George W. Hamilton, USMC: America's Greatest World War I Hero

This book has been waiting for nearly 90 years to be written. It is too bad that it wasn’t done many years ago when people who knew George Hamilton were still alive. However, the author, Mark Morten­sen, has researched his subject extremely well, and it’s unlikely that we’ll ever learn much more about Hamilton unless some unknown source surfaces.

Mortensen has performed a great serv­ice to the Marine Corps and to World War I scholars by telling the story of this ex­ceptional Marine. Hamilton, who has been relatively forgotten, was, by any def­i­nition, one of the true “Giants of the Corps.”

He entered the Marine Corps in 1913, and his star burned brightly for some-nine years until his untimely death in a mil­itary flying accident in 1922. Follow­ing his death, he virtually disappeared from Marine Corps history despite his incredible combat record. This is probab­ly because he wasn’t awarded the Medal of Honor, for which he had been recom­mended. Had he been, his name and deeds undoubtedly would have remained more prominent.

The author points out that no Marine officers were awarded the nation’s high­est award during the war, probably be­cause the commanding general of the Ameri­can Expeditionary Forces, Army General John J. Pershing, and/or his staff thought that the Marines had received an inordinate amount of publicity during the Battle of Belleau Wood and this was a way of putting them in their place. Another contributing factor may have been the poor quality of the award recommenda­tions that were submitted.

George Wallis Hamilton was born on July 5, 1892, in Washington, D.C., to a reasonably prominent family. Hamilton entered Central High School in 1908. He and his family spent time in the summers at the family retreat on Conesus Lake in western New York. At Central High, he excelled in football, as well as track and field. Hamilton was an excellent student and highly sought after for his football skills.

Following graduation in 1912, he en­rolled at Georgetown University, in his hometown. That fall, he played football and participated in track and field, but, for reasons unknown, abruptly dropped out of school during his first semester and took a job in a local bank.

Hamilton quickly realized that bank­ing wasn’t for him. He quit his job and de­voted his time to studying for a commis­sion in the Marine Corps. Passing the exam, he was commissioned and report­ed for duty on Nov. 29, 1913, at the Of­ficers’ School at Marine Barracks, Nor­folk, Va.

Marksmanship was very big in the Corps at the time, and Hamilton quickly made some­thing of a name for himself in rifle competition. He spent the next few years seagoing in the Atlantic Fleet, and was finally transferred with his detachment to Quantico, Va., in May 1917 following the entry of the United States in the war.

All of this and much more we learn from Mortensen’s book. Those who have read the available books about the Ma­rines in W W I, however, and are looking for more on Hamilton’s combat exploits are likely to be disappointed. There is little new that George Clark hasn’t already written about in his incomparable reference book “Devil Dogs: The Marines in World War I” or in countless other books and pamphlets.

Suffice it to say that Hamilton had an exemplary combat record, quite probably the best in the 4th Marine Brigade and arguably the finest in the AEF. He could have very justifiably been awarded the Medal of Honor on three separate oc­casions: the first as a company commander on June 6 on Hill 142 during the Belleau Wood battle; the second on Oct. 4, as a battalion commander, at Blanc Mont when he, through his outstanding courage and leadership, may have saved the 5th Marine Regiment from disaster; and the third when he led two battalions across the Meuse River under heavy fire on the last night of the war when everyone knew that the end of the war was imminent.

All of this and more is laid out in Mortensen’s book. While there isn’t a great deal of new combat information, it is all together in one convenient place.

The author provides interesting in­for­mation on Hamilton’s precipitous resig­nation from the Corps, seemingly because he was disenchanted with his prospects in what he considered a flawed promotion system. Characteristically, he didn’t stay out long and applied for reinstatement. As testimony to his exceptional record, he was restored to duty with no loss of seniority, which was a source of some resentment among a few contemporaries.

The story concludes with his entry into flight training and his ultimate death while on maneuvers at Gettysburg, Pa.

The book would have profited from light editing to smooth out rough spots, par­ticularly by someone well versed in Marine Corps and general military terminology. While it isn’t difficult to understand in­tended meanings, it is a minor distraction.

There are a few errors—most not worth mentioning—but one that should be is the author’s contention, in discussing chemical warfare, that, “This new type of warfare was used by the Germans and to a limited extent by the French and English but not by the Americans.” The truth is that the French and English employed it to the ut­most of their capabilities, and the Ameri­cans were limited in its use only by their unfamiliarity with the weapons and the fear of causing friendly casualties and of German retaliation. The Marines’ parent 2d Division, for example, had one artillery regiment fire nothing but “mustard gas” shells, some-6,000 rounds, in the attack on Vaux near the end of the Belleau Wood battle.

The author’s grandfather, Private Ove Mortensen, served under Maj George Hamilton at Blanc Mont and crossed the Meuse River with him on the last night of the war in one of the most heroic American military actions of all time.

All in all, the book is a real good one, and I recommend it to all with an interest in the Marines, in WW I and in learning more about the enigmatic Maj George Hamilton, called by more than one historian, “The bravest of the brave.” No argument here.

W. V. H. White

Editor’s note: Many readers will rec­ognize Col Bill White as the former editor of Leatherneck, WW I historian and current leader of the Military Historical Tours preeminent annual World War I Marine battlefield tour that Bill conducts.

GEORGE W. HAMILTON: America’s Greatest World War I Hero.

By Mark Mortensen.

Published by McFarland & Company Inc.

302 pages. Softcover.

Stock #078646321X.

$40.05 MCA Members. $45 Regular Price.