William Blake Exhibition Catalog 2022 - Flipbook - Page 11
President Harding and his entourage, including Major-General
The Marines were more than ready to break camp on July 6th, the
John Lejeune and General of the Armies John Pershing, arrived on
previous day’s rain having turned their camp into a sea of mud. They
July 1st 1922, watching the first “reenactment” of Pickett’s famous charge.
retraced their route to Washington, DC, again passing in review for the
Marching shoulder to shoulder, the 5th and 6th Marines marched across
President and finally returned to Quantico. The 1922 summer maneuvers
the mile of open ground between their camp and Cemetery Ridge. The
proved to be a notable success, providing both officers and men with
th
10 Marine’s guns, acting as both union and Confederate batteries, fired
realistic training in the lean, post-war years. Captain John Craige, aide
salvos across the field, creating huge clouds of smoke that shrouded the
to the Commandant, commented on the considerable benefits, both
advancing infantry. Civil War veterans, among the more than 100,000
training and public relations that were gained from the exercise:
spectators watching the event, applauded the accuracy of the spectacle.
nd
“In the field of attracting the favorable notice of the Nation to the activities
Sunday, July 2 was a day of rest for the Marines. The charge was again
of the Marine Corps, equal success was achieved. Several thousand columns of
reenacted on July 3rd.
newspaper clippings have been received at Headquarters, cut from the papers of
cities all over the country, from Maine to California, and articles in magazines
The grand charges over the Gettysburg Battlefield concluded on
th
are still making their appearance, dealing with the march and the exercises
July 4 , 1922, when the Marines attacked across over the same ground,
at Gettysburg. On the day following the President’s visit to Camp Harding
this time using all the current weapons at their disposal—tanks,
at Gettysburg, newspapers all over the country carried front-page stories on
aircraft, and machine guns—to demonstrate how the modern (1922)
the demonstration in his honor and, thereafter, illustrated pages, rotogravure
Marine Corps would assault General Meade’s position. This assault
sections, illustrated magazines and the like were filled with pictures of the
was preceded by a blank-fire artillery barrage by the 10
th
Marines,
this time firing from a position 2,000 yards behind Seminary Ridge.
doings of Marines, while moving pictures of the exercises appeared on the
program of every one of the great weekly moving-picture concerns.” n
This day’s events drew a crowd exceeding 125,000, including various
foreign military observers, notably Major-General Haraguchi of
the Imperial Japanese Army. As an added attraction, planes from
the air wing shot down a condemned, hydrogen-filled observation
balloon.
IMAGE CREDITS: Harris & Ewing, photographer. Marines during reenactment of Pickett’s Charge at the battle of
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania United States Gettysburg, 1922. [ July] Photograph. www.loc.gov.
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