Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse

Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse
	Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
	; A wounded United States Army soldier is assisted off of the line in the hills near the Matanikau River on 15 January 1943
Date	15 December 1942 – 23 January 1943; (1 month, 1 week, and 1 day)
Location	Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
Result	Allied victory
Belligerents
Allied forces including:; United States; British Solomon Islands; Colony of Fiji; New Zealand	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Patch	Harukichi Hyakutake
Units involved
XIV Corps 2nd Marine Division; Americal Division; 25th Infantry Division; 147th Infantry Regiment; New Zealand Expeditionary Force	17th Army 2nd Infantry Division; 38th Infantry Division; 35th Infantry Brigade; 8th Fleet
Strength
50,078	20,000
Casualties and losses
250 killed	2,700–3,300 killed

The Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse, part of which is sometimes called the Battle of the Gifu, took place from 15 December 1942 to 23 January 1943 and was primarily an engagement between United States and Imperial Japanese forces in the hills near the Matanikau River area on Guadalcanal during the Guadalcanal campaign. The U.S. forces were under the overall command of Major General Alexander Patch and the Japanese forces were under the overall command of Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake.

In the battle, U.S. soldiers and Marines, assisted by native Solomon Islanders, attacked Imperial Japanese Army forces defending well-fortified and entrenched positions on several hills and ridges. The most prominent hills were called Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse by the Americans. The U.S. was attempting to destroy the Japanese forces on Guadalcanal, and the Japanese were trying to hold their defensive positions until reinforcements could arrive.

Both sides experienced extreme difficulties in fighting in the thick jungles and tropical environment of the battle area. Many of the American troops were also involved in their first combat operations. The Japanese were mostly cut off from resupply and suffered greatly from malnourishment and lack of medical care. After some difficulty, the U.S. succeeded in taking Mount Austen, in the process reducing a strongly defended position called the Gifu, as well as the Galloping Horse and the Sea Horse. In the meantime, the Japanese decided to abandon Guadalcanal and withdrew to the west coast of the island. From there most of the surviving Japanese troops were successfully evacuated during the first week of February 1943.

^ Jersey, pp. 356–358. Assisting the Americans in this battle were a small number of Fijian commandos led by officers and non-commissioned officers from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
^ Miller, p. 220. This number includes all US military forces on Guadalcanal, not necessarily the number directly involved in the battle.
^ Miller, p. 215; Frank, p. 497. Miller says that there were 25,000 Japanese troops on the island at this time, but Frank goes into more detail on the Japanese troop strength, stating "A (Japanese) strength return dated 20 November (1942) showed that of the 29,117 soldiers landed since 7 August, the deduction of those killed, evacuated, or hospitalized because of wounds or illness left only 18,295 still with their units. Of this latter total, those fit by liberal definition for combat duty numbered only 12,775. The survivors of the original garrison (including construction workers) and the Imperial Navy units landed since 7 August added another 2,376 to the aggregate unit strength, but only 550 to the rolls of those fit for combat."
^ Exact American losses for each action in the battle are not recorded. Miller, pp. 244, 249–252, 270, 276–278; Frank, pp. 533–534, 555–558, 566–567; Anderson. Anderson states that 200 total were killed, but adding up the known casualties from each action arrives at a number closer to 250.
^ An unknown number, but probably in the thousands more Japanese soldiers throughout Guadalcanal died during this time from starvation and tropical disease but this is the approximate number killed by direct American action during this battle. Miller, pp. 244, 249–252, 270, 275–279; Frank, pp. 533–534, 555–558, 562–563, 566–567.

[1] Jersey, pp. 356–358. Assisting the Americans in this battle were a small number of Fijian commandos led by officers and non-commissioned officers from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

[2] Miller, p. 220. This number includes all US military forces on Guadalcanal, not necessarily the number directly involved in the battle.

[3] Miller, p. 215; Frank, p. 497. Miller says that there were 25,000 Japanese troops on the island at this time, but Frank goes into more detail on the Japanese troop strength, stating "A (Japanese) strength return dated 20 November (1942) showed that of the 29,117 soldiers landed since 7 August, the deduction of those killed, evacuated, or hospitalized because of wounds or illness left only 18,295 still with their units. Of this latter total, those fit by liberal definition for combat duty numbered only 12,775. The survivors of the original garrison (including construction workers) and the Imperial Navy units landed since 7 August added another 2,376 to the aggregate unit strength, but only 550 to the rolls of those fit for combat."

[4] Exact American losses for each action in the battle are not recorded. Miller, pp. 244, 249–252, 270, 276–278; Frank, pp. 533–534, 555–558, 566–567; Anderson. Anderson states that 200 total were killed, but adding up the known casualties from each action arrives at a number closer to 250.

[5] An unknown number, but probably in the thousands more Japanese soldiers throughout Guadalcanal died during this time from starvation and tropical disease but this is the approximate number killed by direct American action during this battle. Miller, pp. 244, 249–252, 270, 275–279; Frank, pp. 533–534, 555–558, 562–563, 566–567.

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Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse

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