Gen. C. Doyen, a 34-year veteran of the Corps and the first commander of the 4th Marine Brigade in 1917; he wears the earlier P1912 forest green tunic which had no skirt pockets, and sports a French M1915 Adrian helmet, which was a stylish choice for senior US officers in the first year of the war. In this instance the helmet bears the chasseurs’ buglehorn device, but it was probably acquired at random. He also wears Stohwasser gaiters, and carries a French M2 gasmask.
Charles Augustus Doyen (3 September 1859 – 6 October 1918) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of Brigadier general and the first recipient of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.
A distinguished United States Marine, Charles A. Doyen had been commissioned in 1883. He was a veteran of the Philippine Insurrection, where he commanded a battalion, a regiment, and finally a brigade of U.S. Marines. He brought his regiment, the 5th Marines, to France and was promoted to Brigadier General in October 1917, and took command of the 4th Brigade of Marines in the Army’s 2nd Division. Ill health forced his return to the United States, where he died while in command of the Marine Corps Barracks at Quantico, Virginia, in October 1918.
He was born in New Hampshire. He received the Distinguished Service Medal posthumously for services rendered as commander of the 5th Regiment of Marines from the time of its organization in the United States and throughout its training in France until the arrival there of the 6th Regiment of Marines. He was then placed in command of the 4th Marine Brigade, consisting of the 5th and 6th Regiments and the 6th Machine Gun Battalion. He brought this brigade to a very high state of efficiency, enabling it to successfully resist the German Army and achieve victory in the Chateau-Thierry sector and Belleau Wood. Strenuous duties undermined his health and necessitated his being invalided to the United States before he had the opportunity to command the brigade in action.
