Page:History of the Sixth Regiment, United States Marines.djvu/20

Rh History of Sixth Reciment, U. S. Marines. 15 (z) Aviation will be as ordered by the C. G ., 21st Army Corps (French). 4. The 2nd Bn. 5th Marines (less I Co.) will constitute j the Brigade Reserve in the woods northwest of LUCY-le-BOCAGE. 5. The position when attained will be at once organized to be held against counter-attack. 6. Trains will remain in place. 7. Brigade and Regimental P. C .'s remain in place. J. G. Harbord, Brigadier General, N.A." This order was received on the afternoon of June 6th. There was no other information concerning the enemy or the terrain, and as there was no time for scouting the company commanders were shown the above order, their objectives on the map, and were conducted to the lines from which the regiment would start the attack. The companies of the 3rd Battalion were placed a* follows : 82nd and 84th Companies on line, the 82nd being on the left of the ravjne that runs from Lucy-le-Bocage to Bouresches, and the ft4th being on the right of this ravine; the 83rd company was placed in support of the 82nd and the 97th Company in support of the 84th Company; all companies being in four-wave forma- tion. The 2nd Battalion placed its companies as follows: The 96th Company in line, the 78th, 79th and 80th Companies supporting the 3rd Battalion. The 1st Battalion was in reserve. The attack against Belleau Woods and the village of Bouresches started at 5 P.M. At 5 : 30 P.M. the 3rd Battalion advanced. The advance in the woods continued until 8:30 P.M., when the enemy machine gun fire became so heavy that further advance was impracticable. Many prisoners were taken and captured machine guns turned against the enemy. Minnenweriers and a great quantity of ammunition were left behind by the enemy. f he losses in killed and wounded of this regi- ment were large. The edge of Belleau Woods near Bouresches wa< attained. This was the first objective. The two right companies of the 3rd Battalion advanced for a large part through open wheat fields and were under constant observatron and direct artillery and machine gun fire. The two left companies of this battalion were entirely in the southern sector of Bois Belleau. They did not meet serious resistance, however, until they came to the many machine gun nests which were located in the high rocky crags in the southeastern portion of the Woods. The second phase of the attack, namely the capture of BOURESCHES, was not to begin until the Bois Belleau had been freed from the enemy, consequently it was impracticable for the right companies to advance beyond the companies on the left. The attack by the 2nd Battalion was made across six hundred yards of open ground under intense artillery and