Joseph Arthur Simon - The Greatest of All Leathernecks: John Archer Lejeune and the Making of the Modern Marine Corps

Major General John Arthur Lejeune, 13th Commandant of the US Marine Corps.
USMC History Division.

JOSEPH ARTHUR SIMON

Published by Louisiana State University Press
Copyright 2019 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing

DESIGNER: Mandy McDonald Scallan
TYPEFACE: Sentinel
PRINTER AND BINDER: Sheridan Books, Inc.

The maps were created by David Lindroth.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Simon, Joseph Arthur, 1939 author.

Title: The greatest of all leathernecks : John Archer Lejeune and the making of the modern Marine Corps / Joseph Arthur Simon.

Other titles: John Archer Lejeune and the making of the modern Marine Corps

Description: Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019014121| ISBN 978-0-8071-7197-4 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 978-0-8071-7245-2 (pdf) | ISBN 978-0-8071-7246-9 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Lejeune, John Archer, 18671942. | United States. Marine CorpsBiography. | GeneralsUnited StatesBiography. | World War, 19141918CampaignsFrance.

Classification: LCC VE25.L45 S56 2019 | DDC 359.9/6092 [B] dc23

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Major General John Arthur Lejeune, 13th Commandant of the US Marine Corps

John Archer Lejeune (18671942), the thirteenth commandant of the US Marine Corps, was a luminary figure in the history of the Marine Corps and in the development of amphibious operations and other advancements for the modern corps. Thus far, a comprehensive biography of this exceptional figure in the history of the corps has not been published. Although Lejeune was commandant almost a century ago, his role in creating a new mission that gave the corps an important place in the American defense establishment is essential for contemporary studies.

Lejeune, with the support of progressive officers in the new Navy of steam and steel (late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) and a few other visionary Marines, led the corps to evolve from the old mission of acting as colonial infantry in the Caribbean and Western Pacific to a new mission of amphibious landings to support the Navy. Lejeune and other farsighted Marines developed the Advanced Base Force, a Marine defensive force to occupy and provide a base for the Navy. This base enabled the Navy to defend the homeland of the United States. Later, Lejeune was instrumental in leading the change from the defensive role of the ABF to the offensive mission (amphibious assault) of the Marine Expeditionary Force. In the 1930s this force became the Fleet Marine Force, which captured essential islands and land areas in the Pacific war against Japan during World War II. Lejeune also developed the Marine Corps Schools in the 1920s, which became the intellectual center of the corps. Graduates of the schools were instrumental in writing the Tentative Manual on Landing Operations in 1934, a step-by-step handbook on how to conduct amphibious assault. Finally, Lejeunes persistence and pressure on Congress and the Navy to institute selection (promotion) by merit instead of by seniority and to imbed the Marine Expeditionary Force into the fleet eventually became law in the 1930s. In the following account of Lejeunes life and achievements, I hope to honor Lejeunes legacy. My authorship of this book dates back over fifty years to 1965 when my major advisor, historian Dr. T. Harry Williams, suggested that I research the life and work of Lejeune for my masters thesis at Louisiana State University. At that time, no biographer had written a thesis, much less a book, on Lejeune. To help finance my research, Professor Williams contacted Walter McIlhenny, a member of the family that produces Tabasco hot sauce made from locally grown hot peppers at Avery Island, Louisiana. McIlhennywho had been a brigadier general in the Marine Corps Reserve and commanded Marines at Guadalcanal and Peleliu, Palau Islands, in World War IIgave the university a grant that made it possible for me to copy the Lejeune papers at the Library of Congress for the LSU libraries.

I corresponded with two of Lejeunes daughters, Eugenia D. Lejeune and Laura T. Lejeune, in Washington, DC, for permission to copy General Lejeunes papers, receiving authorization to copy only his official papers, not his personal letters and papers. These papers and other sources provided enough information to write a partial biography of Lejeunes life from 1867 to 1917 for my masters thesis, but not enough to write a complete study for a PhD dissertation. The entire collection of the Lejeune papers later became available at the Library of Congress. These included the lifetime correspondence between Lejeune and his family, notably the weekly letters to his sister Augustine.

Retirement from higher education administration in 2003 offered me the opportunity to conduct further, more comprehensive research on Lejeune in order to write a complete biography. From earlier research, I was convinced that it was Lejeunes leadership in the Marine Corps that had created the new mission of amphibious assault that resulted in the modern Marine Corps, as evidenced by the corpss performance in the Pacific in World War II. Several scholars have maintained that Lejeune was the most important twentieth-century commandant.

I was concerned that some historians had downplayed Lejeunes pioneering work in developing amphibious operations and the modern Marine Corps in the 1920s. Instead, a few credible historians seemingly gave all of the credit to the corps of the 1930s. Unique to my research is the use of previously unused or neglected archival sources that dispel incorrect assumptions such as those made by these writers, and presents new information that gives due credit to John Archer Lejeune, the originator, instigator, and first developer of amphibious assault as the mission of the modern Marine Corps.

Since work on this book goes back almost five decades, many individuals who supported me are now deceased. Nevertheless, special recognition must go to the late Dr. T. Harry Williams, Boyd Professor at Louisiana State University, who first suggested Louisiana-born Lieutenant General John Archer Lejeune, USMC (Ret.), as the topic for my masters thesis. Williams secured a grant from Brigadier General Walter McIlhenny, USMCR (Ret.), in New Iberia, Louisiana, to purchase Lejeunes official papers from the Library of Congress. I am also grateful to the late Dr. Robert D. Higginbotham of LSU for his time, guidance, and constructive criticism during the preparation of my masters thesis. Later Dr. Higginbotham continued his work as distinguished scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The research and writing to earn the PhD from Lancaster University through the University of Cumbria in Great Britain began when I had the honor in 2005 of meeting James Blair Glennon Jr., Colonel USMC (Ret.) grandson of General Lejeuneand Colonel Glennons wife, Margaret Wyatte Glennon. The opportunity to interview the Glennons and read the correspondence between General Lejeune and his oldest daughter, Ellie Murdaugh Lejeune Glennon, was priceless. I also had the good fortune of meeting Brigadier General Gordon Donald Gayle, USMC (Ret.), Colonel Glennons classmate at the Naval Academy (1939), who supported my work and provided me lodging at his home in Washington, DC, during the many months that I researched archival materials on General Lejeune at the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington and College Park, Maryland, and the Alfred M. Gray Research Center at Quantico, Virginia.