulagl whon Ceneral VandegrXft had broughtover to re lnforce i l l . s de l 'enses , Mar lne ra lders , parachut l s t s ,lnfantryrnen, ploneers, and artlt ler:ynen all "had a hand ln thetwo-day bat t l . e to ho ld tbe r l dge, bu i when the las t enemy so l -d le r wl thdrew on f4 sep lenber , the pos l t l on was st l l 1 1n tuner l -can possess-j.on, The enemy flank attack,s planned to accornpanythe maln assault faded away, Ln the face of stronE! Marlne de-fenses near the coaet .i ih l l e Lhe f s t I r l v l s lo rby the fau lLy re n forcementAmer lcan NavY was su fe r lnghlstory. Ttle Japaneae and

was ho ld lng l t s own, he lped a long$t ra tegy of the Japanese, thethe wors t ser les o f reverees 1n 1 ts

the Amer :1cans, he lat ter bo ls te red

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on occas lon by Aust ra f lan and New Zealand sh lps , tang led re-peatedly ln the waters off Cuaddlcanal and 1n the Solomon Sea'Sea lark cbanne l on a new t l t le ' l ron-Bot tor0 Sound, ln dub loustribute to the number of shlps that sank there durlng frequentand cost lY n lgh t ba t t l es .

The over-al1 score of shlps lost from August throughDecember vJas staggerl.ng, but ln the flnal analysls hurt theJapanese more than the Aner l cans because of the dl f fer lng re-p facement potent laL o f the two nat lons ' Two Aner l can car r le rs '6 c ru l sers , 13 dest royers , and a score of sna l le r vesse ls weresunk; many nore ships \rere severel"y damaged' The JapaneseLos i one car r ler , l two bat t l esh lps , th ree cru lsers ' and e]evendestroyers and had at l.east an equaL nullber damaged'

The dec ls l ve fac l l o r ln the sea baLt les In the So lononswas Al.l-1ed alr. The CACTUSAlr Force and carrler squadronsexacted a heavy to11 of t ranspor t$ dur ' l ng Japar )ese e in force-ment a t tempts , and of ten evened the ta l l y when enemy warsh lpathat had come out ahead 1n an exchange of gunflre and torpedoesat Guadalcanal were caught retlr lng toward nabaul'

On 18 Septenber, the TtlI Marlnes arrlved on Cuadalcanalf r :on Samoa,Jus t 1n t lme to test tbemse lves aga lns t a Japaneseforce lha t had landed wesb of the Matan lkau ' In a success lonof sharp ly lought engagements Last lnc bhrough 9 Ocbober ' thelst Dlvlslon turned back the enemy attackers, exactlng a heavy

, to]1 of dead and wounded for the aLtenpt to break through theper lne ter . The ar r l vz t l o f t l le d lv l s lon tB m1.ss1ng eg lment was fof -lowed on 13 October by the landlng of tlre flrst lnfantry regl-rnent o f the Armyts Aner ' l ca1 Dlv ls loL t ( ) reJn for l ce the Mar lnes '

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T,he soldlers were asslgned thelr owri sector of the defense 11neto ho ld i tnd took par t 1n the repu lse of the heav les t Japaneseoffenslve ol' t l ' le campalSn durlng atl,acks whlch lasted fron 21-28 0cLobe .

The enerny strength at the start of the October offenslvehad reached 20,OOO nen, wh l1e Genera l Vandegr l l t rs command ad$rown to 23,OOO. Many of the conbatants on both s ldes were lnpoor hea l th , however , and the f l -gures do no1; :e l l ec t lnen axpeak cornbat e f f l c lency . Trop lca l d l seaEes found easy prey among

m.:n eakelled by nental and phy$jcal $traln and a shortageof

i.at.1.or)s,both bhe Japane$e and Aflell lcan6 had dlff1cu1l'y keeplngany nore than a bafe subs l . s tence feve l o f supp l les on the l s 'land. Thousands of {rhe Marlnes wlthtn the perlmeter and 1nihc f ront - l .1ne pos i t l ons sul fered repeated at tacks o l ' na la r laand other" fevera, yet lrhey held on because they had bo' Fo!"Uhe Japanese In tbe Jung le , the case was even worse as medlc lneand doctors were ln shor t suppty , food of ten I 'a l l ed to reachas$aulb lrroops, and hundreds of the eneny dled of malnutrlt lona n d d l . s e a $ e .

November wa$ tihe crlt lcal not)th 1n whlcll the l$sue of theDampalgnwas dec lded. Desp l te te ! ' r1b1e fosses , the A1: t l ednava l fo rces , a ldcd by CA0TLIS l . r Force ' won a I 'our *day sea anda1!' batt].e lor corltrol of the waters of the lower So\omons'l 'he lst Dlvlslon receiveal lrrrther relnforcement from the AmerlcalDlvlslon and from l,he 2d Marlne Dlvlslon and used these fre8htroops to hamnler at the Japanese posltlorls. A nonth of contln-uous f lgh t lng wl th ar t l l lery , i l r , and uava l gunf l re suppor t

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all. playlng a part In the destructlon, vlrtually flnlshed oneJapanese d lv l s lon and e lenents o f anobher .

On 9 December, General Vandegrlft turned over c ofi lnand ofthe fo rces on Ouada lcana l to MaJor Genera l A lexander M. Patch,corrrnanderof the Amerlcal Dlv1,s1on, as the J.st Marlne Dlvlslonvras of f l c la l l y re l1eved. The bat t l . e -weary Mar lnes o l the l s t ,many o f then bad ly 1n need o f t rosp lLa l l zaL lon as a r .esu l t o fthe l r bouts wl th t rop lca l d l seases, depar ted 1n the nex t fewdays fo r Aust ra l l a and a much-needed est , Dur lng Decemberand the f l rs t few days of the new year , Genera l Patch regroupedh ls forces for a dr l ve ca . l cu ] .a ted to push the Japanese o f f thels land. The 25th ln lant ry Dlv ls lon and the remaln lng un l t s o fthe 2d Mar lne DLv ls lon ar r l ved to .Jo ln the so1d1erg of theA,'nerlcal ln the fl- lral ol 'fensl.ve.

The Xl.V Ar.rnyL'ori,pswa$ organlzed under Ceneral Palrahrscorunand o cont ro .L [he ac l r l ons o f the three d lv l s l .ons . On ] .0January , the corps launc led L ts a f tack west a long the coast to -ward Cape Esperance, the t1p o t ' t he I s land. . fhe advance wa8hot l y contes ted ln 1 ts f l r s t days , bu t the Japanese gave waystead l l y befqre the conb lned Arny-Mar lne o f fens lve , La te 1nJanuary, when lntell. lgence was recelved of a bul. ld*up of enemysh lpp lng at Rabau l , Lhe Amer l can advance was sfowed, Th lnk lngtbat th ls news mlght pr?esage large-sca le re l .n fo rcenent a t -tempt as I t had many t lmes prev lous ly , Cenera l Patch wanted tokeep h Is conbaL fo rceg concent ra ted enough to repe l a counter ,fand lng . - Bul ihe Jal raneae rh ip8 were l )e i r ,g read led tor anotherrea rJon- the eva* uat J-on qf Gun-d,,..r lr iar'1.,

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The enerny had had enough' He wlshed only to rescue tnet roops s t1 ] l a l i ve on the 1s1and to f1ght another day ' In the.f 1r,st lteek of February, durlng a serles of darlng nlght runsby dest royer t ranspor ts , about 13,oOOJapar lesewere taken o f fcape Esperance. On 8 February , Genera l PaNch cou ld repor t"Tota1 and conrp fe te de lea t o f Japanese forces on Guada lcana l ' ' ' '

fn ! 'r lnnlng control of the 1sland, Marlne and Arny unltshad over 1 ,500 of f l cers and men k l1 Ied and 4,7oo wounded 1nact lon . l lhe Japanese los t 14 ,800 kl l led and counted another9 ,OOo c lead f rom wounds or d lgease; a thousand pr " l soners ' nos tof thenr labor 1 , roops, were taken. Both s ldes lost about thesame number of l lghtlng Fhlps and cre}'rmen1n the battle forcont ro l o f the seas, perhaps the most coat f y nava l canpa lgn 1nnodern h lu t io ry . In the a l r , l rhe ba lance welghed heav l l y lnfervor of the Alj^Ies who accounted for 600 eneny planes andp l lo tE and los t l ess than ha l f as rnany1n te t 'u rn ' tu1 account -lng of compara t l ve fosses dur lng the Bat t te fo r Guada lcana lo!r: l .ycrnphalzcs the lmp;rtance of' the canpalgn. The selzureof the l5 land f ror0 the Japanese was tbe aL l - l npor tan t f l r tstep .fondard on the road to Tokyo, the slgnaL of bhe end to a) 'ear of re t rea t and thc s l ' I l t ch to the of fens lve '

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SNLECTED II]LIOGRAPHYWesley Frank Craven and Janes Lea Cates , eds . The Pac l f l c :Ouada lcana l to Sa lpan. AuqusL l9 / r2 to Ju l , y 1911f : - - TheTrnr ,y-nf r Forces 1n-h lor ld- \ , iar I I , v . t r . - chTcas-o : un lver -sTEi or c6rcago- ieirs, rg5d lp. St-\o.LtcoL Frank O. Hough, USMCH,MaJ Uer le E . Ludwlg , USMC, ndHenry L Shaw, Jr. Pearl Harbq! to Cuadalaanal - - -Hls torys! u. !. 4.r1"s_ ,qrpg Qpc! g._a-c-E .q,o-rfq'ai f I, v.-f . *wasF ng t oni'-H I s-to -f c a - er arrc i, -0 -3 D -Is1on, H;adquarters,U. S. Mar lne Corps , 1958. pp. 235-374.Je ter A. Ise ly and Ph l1 lp A, CrowlAmphlb ou war , Pr lnce ton:T.ar ---M 72-r 6cRlchard W. Johnsbon. f 'of 19!.rygJ lhe_ SLory of -the Second MarlneDlvlq1o!1 -!r) ,UqL1{Xar II':- NewYork: Ra;dom {;ft;;-19tr81-pp. zr-|Jrl-ceorse McMlllan. f.i-r.._e.r0 .9r9_e-9_:4 U.q!,Sin.9,_lLbg 1.r.S_.r.rgtllgDlv ls l .on Ln Wor ld War ' l : I . l { n$b lnq ton : f r fant rv Journa lP n 6 c c . h 2 a _ I r r ? "John Mllfer, Jr, .qugqqlg_Cla: the_Flrs! !!len! lye - - -!he_Warln the Pac l f lc - - -Unl ted StateE Arny ln Wor ld War I I .

riEsfriic t on--ifu

s oiTca1 5Tv 6loF,'-Debtr.rThentf*tfrE nrny,1 9 4 9 . x v l 1 1 , / l Jl p p .Samuel ELlot Morlson. Corq! Seq, !{lq_gaJ_.qndqU!I]C!-LD_9ctlons,tu4yp42,-Ausu!t tgtte:-!,f c&IJ- 9!. Uff=q-ttrI9!-I?@-*OGrEt-rons iq EoFft-ilqr If;-t.- TV.--BosEoi'r: -fftTte, erowneiE'Tompanv, 5\,i: w: 745-296

Ibe ,S Lr.g-l.e, oJ Grrad l.c ana 1- - -H!s,!-S!yNgVaI gpgl1qt.-Lq!1!n Worlq Var JI, v. V.gnowna;d cdrnpany, l95Ol- ,(x11,- B9 pp.Robert Sherrod. H!p-t_o-f"Uf Marlne qSlps 4y_1nt_19nn World War II.

Wash lng tonr CombatForces Pr :ess , 1952. pp. b5-129.MaJ John L. zlrnmerman, USMCII. Thg q-q3q-e-lqq]141!am!e1g!.Wash lng ton: Hls i ,or ' l ca l D lv l s lon , l l eadquarbers , U. S .Mar lne Corps , 1949 v1, 189 pp.

. The U. S. Mar lnes andPrl;a;ton 0ntv6r" Tlf, Fress,

of Unl ted State sEosEoil--l:iTIIe ,

the united states marines in the guadalcanal campaign

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