Major
General Logan Feland was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky,
on 11 August 1869. During the War with Spain he
was Captain of Company F, 3d Kentucky Infantry.
By virtue of his previous military experience he
was appointed directly to the rank of first lieutenant
in the Marine Corps on 1 July 1899. He was promoted
to captain, 3 March 1903; to major, 29 August 1916;
to lieutenant colonel, 26 March 1917; to colonel
1 July 1918; to brigadier general, 9 March 1919;
and to major general, 1 October 1931. In the grades
of lieutenant and captain he served with Marine
detachments on USS Oregon, Massachusetts,
Indiana, Minnesota, and Montana.
Prior to World War I he had more than eight years
of foreign duty including service in Panama in 1904
and in 1911; expeditions to Guantanamo Bay in 1904,
1911, 1912, and 1913; San Juan, Puerto Rico, in
1904; service with the Army of Cuban Pacification
in 1906; service in Santo Domingan waters in 1912;
Culebra in 1914; and the occupation of Vera Cruz,
Mexico, in 1914. His home service was equally varied
and included duty at Marine Barracks, Washington,
D.C., League Island (Philadelphia), Narragansett
Bay, Rhode Island, Norfolk, and New York; instruction
in submarine mining at the Torpedo Station, Narragansett
Bay; teaching in the School of Application, Annapolis,
and the Advanced Base School, New London, Connecticut;
observation of Army artillery practice at Fortress
Monroe, Virginia; the supervising of construction
of new barracks at Annapolis; and recruiting in
New York.
Feland
was attached to the 5th Regiment for service in
France in World War I and was among the first
contingent of American forces which went overseas
with General Pershing in May 1917. On his arrival
in France, Feland was made executive officer of
the 5th Regiment. When the unit, as part of the
4th Marine Brigade, was thrown into the breach
to stem the German advance at Chateau Thierry
in May 1918, Feland was ever in the thick of the
fighting. At Belleau Woods in June 1918 when the
halt in the German advance was turned into a retreat,
Feland was given command of all troops in the
Wood. His conspicuous valor on this occasion won
him the Distinguished Service Cross. After his
promotion to colonel, Feland became commanding
officer of the 5th Regiment and as such led it
in the Battles of Soissons, Blanc Mont Ridge and
in the Argonne. For his outstanding exploits in
the War, Feland was awarded, in addition to the
Distinguished Service Cross mentioned above, the
Distinguished Service Medals of both the Army
and the Navy, Officer's rank in the Legion of
Honor, the Croix de Guerre with bronze star, gold
star, and four palms, and was cited in dispatches
six times.
Upon
his return to the United States in May 1919, Feland
was stationed at Headquarters Marine Corps until
December when he was detached to command the 2d
Brigade in Santo Domingo. Returning to the United
States the following fall, he again joined Headquarters
in the capacity of Director of the Division of
Operations and Training. He held that post for
two years after which he was Assistant to the
Major General Commandant for another two years.
From November 1926 to February 1927 he was called
from his command of the Marine Expeditionary Force
at Quantico to head the Eastern Section of the
U.S. Mail Guard.
In
April 1927, Feland took command of the 2d Brigade
in Nicaragua. After four months in Nicaragua he
was transferred to the command of Marine Barracks,
Parris Island, South Carolina, which post he held
from September 1927 to January 1928. He then returned
to Nicaragua and assumed command of the Brigade
for a second time, serving there until March 1929.
For this second tour in Nicaragua, Feland was
awarded another Distinguished Service Medal.
Following a short period at Headquarters
after his return from Nicaragua, Feland was assigned
as Commanding General, Department of the Pacific
in July 1929. He was serving in that position
when he was detached on 25 February 1933. He retired
on 1 September 1933 and died at Columbus, Ohio,
on 17 July 1936. He was buried in Arlington National
Cemetery.
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