Battle of Belleau Wood The Battle of Belleau Wood ( 1 – 26 June 1918 ) occurred during the German 1918 Spring Offensive in World War I , near the Marne River in France . The battle was fought between the U . S . Second ( under the command of Major General Omar Bundy ) and Third Divisions and an assortment of German units including elements from the 237th , 10th , 197th , 87th , and 28th Divisions . The battle has become a deep part of the lore of the United States Marine Corps . Background . In March 1918 , with nearly 50 additional divisions freed by the Russian surrender on the Eastern Front , the German Army launched a series of attacks on the Western Front , hoping to defeat the Allies before U . S . forces could be fully deployed . In the north , the British 5th Army was virtually destroyed by two major offensive operations , Michael and Georgette around the Somme . A third offensive launched in May against the French between Soissons and Reims , known as the Third Battle of the Aisne , saw the Germans reach the north bank of the Marne river at Château - Thierry , from Paris , on 27 May . Two U . S . Army divisions , the 2nd and the 3rd , were thrown into the Allied effort to stop the Germans . On 31 May , the 3rd Division held the German advance at Château - Thierry and the German advance turned right towards Vaux and Belleau Wood . On 1 June , Château - Thierry and Vaux fell , and German troops moved into Belleau Wood . The U . S . 2nd Division — which included a brigade of U . S . Marines — was brought up along the Paris - Metz highway . The 9th Infantry Regiment was placed between the highway and the Marne , while the 6th Marine Regiment was deployed to their left . The 5th Marines and 23rd Infantry regiments were placed in reserve . Battle . On the evening of 1 June , German forces punched a hole in the French lines to the left of the Marines ' position . In response , the U . S . reserve — consisting of the 23rd Infantry regiment , the 1st Battalion , 5th Marines , and an element of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion — conducted a forced march over to plug the gap in the line , which they achieved by dawn . By the night of 2 June , the U . S . forces held a front line north of the Paris - Metz Highway running through grain fields and scattered woods , from Triangle Farm west to Lucy and then north to Hill 142 . The German line opposite ran from Vaux to Bouresches to Belleau . German advance halted at Belleau Wood . German commanders ordered an advance on Marigny and Lucy through Belleau Wood as part of a major offensive , in which other German troops would cross the Marne River . The commander of the Marine Brigade , Army Gen . James Harbord , countermanding a French order to dig trenches further to the rear , ordered the Marines to " hold where they stand " . With bayonet s , the Marines dug shallow fighting positions from which they could fight from the prone position . In the afternoon of 3 June , German infantry attacked the Marine positions through the grain fields with bayonets fixed . The Marines waited until the Germans were within before opening deadly rifle fire which mowed down waves of German infantry and forced the survivors to retreat into the wood . Having suffered heavy casualties , the Germans dug in along a defensive line from Hill 204 , just east of Vaux , to Le Thiolet on the Paris - Metz Highway and northward through Belleau Wood to Torcy . After Marines were repeatedly urged to turn back by retreating French forces , Marine Captain Lloyd W . Williams of the 2nd Battalion , 5th Marines uttered the now - famous retort " Retreat ? Hell , we just got here . " Williams ' battalion commander , Major Frederic Wise , later claimed to have said the famous words . On 4 June , Maj . Gen . Bundy — commanding the 2nd Division — took command of the American sector of the front . Over the next two days , the Marines repelled the continuous German assaults . The 167th French Division arrived , giving Bundy a chance to consolidate his of front . Bundy ' s 3rd brigade held the southern sector of the line , while the Marine Brigade held the north of the line from Triangle Farm . Attack on Hill 142 . At 03 : 45 on 6 June , the Allies launched an attack on the German forces , who were preparing their own strike . The French 167th Division attacked to the left of the American line , while the Marines attacked Hill 142 to prevent flanking fire against the French . As part of the second phase , the 2nd Division would capture the ridge overlooking Torcy and Belleau Wood , as well as occupying Belleau Wood . However , the Marines failed to scout the woods . As a consequence , they missed a regiment of German infantry dug in , with a network of machine gun nests and artillery . At dawn , the Marine 1st Battalion , 5th Marines — commanded by Major Julius Turrill — was to attack Hill 142 , but only two companies were in position . The Marines advanced in waves with bayonets fixed across an open wheat field that was swept with German machine gun and artillery fire , and many Marines were cut down . Captain Crowther commanding the 67th Company was killed almost immediately . Captain Hamilton and the 49th Company fought from wood to wood , fighting the entrenched Germans and overrunning their objective by . At this point , Hamilton had lost all five junior officers , while the 67th had only one commissioned officer alive . Hamilton reorganized the two companies , establishing strong points and a defensive line . In the German counter - attack , then - Gunnery Sergeant Ernest A . Janson — who was serving under the name Charles Hoffman — repelled an advance of 12 German soldiers , killing two with his bayonet before the others fled ; for this action he became the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor in World War I . Also cited for advancing through enemy fire during the counter - attack was then - Gunner Henry Hulbert . The rest of the battalion now arrived and went into action . Turrill ' s flanks lay unprotected and the Marines were rapidly exhausting their ammunition . By the afternoon , however , the Marines had captured Hill 142 , at a cost of nine officers and most of the 325 men of the battalion . Marines attack Belleau Wood . At 17 : 00 on 6 June , the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines ( 3 / 5 ) — commanded by Major Benjamin S . Berry , and the 3rd Battalion 6th Marines ( 3 / 6 ) — commanded by Maj . Tyler M . Meyer , on their right — advanced from the west into Belleau Wood as part of the second phase of the Allied offensive . Again , the Marines had to advance through a waist - high wheat field into murderous machine gun fire . One of the most famous quotations in Marine Corps legend came during the initial step - off for the battle when Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly , a recipient of two Medals of Honor who had served in the Philippines , Santo Domingo , Haiti , Peking and Vera Cruz , prompted his men of the 73rd Machine Gun company forward with the words : " Come on , you sons of bitches , do you want to live forever ? " The first waves of Marines — advancing in well - disciplined lines — were slaughtered ; Major Berry was wounded in the forearm during the advance . On his right , the Marines of Major Meyer ' s 3 / 6 Battalion swept into the southern end of Belleau Wood and encountered heavy machine gun fire , sharpshooters and barbed wire . Marines and German infantrymen were soon engaged in heavy hand - to - hand fighting . The casualties sustained on this day were the highest in Marine Corps history to that time . Some 31 officers and 1 , 056 men of the Marine brigade were casualties . However , the Marines now had a foothold in Belleau Wood . Fighting in Belleau Wood . The battle was now deadlocked . At midnight on 7 – 8 June , a German attack was stopped cold and an American counter - attack in the morning of 8 June was similarly defeated . Meyer ' s battalion — having sustained nearly 400 casualties — was relieved by the 1st Battalion , 6th Marines . Major Shearer took over the 3rd Battalion , 5th Marines for the wounded Berry . On 9 June , an enormous American and French barrage devastated Belleau Wood , turning the formerly attractive hunting preserve into a jungle of shattered trees . The Germans counter - fired into Lucy and Bouresches and reorganized their defenses inside Belleau Wood . In the morning of 10 June , Maj . Hughes ' 1st Battalion , 6th Marines — together with elements of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion — attacked north into the wood . Although this attack initially seemed to be succeeding , it was also stopped by machine gun fire . The commander of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion — Major Cole — was mortally wounded . Captain Harlan Major — senior captain present with the battalion — took command . The Germans used great quantities of mustard gas . Next , Wise ' s 2nd Battalion , 5th Marines was ordered to attack the woods from the west , while Hughes continued his advance from the south . At 04 : 00 on 11 June , Wise ' s men advanced through a thick morning mist towards Belleau Wood , supported by the 23rd and 77th Companies of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion , and were cut to pieces by heavy fire . Platoons were isolated and destroyed by interlocked machine gun fire . It was discovered that the battalion had advanced in the wrong direction . Rather than moving northeast , they had moved directly across the wood ' s narrow waist . However , they smashed the German southern defensive lines . A German private , whose company had 30 men left out of 120 , wrote " We have Americans opposite us who are terribly reckless fellows . " Overall , the woods were attacked by the Marines a total of six times before they could successfully expel the Germans . They fought off parts of five division s of Germans , often reduced to using only their bayonet s or fists in hand - to - hand combat . On 26 June , the 3rd Battalion , 5th Marines , under command of Major Maurice E . Shearer , supported by two companies of the 4th Machine Gun Battalion and the 15th Company of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion , made an attack on Belleau Wood , which finally cleared that forest of the enemy . On that day , Major Shearer submitted a report simply stating , " Woods now U . S . Marine Corps entirely , " ending one of the bloodiest and most ferocious battles U . S . forces would fight in the war . Aftermath . U . S . forces suffered 9 , 777 casualties , included 1 , 811 killed . Many are buried in the nearby Aisne - Marne American Cemetery . There is no clear information on the number of Germans killed , although 1 , 600 Germans were taken prisoner . After the battle , the French renamed the wood " " Bois de la Brigade de Marine " " ( " Wood of the Marine Brigade " ) in honor of the Marines ' tenacity . The French government also later awarded the 4th Brigade the Croix de guerre . An official German report classified the Marines as " vigorous , self - confident , and remarkable marksmen . . . " General Pershing — Commander of the AEF — even said , " The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle ! " Pershing also said " the Battle of Belleau Wood was for the U . S . the biggest battle since Appomattox and the most considerable engagement American troops had ever had with a foreign enemy . " In spite of the legend , it is unlikely that the Germans ever used the term " Teufelshunde " ( " devil dogs " ) for the Marines , as the term was not known in contemporary German . The closest common German term would be " Höllenhunde " which means " hellhound " . Though the meanings are similar , neither of these terms has been found in any German documents of the time . Legacy . In 1923 , an American battle monument was built in Belleau Wood . Army General James . G . Harbord — the commander of the Marines during the battle — was made an honorary Marine . In his address , he summed up the future of the site : " Now and then , a veteran . . . will come here to live again the brave days of that distant June . Here will be raised the altars of patriotism ; here will be renewed the vows of sacrifice and consecration to country . Hither will come our countrymen in hours of depression , and even of failure , and take new courage from this shrine of great deeds . " White crosses and Stars of David mark 2 , 289 graves , 250 for unknown service members , and the names of 1 , 060 missing men adorn the wall of a memorial chapel . Visitors also stop at the nearby German cemetery where 8 , 625 men are buried ; 4 , 321 of them — 3 , 847 unknown — rest in a common grave . The German cemetery was established in March 1922 , consolidating a number of temporary sites , and includes men killed between the Aisne and the Marne in 1918 , along with 70 men who died in 1914 in the First Battle of the Marne . In New York City , a triangle at the intersection of 108 Street and 51st Avenue in Queens is dedicated to Marine Pvt . William F . Moore , 47th Company , 2nd Battalion , 5th Marine Regiment . The Fifth and Sixth Marine Regiments were awarded the French Fourragère for their actions at Belleau Wood . Two U . S . Navy vessels have been named the ( CVL - 24 and LHA - 3 ) after the battle . " Belleau Wood " is a song released by American Country Music artist Garth Brooks . It was the 14th track from his 1997 album " Sevens " . The battle described in the song ' s lyrics is not the Battle of Belleau Wood ; it is instead a fictional account based on the Christmas truce phenomenon of 1914 . Lloyd Williams ' famous quote is the basis for the motto of his unit , the 2nd Battalion , 5th Marines . Williams himself has been honored with a building on the campus of his alma mater Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University named in remembrance of him .