these positions must be taken at all costs; that the utmost
losses in men must be endured that the Bois de Belleau and Bouresches
might fall again into German hands. But the depleted lines of the
marines held; the men who had fought on their nerve alone for days once
more showed the mettle of which they were made. With their backs to
the trees and bowlders of the Bois de Belleau, with their sole shelter
the scattered ruins of Bouresches, the thinning lines of the marines
repelled the attack and crashed back the new division which had sought
to wrest the position from them.

And so it went. Day after day, night after night, while time after
time messages like the following traveled to the post command:--

Losses heavy. Difficult to get runners through. Some have never
returned. Morale excellent, but troops about all in. Men exhausted.

Exhausted, but holding on. And they continued to hold on in spite of
every difficulty. Advancing their lines slowly day by day, the marines
finally prepared their positions to such an extent that the last rush
for the possession of the wood could be made. Then, on June 24,
following a tremendous barrage, the struggle began.

The barrage literally tore the woods to pieces, but even its immensity
could not wipe out all the nests that remained, the emplacements that
were behind almost every clump of bushes, every jagged, rough group of
bowlders. But those that remained were wiped out by the American
method of the rush and the bayonet, and in the days that followed
every foot of Belleau Wood was cleared of the enemy and held by the
frayed lines of the Americans.

It was, therefore, with the feeling of work well done that the depleted
lines of the marines were relieved in July, that they might be filled
with replacements and made ready for the grand offensive in the
vicinity of Soissons, July 18. And in recognition of their sacrifice
and bravery this praise was forthcoming from the French:--

Army Headquarters, June 30, 1918.

In view of the brilliant conduct of the Fourth Brigade of the Second
United States Division, which in a spirited fight took Bouresches and
the important strong point of Bois de Belleau, stubbornly defended by a
large enemy force, the General commanding the Sixth Army orders that
henceforth, in all official papers, the Bois de Belleau shall be named
"Bois de la Brigade de Marine."

DIVISION GENERAL DEGOUTTE,
Commanding Sixth Army.

On July 18