Paths to Glory: Medal of Honor Ricipients Smedley Butler and Dan Daly
By David T. Zabecki

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Once the perimeter was established, Daly slipped outside the Marine lines and made his way back to the river in the dark. Along the way he silently knifed several Cacos waiting in ambush. Reaching the riverbank, Daly slipped into the water and repeatedly dove to find the patrol’s machine gun. Working in the dark and under Cacos fire, Daly finally located the dead mule, detached the machine gun and ammunition, and brought the load ashore in several trips. He then picked up the 200-pound load—which outweighed him by nearly double—and returned through the jungle past more Cacos to the Marine position. Before daylight he assembled and emplaced the machine gun. When dawn broke, the Marines moved out and attacked Fort Dipitie, killing 75 Cacos and scattering the rest.

As it turns out, Butler was commander of that same detachment, and it was he who recommended Daly for his second Medal of Honor. Butler’s two subordinate officers, Captain William Upshur and 1st Lt. Edward Ostermann, also received the Medal of Honor for their actions in the battle.

Several weeks later Butler led another force back into the interior to capture Fort Rivière, the remaining Cacos stronghold. The old French fort was a formidable objective. Commanding a mountaintop with steep, rocky slopes on three sides, it was only approachable from the front. Most of the Marine officers in Haiti were certain it would take an entire regiment supported by artillery to capture the position. Butler convinced Colonel Eli Cole, overall commander of the Marine force, to let him try it with just 96 men supported by two machine gun sections.

Butler moved his small force into position on November 17. While conducting his pre-attack reconnaissance, he discovered a drainage culvert that broached the west wall of the supposedly impregnable fort. Following Sergeant Ross Iams and Private Samuel Gross into the culvert, Butler crawled into the interior of the fort. The three emerged shooting and engaged the surprised defenders in fierce hand-to-hand combat that lasted 15 minutes. Their chaotic diversion enabled the rest of Butler’s force to storm the fort. By the time it was over, more than 50 of the Cacos rebels were dead. One Marine was injured when a rock knocked out his front teeth. Gross and Iams both received the Medal of Honor for their actions. Butler received his second Medal of Honor, as well as the Haitian Medal of Honor.

When America finally entered World War I, Butler, by then a lieutenant colonel, flooded the Navy Department with requests for a combat command. He initially went to France as commander of the 13th Marines, but the Marines in World War I operated under U.S. Army command, and many in the Army leadership considered Butler too much of a loose cannon. To Butler’s disgust, General John J. Pershing personally detailed him as commander of Camp Pontanezen in Brest, the main American replacement depot. The job was a brigadier general’s slot, however, and at age 37 Butler became the youngest general officer in the Marine Corps.

When Butler assumed command of Pontanezen, it was a pestilence-infested mud hole. With 100,000 Americans packed together and sharing inadequate sanitation facilities, an average of 25 doughboys a day were dying from influenza and other diseases. Although Butler didn’t want the job, he nonetheless threw himself into it with his usual determination and frenetic energy. In short order Butler turned the camp into a model of order and efficiency. His efforts undoubtedly prevented the severe illness and deaths of thousands of Americans. When the war ended, the camp became the central American debarkation depot. For his able leadership, Butler received both the Army and Navy Distinguished Service Medals, as well as the French Order of the Black Star.

Daly had arrived in France in November 1917 as first sergeant of the 73rd Machine Gun Company, 6th Marine Regiment, which along with the 5th Marines formed the 4th Marine Brigade under the command of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. On June 5, 1918, during the Battle of Belleau Wood, the 44-year-old Daly risked his life to extinguish a fire in an ammunition dump near Lucy-le-Bocage.

Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, People

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