Battle of Edson's Ridge 1942
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 12 September 1942 – 14 September 1942 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1942 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Solomon Islands | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Oceania | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Guadalcanal campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -9.4469, 160.0475 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly United States Marine Corps) ground forces. It took place from 12 to 14 September 1942, on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and was the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives during the Guadalcanal campaign.
In the battle, U.S. Marines under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift repulsed an attack by the Japanese 35th Infantry Brigade under the command of Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, which was captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. Kawaguchi's unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces from the island.
Underestimating the strength of Allied forces on Guadalcanal—over 12,000 men—Kawaguchi's 6,000 soldiers conducted several nighttime frontal assaults on the U.S. defenses.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Edson's Ridge (revision 1378292212), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle for Henderson Field 1942 · 2 km
- Battle of the Tenaru 1942 · 3 km
- Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse 1942 · 9 km
- Koli Point action 1942 · 13 km
- Actions along the Matanikau 1942 · 33 km
- Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 1942 · 33 km
Other battles of the Guadalcanal campaign
- Actions along the Matanikau 1942
- Battle of Tassafaronga 1942
- Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo 1942
- Battle of the Tenaru 1942
- Battle of Rennell Island 1943
All 6 battles of the Guadalcanal campaign →
Browse more: battles in Solomon Islands · Oceania · World War II era battles