Carlson's Patrol - Aftermath

Aftermath

As Carlson's battalion was ending its patrol, Shōji and his surviving troops were reaching friendly positions west of the Matanikau. In addition to the losses sustained from attacks by Carlson's raiders, a lack of food and tropical diseases felled many more of Shōji's men. 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. When Shōji reached the 17th Army positions west of the Matanikau, only 700-800 survivors were still with him. Survivors from Shōji's force later participated in the Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse in December 1942 and January 1943.

During the 29 days of the patrol, Carlson's raiders hiked approximately 150 mi (240 km) to cover a straight line distance of about 40 mi (64 km) from Aola Bay to the Matanikau River. Carlson claimed that his troops killed 488 Japanese soldiers and captured or destroyed large amounts of equipment, including two howitzers and various small arms and ammunition.

The 2nd Raiders suffered 16 killed and 17 wounded (plus 2 wounded native guides). Non-battle casualties totaled 225, of which 125 suffered from malaria, 29 from dysentery, and 71 from ringworm or jungle rot. Most of the remaining raiders were also suffering some type of physical ailment. On 17 December, the raiders departed Guadalcanal by ship and arrived back at their home camp on Espiritu Santo on 20 December. At Espiritu Santo, the unit continued to be affected by the lingering tropical diseases many had contracted during the Guadalcanal patrol. In the second week of March 1943, the 2nd Raiders were declared unfit for combat duty, although this finding was never announced in an official document. The 2nd Marine Raiders did not participate as a unit in a combat operation until the Bougainville campaign beginning on 1 November 1943. In spite of the high fallout from disease, Carlson's troops generally felt that they had performed well as a unit during the patrol and had accomplished their mission. Cleland E. Early—a lieutenant in Carlson's Company E—described the long Guadalcanal patrol and the effect on his unit: "Enduring the living conditions was worse than the combat. My platoon went in with 30 men, one corpsman and one officer. When we came out we had one officer, one corpsman, and 18 enlisted, all of whom had malaria, worms, diarrhea, jungle rot and high morale.