Kentucky Marine: Major General Logan Feland and the Making of the Modern USMC

8. The Dominican Republic, 1920

121 8 The Dominican Republic, 1920 On May 13, 1919, the SS Von Steuben arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, with Brigadier General Logan Feland aboard. The rest of the Fourth Brigade would not leave Europe until July, after the peace treaty had been signed at Versailles. Feland spent a few days with his wife in Philadelphia , where she had remained throughout the war. He then reported, as ordered, to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., where he participated in a Belleau Wood remembrance ceremony in early June. Keynote speakers included Secretary of War Newton Baker and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, along with the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Major General George Barnett. General Feland also made remarks about the battle, and his wife Katherine sang in a music program led by the Marine Band. The Felands thus quickly reintegrated into the Marine Corps and Washington society.1 Before taking up his new duties, General Feland was granted a welldeserved leave that was supposed to last until August 1, 1919. Just as they had done before the war, the Felands vacationed at Rockbound Camp in Glen Eyre, a hunting and fishing retreat where the general could pursue his favorite leisure activities. There in rural Pike County, the Felands left the war behind. They would return to this refuge repeatedly during the 1920s, and in 1922 the Felands would pay five dollars to purchase three and a half acres in Rowlands, in the Township of Lackawaxen, in an area known as “Little Norway.” Before 1927, when Feland left for Nicaragua, they would have a cabin built on the property, with Feland overseeing the architectural and construction details from his post at Quantico.2 During this period the Felands also made a trip back to Ohio and 122 KENTUCKY MARINE Kentucky. Katherine Feland appeared in June at a Methodist centenary convention in her hometown of Columbus. As fifty veterans unfurled a huge flag with stars commemorating the Methodists who had served in the war, Katherine sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” General Feland arrived in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 24 to visit his sister, Mary Gilmour , and her family. He was to be the guest of honor and a key speaker at a Fourth of July picnic hosted by the newly created American Legion group. He also spoke briefly to the local Rotary Club, where he professed to be glad to be home.3 Brigadier General Feland’s leave was cut short by a week, however, when he was ordered to temporary duty with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Newly formed in 1915, with Admiral William Benson as its head, the office had overseen the large increase in the navy during World War I. The chief of naval operations (CNO) served as the thirdranking person in the Department of the Navy, behind the secretary and assistant secretary. The office was responsible for “operations of the fleet and . . . the preparation and readiness of plans for its use in war.” Thus, the CNO was in charge of a variety of units, ranging from the Office of Naval Intelligence to the Bureau of Aeronautics. Benson and Feland were already acquainted. From 1913 to 1915 Benson had been commandant of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where Feland had served as head of the Marine Barracks. Now Benson had a special project for Feland: creating plans for a possible war with Mexico.4 Since the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, the U.S. government had kept a wary eye on Mexico. Part of the reason was a desire to maintain access to the Mexican oil needed by the U.S. fleet. The occupation of Vera Cruz in 1914, in which Feland had taken part, was one manifestation of this concern. After entering World War I, the U.S. government remained anxious that Carranza’s government might shut down the oil fields or that Germany might sabotage them. During the war, the Marine Corps had kept first a regiment and then a brigade at Galveston , Texas, in the event intervention should be necessary again. After the war, with the continuing transition from a coal- to an oil-driven fleet, the Department of the Navy retained an interest in the Mexican oil fields, particularly those near Tampico.5 Consequently, Logan Feland was commissioned to study the situation , and he produced a report titled “Occupation of Oil Fields, Tampico The Dominican Republic 123...