Matanikau in a sentence

This action, sometimes referred to as the "First Battle of the Matanikau", was the first of several major actions around the Matanikau River during the campaign.

Vandegrift and his staff were aware that Kawaguchi's troops had retreated to the area west of the Matanikau and that numerous groups of Japanese stragglers were scattered throughout the area between the Lunga Perimeter and the Matanikau River.

One of the first orders given by Patch was for the seizure of three objectives near the Matanikau River – Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse and the Sea Horse.

About half of Maruyama's survivors were ordered to retreat back to the upper Matanikau Valley while the 230th Infantry Regiment under Colonel Toshinari Shōji was told to head for Koli Point, east of the Lunga perimeter.

By now, though, the battalion had joined Oka's forces near the Matanikau.

By the time Shōji's forces reached the Lunga River in mid-November, about halfway to the Matanikau, only 1,300 men remained with the main body.

Dead soldiers from the Japanese 2nd Division cover the battlefield after the failed assaults on 25–26 October Further Japanese attacks near the Matanikau on 26 October were also repulsed with heavy losses for the Japanese.

During the action three Marine companies were surrounded by Japanese forces near Point Cruz west of the Matanikau, took heavy losses, and barely escaped with assistance from the destroyer USS and landing craft manned by U.S. Coast Guard personnel.

Leading elements of the 2nd Division reached the 17th Army headquarters area at Kokumbona, west of the Matanikau on 4 November.

Meanwhile, Hyakutake ordered Shōji to abandon his positions at Koli and rejoin Japanese forces at Kokumbona in the Matanikau area.

Most of the survivors from Shōji's force joined other Japanese units defending the Mount Austen and upper Matanikau River area.

November land actions further In order to exploit the victory in the Battle for Henderson Field, Vandegrift sent six Marine battalions, later joined by one U.S. Army battalion, on an offensive west of the Matanikau.

On 14 September Kawaguchi led the survivors of his shattered brigade on a five-day march west to the Matanikau Valley to join with Oka's unit.

The second action forced the Japanese to retreat from their positions east of the Matanikau and hindered Japanese preparations for their planned major offensive on the U.S. Lunga defenses.

These fresh troops were quickly emplaced in the Point Cruz and Matanikau area and helped successfully resist further attacks by American forces on 10 and 18 November.

To counter this new threat, Vandegrift temporarily halted the Matanikau offensive on 4 November.

Vandegrift, therefore, decided to conduct another series of small unit operations around the Matanikau Valley.