Douglas MacArthur collection, 1885-1983 (majority within 1917-1919)

Summary

Creator:

Diedrich, D. N. (Duane Norman)

Abstract:

The Douglas MacArthur collection is made up of military documents related to General Douglas MacArthur and the 42nd (Rainbow) Division during the first World War, and miscellaneous letters, documents, photographs, published works, and one diary illuminating various aspects of the General's public career and personal life.

Extent:

885 items

Language:

English

Sponsor:

Duane Norman Diedrich Collection

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Cheney J. Schopieray, 2003; 2008

Background

Scope and Content:

The MacArthur collection contains 885 letters, documents, photographs, and published works dating from March 23, 1885, to July 5, 1983. The bulk of the material (710 items) consists of military documents and manuscript notes from September 8, 1917 to January 27, 1919.

The military materials include general orders, field orders, field messages, memoranda, intelligence, and communications, related to the U.S. 42nd Division (The Rainbow Division), A.E.F., founded in 1917. The majority of the collection falls during the period of time from late 1917 to early August 1918, when Douglas MacArthur was Chief of Staff for the 42nd Division. Documents from military units that fought alongside the 42nd Division (both French and American), the U.S. Chemical Warfare, and the Intelligence Divisions -- as well as various German, French, and American communications -- are included. Organizational documents, such as training schedules, and march tables, are also present. A considerable number, if not all, of these materials must have been approved or viewed by MacArthur, and many of the items in this collection bear his initials or the initials of his information assistant, William Hughes, Jr. From early August 1918 until the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, MacArthur acted as the commanding officer for the 84th Infantry Brigade, and several military orders bear his name.

Seventy-six letters in the collection (located in Box 1) are either from Douglas MacArthur or pertain in some way to him. Six of these items, dated 1904, pertain to MacArthur and Florence Adams, whom he met in the Philippines, including a 46-page diary MacArthur wrote to Adams while he was on board a ship from Manila to the United States. Five letters, dated 1921 and 1925, are written by MacArthur to Louise Brooks who became Mrs. Douglas MacArthur in 1922. These letters contain both romantic content as well as personal reflections on the events in MacArthur's life at the time. Also included are nine letters from MacArthur to Hamilton Fish, Jr., dated 1921-1934. The remainder of the correspondence is a miscellaneous collection of letters written by Douglas MacArthur, Jean MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, and others.

The Douglas MacArthur collection also contains a notebook kept by Kenneth A. Sutherland, veteran of the 42nd Division, which contains a selection of items related to the Division's post-war activities and reunions; 40 aerial photographs and negatives taken by the 91st Reconnaissance Squadron, October 10, 1918; several photographs of Douglas MacArthur; thirteen published works by or about the General; and other miscellaneous materials.

Biographical / Historical:

Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880, the youngest child of (Capt.) Arthur MacArthur (1845-1912) and Mary Pinkney Hardy (1852-1935). His siblings were Arthur (1876-1923), and Malcolm (1878-1883), who died before his seventh birthday.

Douglas MacArthur graduated from West Texas Military Academy in 1897 as valedictorian and two years later entered West Point. In 1903 he graduated as First Captain, West Point's highest honor. In September 1903, he joined the 3rd Battalion Engineers in San Francisco, and almost immediately was sent to Manila, Philippines. The next year he was promoted to First Lieutenant, and in 1906 returned to the United States. After being made Captain of Engineers at Leavenworth in 1911, MacArthur was assigned to Vera Cruz to report information to the War Department. While serving as military aide to the Secretary of War in 1916, he conceived the idea of expanding the existing National Guard through volunteer enlistment and turned into combat divisions - an idea that would be used for the formation of the 42nd Division.

In 1917, MacArthur was appointed Colonel and Chief of Staff of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division. As Commander of the 84th Infantry Brigade, he led his troops during the vitally important Argonne Campaign in the last months of the war. In 1919, the 42nd Division returned to the United States, and MacArthur accepted an appointment as Superintendent of West Point. While there, he became permanent Brigadier General. MacArthur married Louise Cromwell Brooks in 1922, the year he was posted to command the Philippine Division, but they divorced seven years later. In November 1929, MacArthur was promoted to General and chosen as the man to replace General Summerall as the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. In 1937, MacArthur married a second time - to Jean Marie Faircloth, and they had a son, Arthur, a year later.

In December 1941, the Japanese Army attacked and defeated MacArthur's Philippine Army on the Bataan Peninsula. The following March, MacArthur was ordered from the Philippines to command the Allied troops with Thomas Blamey. For six months, MacArthur concentrated on the defense of New Guinea, which led to an ambitious counter-attack in January and February 1943. On the day the Japanese surrendered, MacArthur was appointed Supreme Commander of Allied Powers.

MacArthur remained in occupied Japan until 1950, orchestrating the reformation of the post-war country. On the 29th of June, 1950, MacArthur went to South Korea with American forces to assess the situation after North Korea's invasion of South Korea. This assessment led to Truman's commitment of U.S. troops to a ground war in Korea. The North Koreans abandoned Seoul on September 28, 1950, after MacArthur's successful military plan to attack through Inchon. As a result of the success of this campaign, China decided to enter the Korean War. MacArthur was ordered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with a U.N. resolution, to proceed north of the 38th parallel. Chinese troops attacked, leading to the withdrawal of MacArthur's troops back south of the 38th. By this time, MacArthur had disobeyed the military order to employ only Korean forces in the frontier provinces. On the 24th of March, MacArthur issued a lengthy communiqué complaining about the restrictions on his forces and taunted the enemy for their lack of industrial power and inability to maintain even moderate air and naval power. This pronouncement and his previous insubordination caused President Truman to relieve MacArthur of his command.

In April 1951, General Douglas MacArthur returned to San Francisco to thousands of cheering citizens. On April 19 he presented his case regarding his relief of command to a joint session of congress. During his remaining years, MacArthur traveled throughout the United States to make speeches, in which he often denounced communists and socialists, and spoke of corrupt administration and heavy taxation. At the age of 84, on April 5, 1964, Douglas MacArthur died in a hospital in Washington.

The 42nd (Rainbow) Division

The Rainbow Division was created in 1917 as a composite division of members of the Regular Army and the National Guard solely for use in the war in Europe. The 42nd arrived in Europe in 1917 as the war was entering a new phase: Russia had dropped out of the war, America was joining the war, and Germany was racing to provide tremendous reinforcement before the American forces arrived.

In February 1918 the 42nd Division, part of the First U.S. Army Corps, was ordered to the Luneville area for a month of training with French units from the 7th French Army Corps. While there, the Rainbow Division distinguished itself as "a first class combat Division."

The first assignment for the 42nd was to relieve the 128th French Infantry Division from the Baccarat Sector. In the war, this was the first time an American Division held a Sector on its own. The Division successfully held the Baccarat Sector until relief orders were sent on June 16, 1918. Two weeks later, the 42nd Division went to the front at the Battle of Champagne alongside the 21st French Army Corps. After an attack by the Germans on the fifteenth of July, the 42nd assisted in the Champagne defense until the end of the battle (July 18). The Sixth French Army Corps was given the Rainbow Division to pursue the supposedly retreating enemy at the Battle of the Ourcq from July 25-July 27, 1918. From July 28-August 1st, the Allies captured strongpoints of the German position. August 2-August 3rd, the 42nd Division assisted in pursuing the enemy until relieved by the 4th Regular Division.

After the Battle of the Ourcq, Douglas MacArthur was given command of the 84th Infantry Brigade (William Hughes, Jr., replaced him as Chief of Staff, 42nd Division). In September, the Rainbow Division, then under the 4th American Army Corps, was ordered to attack the center of the south side of the San Mihiel Salient and was assigned to the defense of the Essey-Pannes Sector until September 30, when it was relieved by the 89th Division.

On October 11-12, 1918, the Rainbow Division relieved the 1st Division on the Verdun front. In order to break the 2nd German line of defense, the hill called The Cote de Chatillon had to be taken. From October 13-16, Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur commanded the 84th Infantry Division to the successful capture of Hill 288 (a strongly fortified point on the Kreimhilde Stellung), the Tuilerie Ferme, and the Cote de Chatillon (beyond the enemy's strong line of resistance).

The next attack took place November 1, 1918. The 42nd Division provided machine gun fire for the advancement of the 2nd and 89th Divisions. After this victory, and as a result of divisional rivalry (and a difference in opinion as to the exact nature of a memorandum), the 42nd and the 1st Divisions (of the First American Army Corps and the 5th American Army Corps respectively) 'raced' for the glory of partaking in the (potential) final engagement of the war, in Sedan. On November 6-7, the Rainbow, the 4th French Army, and the 1st and 77th American Divisions, fought south of the Meuse (south of Sedan). The fighting ended when the enemy requested an armistice on November 9, 1918. The 42nd Division backed off and was able to claim that the Americans who got closest to Sedan were members of the 166th Infantry of the 83rd Infantry Brigade. The armistice was signed two days later.

The 42nd Division remained in France and occupied Germany until May 1, 1919, when the last unit arrived home. Less than two weeks later, the last Brigade was demobilized.

Acquisition Information:

Donated by D. N. Diedrich, 1987-2013. M-2370 et al .

Arrangement:

The Douglas MacArthur collection has been organized into four series. Within these series, the papers are separated into distinct sub-series groups.

• Series I: Correspondence and diaries
  • Sub-series I: Letters and diary to Florence Adams (Box 1)
  • Sub-series II: Letters from Douglas MacArthur to Louise Cromwell (Brooks) MacArthur (Box 1)
  • Sub-series III: Letters from Douglas MacArthur to Hamilton Fish, Jr. (Box 1)
  • Sub-series IV: Miscellaneous letters and documents pertaining to Douglas MacArthur (Box 1)
• Series II: Papers related to the 42nd (Rainbow) Division
  • Sub-series I: Military documents to the 42nd Division from external military units (Boxes 1-2)
  • Sub-series II: Military documents from the 42nd Division to various military units (Boxes 2-4)
  • Sub-series III: Internal military documents from and to various military units in the 42nd Division. (Box 5)
  • Sub-series IV: Kenneth A. Sutherland Notebook. (Box 6)
• Series III: Photographs and miscellaneous papers pertaining to Douglas MacArthur
  • Sub-series I: Aerial photographs and negatives, 91st Reconnaissance Squadron. (Box 7)
  • Sub-series II: Miscellaneous photographs and papers. (Box 8)
• Series IV: Published works.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

The MacArthur papers, MacArthur Memorial Library and Archives. Norfolk, Virginia.

Bleecker Houston papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Erwin Nieswand papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Bibliography

Cheseldine, Raymond M. Ohio in the Rainbow; Official Story of the 166th Infantry, 42nd Division, in the World War. Columbus, Ohio: F.J. Heer, 1924.

Cooke, James J. The Rainbow Division in the Great War, 1917-1919. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1994.

Reilly, Henry Joseph. Americans All: The Rainbow at War; Official History of the 42nd Rainbow Division in the World War. Columbus, Ohio: F.J. Heer, 1936.

Schaller, Michael. MacArthur, Douglas. American National Biography Online, Feb. 2000.

Whitney, Courtney. MacArthur: His Rendezvous with History. New York, Knopf, 1956.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Aisne, Battle of the, France, 1918.
Argonne, Battle of the, 1918.
Chateau-Thierry, Battle of, 1918.
Chemical Warfare.
Chemical Warfare--Safety Measures.
Chemical Weapons.
Communications, Military.
Gases, Asphyxiating and Poisonous--War Use.
Marne, 2nd Battle of the, France, 1918.
Military Assistance, French.
Military Intelligence.
Military Reconnaissance.
Saint-Mihiel (France), Battle of, 1918.
Signals and Signaling.
United States. Army.
United States--History--1913-1921.
World War, 1914-1918.
World War, 1914-1918--Aerial Operations.
World War, 1914-1918--Campaigns-France.

Formats:

Books.
Diaries.
Diaries.
Letters (correspondence)
Newspapers.
Orders (military records)
Photographs.

Names:

United States. Army--Artillery.
United States. Army--Artillery--Drill and Tactics.
United States. Army--Communication Systems.
United States. Army--Drill and Tactics.
United States. Army--Equipment.
United States. Army--Field Service.
United States. Army--History.
United States. Army--Information Services.
United States. Army--Medals, Badges, Decorations, etc.
United States. Army--Organization.
United States. Army--Records and Correspondence.
United States. Army--Safety Measures.
United States. Army--Sanitary Affairs.
United States. Army. Infantry Division, 42nd.
Brooks, Louise Cromwell.
Fish, Hamilton, 1849-1936.
Adams, Florence.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969.
Granara, J. Ralph.
Hughes, William.
Hunt, Haroldson L.
Kean, Robert Winthrop.
Luhrs, H. Ernst.
MacArthur, Arthur, 1845-1912.
MacArthur, Douglas, 1880-1964.
MacArthur, Jean Faircloth.
Mark, Clark.
Menoher, Charles Thomas, 1862-1930
Rhodes, Weldon E.
Sutherland, Kenneth A.
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.