William Capers James (June 22, 1896 – September 30, 1974) was an officer of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

with the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, who served as chief of staff,

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). It is the ...

during the

Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...

and later as commanding officer, Marine Corps Base San Diego. James spent most of his career in administrative positions and never held field command until he was appointed chief of staff,

. He sailed with that division to

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

in August 1942, but was relieved the next month due to poor performance and ordered back to the United States. James never held combat command again and spent the remainder of his career in administrative positions.

Early career

William C. James was born on June 22, 1896, in

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropolit ...

, and following high school, he attended the Citadel in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. He graduated in June 1916 and entered the Marine Corps service as second lieutenant and was ordered to the Marine Officer's School at

Norfolk Navy Yard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, for further officer training. Following the completion of the school, James was ordered to

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

in April 1917 for his first tour of expeditionary duty which lasted until February 1919. He then returned stateside as first lieutenant for duty at Marine Barracks Quantico. James was ordered to Guantanamo Bay,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, in February 1922 and served with local Marine Barracks at Naval Base Guanatanamo until June 1924. He then served at Marine Barracks, Philadelphia Navy Yard until he was ordered to the Marine Barracks,

Charleston Navy Yard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston. H ...

in September 1926. He was ordered for his second tour of expeditionary duty to

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

in October 1927, but returned one month later to the United States after commanding detachment of ''Guardia Nacional'' in

Chinandega Chinandega () is a city and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is Nicaragua's 2nd most important city (economy) and 6th largest c ...

. James was subsequently promoted to the rank of captain and transferred to the Marine Barracks, Parris Island,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

where he remained until summer 1929. In July 1929, James was appointed commanding officer of Marine detachment aboard the battleship USS ''Tennessee'' and participated in the patrol cruises in the Pacific Ocean. A Marine detachment under his command won the Fleet Trophy for excellent gunnery. He left ''Tennessee'' in August 1931 and returned to Marine Corps Base Quantico, where he completed Field Officers' course at the Marine Corps Schools. Upon his graduation, James was promoted to the rank of major in June 1932 and ordered back to Parris Island. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in Jun 1936 and ordered to the Naval War College in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, for senior course, which he completed in May 1937. James was ordered to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

upon the completion of the course at Naval War College and assumed command of the Marine detachment in Peking. He commanded " China Marines" during the next two years and faced the permanent provocations of Japanese garrison. James was succeeded by Colonel

William W. Ashurst William Wallace Ashurst (October 30, 1893 – February 18, 1952) was a brigadier general in the United States Marine Corps, who was a last commander of the North China Marine Detachment. He was captured by Japanese forces on December 8, 1941, ...

in August 1939 and returned to the United States for duty with Division of Reserve, Headquarters Marine Corps. He was promoted to the rank of colonel on August 21, 1939.

World War II

Following the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

in December 1941, James was still stationed at Headquarters Marine Corps in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and appointed as Military Secretary to the Commandant,

Thomas Holcomb General (United States), General Thomas Holcomb (August 5, 1879 – May 24, 1965) was a United States Marine Corps officer who served as the seventeenth Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1936 to 1943. He was the first Marine to achieve the ra ...

in March 1940. In this capacity, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Commandant, supervision of the schedule of the commandant and other duties connected with administration of Commandants officer. He also simultaneously served as officer in charge, Marine Corps Public Information. During the April 1942, commanding general of

Alexander A. Vandegrift General Alexander Archer Vandegrift, USMC (March 13, 1887 – May 8, 1973) was a United States Marine Corps four-star general. During World War II, he commanded the 1st Marine Division to victory in its first ground offensive of the war, the Bat ...

, was looking for a new Divisional Chief of Staff as substitute for Colonel

LeRoy P. Hunt LeRoy Philip Hunt (March 17, 1892 – February 8, 1968) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of general. A veteran of World War I, he was decorated with the Navy Cross and Army Distinguished Service Cros ...

. He requested colonel James, whom he knew from his service at Headquarters Marine Corps. Commandant Holcomb and his deputy Ralph S. Keyser agreed. The wives of Keyser and James were cousins and also cousins of Lottie Thomas, wife of 1st Marine Division operations officer,

Gerald C. Thomas Gerald Carthrae Thomas (October 29, 1894 – April 7, 1984) was a United States Marine Corps general officer, general who served as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1956 with more than 38 years ...

. James, who had no previous experience of field command, became the chief of staff of combat division. He joined the 1st Marine division at

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in July of that year and participated in the planning for upcoming

. Due to lack of combat experiences, James had not taken hold as division chief of staff and rest of the core divisional staff cooperated rather with divisional operations officer

. Although they were distant relatives, relationship between James and Thomas started to get worse. Colonel James participated in the landing on Guadalcanal in August 1942 and following the establishment of forward command post, he tried to coordinate divisional staff. His cautious approach quickly caused the loss of confidence of Vandegrift. General Vandegrift, who saw, that his only operational opinion was that patrolling was too dangerous, started looking for a replacement for James. Colonel James was relieved by Colonel Thomas on September 24, 1942, and ordered back to the United States. Although they were distant cousins, James left Guadalcanal as bitter enemy of Thomas. Vandegrift recommended James for the promotion of brigadier general, which was ultimately not approved. Upon his return, James assumed command of Marine Corps Base San Diego,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and had the opportunity to train the men who benefited from his experience during the Guadalcanal Campaign. He held this assignment until the end of April 1944, when he was replaced by Brigadier General

Matthew H. Kingman Matthew Henry Kingman (March 1, 1890 – November 16, 1946) was a decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of brigadier general, who is most noted for his service as commanding officer of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion du ...

. He was ordered back to the Pacific area in May 1944 and attached to the staff of

V Amphibious Corps The V Amphibious Corps (VAC) was a formation of the United States Marine Corps which was composed of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions in World War II. The three divisions were the amphibious landing force for the United States Fifth Fleet ...

under Major General

Harry Schmidt Harry Schmidt may refer to: * Harry Schmidt (USMC) (1886–1968), commanded the Fourth Marine Division in the Pacific during World War II * Harry Schmidt (mathematician) (1894–1951), German applied mathematician * Harry Schmidt (pentathlete) (191 ...

as deputy chief of staff, Military Government Section. James participated in the Marianas Islands Campaign and subsequently was attached to Military Government command on Tinian as deputy chief civil affairs officer. While in this capacity, James was commended by Brigadier General Frederick V. H. Kimble, Commanding General Tinian Garrison Force, for his ''"cheerful and optimistic attitude in relieving and organizing a destitute people quickly bestowed a spirit of high morale which was daily reflected in the cooperative attitude of Tinian civilians."''

Later career

James assumed command of Forward Echelon,

Fleet Marine Force, Pacific The United States Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (FMFPAC) is the largest maritime landing force in the world. Its units are spread across the Pacific Ocean and reports to the United States Pacific Command. It is headquartered at MCB Camp H. M ...

, on

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, and held this assignment until June 1945. However, his career gained some satisfaction when he was promoted to the rank of

in July 1945 and appointed assistant director of personnel and deputy to Major General

Thomas E. Watson Thomas Edward Watson (September 5, 1856 – September 26, 1922) was an American politician, attorney, newspaper editor and writer from Georgia. In the 1890s Watson championed poor farmers as a leader of the Populist Party, articulating an a ...

at Headquarters Marine Corps. His transfer to Headquarters Marine Corps was no coincidence, because general Watson had a grudge against now-brigadier general

, director of plans and policies at Headquarters Marine Corps and he needed an ally. He believed that Thomas had isolated general Vandegrift from all his old friends, which included Watson. Aware of James's grudge against Thomas, Watson requested James as his deputy. General James served as assistant director of personnel until November 1946, when he was retired after 30 years of commissioned service. Brigadier General William C. James died on September 30, 1974, in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

. He and his wife were survived by their son, William C. James Jr. who also served in the Marines and commanded a mortar platoon during the

Marshall Islands campaign The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign were a series of battles fought from August 1942 through February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan. They were the first steps of the drive across the cent ...

Decorations

Here is the ribbon bar of Brigadier General William C. James:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, William Capers 1896 births 1974 deaths People from Florence, South Carolina The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina alumni Naval War College alumni American military personnel of the Banana Wars United States Marine Corps generals United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I United States Marine Corps World War II generals Military personnel from South Carolina