Alexander M. Patch

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Maj. Gen. Alexander M. Patch By November 1942, the Marines on Guadalcanal had reached the end of their endurance fighting the Japanese. They badly needed relief. Halsey asked for more reinforcements on November 3, 1942 but did not confine his request to just the Marines. This service branch was still in the building stage to expand its numbers. The American Army already had its Americal Division on Guadalcanal as its 43^rd Infantry Division was already aboard ships on their way to the South Pacific.

However, the Army wanted to add more men. General George C. Marshall, the Army’s chief of staff, ordered the 25th Infantry Division to begin moving to the Pacific. Their destination became a subject of debate among the American Joint Chiefs of Staff. MacArthur wanted them for combat in the Southwest Pacific. Nonetheless, Admiral King vigorously argued that the division go Halsey’s command. MacArthur settled the argument by agreeing that Halsey needed these troops more to help the Marines on Guadalcanal.

The JCS sent a message to Nimitz and Halsey and forwarded to Vandegrift that said, “1st Marine Division is to be relieved without delay . . . and will proceed to Australia for rehabilitation and employment.” In the meantime, the Americal Division had taken over the supply mission from the Marines. Nevertheless, Vandegrift also needed relief and replace by someone else. That man was Major General Alexander McCarrell Patch, the Americal Division’s current commander.

Born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona on November 23, 1889 and the son of a captain in the cavalry, Patch became a cadet at United States Military Academy at West point, New York in 1909 and graduated in 1913 as a Second Lieutenant. He served in France during World War I, demonstrated outstanding leadership skills, and rapidly rose in rank to Captain and Lieutenant Colonel in just one year. After receiving his first star as a Brigadier General in 1942, he took command of the Americal Division on March 10, 1942 brandishing a second star as Major General.

Patch relieved Vandegrift on December 2, 1942. The First Marine Division began evacuating to Australia the next day. The Army was now in charge of all ground operations in the Guadalcanal-Tulagi area. With three regiments of the 2nd Marine Division and the full complement of forces of the Americal Division on the island, the Guadalcanal-Tulagi area became an island command.

The 25th Infantry Division, with Major General Joseph Lawton Collins commanding, arrived on Guadalcanal on December 17, 1942. Three divisions of American ground troops were on Guadalcanal – enough men to form a corps. On January 2, 1943, Patch became the commander of XIV Corps.

Intense and deadly ground fighting began between the Americans and the Japanese in December 1942 and continued until February 1943. The Americans evicted the Japanese and took full control of the island on February 9, 1943. From here on, the Japanese war effort went on the defensive and the Americans began taking territory away from them.

After his success in the South Pacific, he returned to the United States in May 1943 to take command of the IV Corps and the Desert Training Center at Fort Lewis, Washington. Patch returned to combat to command the Seventh Army when it landed in southern France near Toulon on August 15, 1944. His command advanced northward in the Rhone Valley to meet the advancing Allied armies closing in on the Germans from Normandy. The Seventh Army captured the vital industrial Saar Region on March 15, 1945.

Patch received his third star as a Lieutenant General in July 1945 as commander of the Fourth Army in San Antonio, Texas. He became ill with pneumonia and passed away on November 21, 1945.