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

6. World War I through Belleau Wood

83 6 World War I through Belleau Wood On the gray, rainy morning of May 28, 1917, nearly 200 men gathered in presumed secrecy at Governor’s Island, New York, to board a White Star Line passenger vessel, the SS Baltic. This group constituted the advance team that would accompany General John “Black Jack” Pershing to initiate the United States’ military effort in France. Dressed in civilian clothes, the men were supposed to meet furtively, but the secret was not perfectly kept: General Pershing’s aide had marked his luggage “General Pershing, Paris, France,” and it sat on the pier awaiting shipment, for any German spy to see. This small contingent included a number of men who would achieve prominence in World Wars I and II. One was James Harbord, a longtime cavalry officer who had served twelve years in the Philippines, where Pershing had become acquainted with his skills. Harbord became Pershing’s first chief of staff and would play a large role in Logan Feland’s rise in the ranks during the war; their friendship would continue until Feland’s death. Other members of the group included future generals Hugh Drum, Fox Conner, and John Hines and future quartermaster general A. W. Brewster. Future tank commander and World War II general George S. Patton Jr. sailed on the Baltic, as did future air ace Eddie Rickenbacker (at that time, a sergeant performing duty as a chauffeur). The group also numbered two of the Marine Corps’s best and brightest officers: Logan Feland and Robert Dunlap.1 The men were ferried downriver to the Baltic, which left in the late afternoon. James Harbord noted in his book written after the war: “There 84 KENTUCKY MARINE was no inspiring view of the New York skyline, no-Napoleon-on-theBellerophon -gazing-at-the-fast-fading-shores-of-France for us, for it was cold and raw, and a fog like a pall settled over the green shores of Long Island.”2 When the Baltic reached open waters, it turned north toward Newfoundland, on the way to its final destination of Liverpool, England. Already, Pershing’s staff started to gel, and their training began. Officers studied French for two hours each day. Feland’s service record indicated that he could already speak French, which he most likely picked up at the Ferrell School in Hopkinsville. In addition to French lessons, Pershing’s contingent worked on staff planning.3 As the Baltic turned eastward and headed across the North Atlantic, concern grew over potential German U-boat attacks. When the Baltic approached the British Isles, however, U.S. destroyers arrived to accompany the ship to Liverpool. In the meantime, Pershing’s men continued their preparations, including typhoid shots, lectures by the British officers on board, and a warning about venereal disease. One evening the men were entertained with a benefit concert for war orphans. Finally, on the evening of June 7, they sighted land. On June 8 the Baltic docked in Liverpool, where Pershing’s contingent received a hearty welcome by the lord mayor of Liverpool as a band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Save the King.” Then Pershing’s party boarded trains for London, where they met a host of British and American authorities, including U.S. ambassador Walter Hines Page and the British secretary of state for war, Lord Derby. Lieutenant Colonel Feland and the other officers enjoyed what would undoubtedly be their best beds of the war at the Savoy Hotel. The enlisted men were given historical, if not plush, accommodations at the Tower of London barracks. There followed a round of social events and conversations with British military colleagues before the Americans left for Paris on June 13, 1917. They crossed the English Channel by boat to Boulogne, where they were given a grand reception. They continued to Paris by train and arrived at the Gare du Nord, where Marshal Joffre, General Foch, and other French dignitaries, along with a huge crowd, greeted them as a band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “La Marseillaise.”4 Feland quickly got to work, serving on a board created to compile port regulations for the disembarkation of troops. The United States was about to send thousands of men and tons of material to France, and some sem- Charles Doyen. Doyen was the first commander of the Fifth Regiment and then the Fourth Marine Brigade during World War I...