Rock of the Marne -- 100th Anniversary

[bertmedals]

Please indulge this former Marne Man:

 

Ludendorff launched his 5th and final attack of 1918 (the Kaiserschlacht offensives) on July 15, 1918. The German 7th Army attacked across the Marne River on a 20-mile front between Chateau Thierry and Epernay. 4 US divisions (3rd, 26th, 28th, and 42nd) and an additional infantry regiment (369th) had earlier been moved into defensive positions after the Battle of the Aisne to reinforce the French 4th, 6th, and 9th Armies.

In what would become the Champagne-Marne operation, the US 3rd Division occupied defensive positions along the Marne in and around Chateau Thierry. On the right flank of the Division, Col Ulysses Grant McAlexander’s 38th Infantry Regiment held firm against 2 German divisions (10th and 36th) during repeated attacks on July 15-16, even while units on the Regiment's right flank gave way. The 38th along with the 30th Infantry Regiment stemmed the German advance in the eastern Chateau Thierry area with the 38th earning the honorific “Rock of the Marne”, coined by the 3rd Division Chief of Staff, Col Robert H. Kelton, when McAlexander delivered his report on the battle to the Division HQ and evenutally adopted by the entire division. Concurrently, the 4th and 7th Infantry Regiments successfully defended the Marne on the division's left (west) flank suffering under an enormous German artillery barrage.

At the time of the battle McAlexander (photo below) was 6 weeks shy of his 54th birthday. He was awarded the DSM for the defensive stand on the Marne and the DSC during the Meuse Argonne Offensive in which he commanded the 180th Brigade, 90th Division. He also earned a Silver Star and a Purple Heart. He retired as a Major General.

Dennis

 

[AustinO]

The man himself.

I believe this was taken at a 1919 ceremony honoring those men lost in the battle - while the 38th Regiment was on Occupation duty. You can just make out his 90th Division SSI on his shoulder. In some of the other shorts in this series he is seen walking with a cane.

The 38th Regiment memorial cross (with flowers and a giant boulder in the middle) is behind him.

 

[bertmedals]

The man himself.

McAlexanderwm.jpg

I believe this was taken at a 1919 ceremony honoring those men lost in the battle - while the 38th Regiment was on Occupation duty. You can just make out his 90th Division SSI on his shoulder. In some of the other shorts in this series he is seen walking with a cane.

The 38th Regiment memorial cross (with flowers and a giant boulder in the middle) is behind him.

 

Great picture -- thanks for posting it.