Editing Guadalcanal campaign (section)

===Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse===
{{Main|Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse}}
[[File:GuadCoCDec1942.jpg|thumb|Left to right, unnamed soldier, Colonel [[Richard H. Jeschke]], Commander of the [[8th Marine Regiment (United States)|8th Marines]], U.S. Army Major General [[Alexander Patch]], who succeeded [[Alexander Vandegrift|Vandegrift]] on 9 December 1942|alt=]]

By December, the weary 1st Marine Division was withdrawn for recuperation, and over the course of the next month the [[XIV Corps (United States)|U.S. XIV Corps]] took over operations on the island. This corps consisted of the [[2nd Marine Division]] and the U.S. Army's [[25th Infantry Division (United States)|25th Infantry]] and [[Americal Division|23rd "Americal" Divisions]]. U.S. Army Major General [[Alexander Patch]] replaced Vandegrift as commander of Allied forces on Guadalcanal, which by January totaled just over 50,000 men.<ref>Frank, pp. 247–252, 293, 417–420, 430–431, 521–522, 529; Griffith, pp. 156, 257–259, 270; Miller, pp. 143, 173–177, 183, 189, 213–219; Jersey, pp. 304–305, 345–346, 363, 365; Hough, pp. 360–362; Shaw, pp. 46–47; Zimmerman, pp. 156–157, 164. The Americal Division infantry regiments were [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] units. The 164th was from [[North Dakota]], the 182nd from [[Massachusetts]], and the 132nd from [[Illinois]]. The 147th had previously been part of the [[37th Infantry Division (United States)|37th Infantry Division]]. During its time on Guadalcanal, the 1st Marine Division suffered 650 killed, 31 missing, 1,278 injured, and 8,580 who contracted some type of disease, mainly [[malaria]]. The [[2nd Marine Regiment (United States)|2nd Marine Regiment]] had arrived at Guadalcanal with most of the 1st Marine Division, but remained behind to rejoin its parent unit, the 2nd Marine Division. The U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division's 35th Regiment arrived at Guadalcanal on 17 December, the 27th Regiment on 1 January, and the 161st Regiment on 4 January. The 2nd Marine Division's headquarters units, the 6th Marine Regiment, and various Marine weapons and support units also arrived on 4 and 6 January. U.S. Major General [[John Marston (USMC)|John Marston]], commander of the 2nd Marine Division, remained in New Zealand because he was superior in time in rank to Patch. Instead, Brigadier General [[Alphonse DeCarre]] commanded the 2nd Marine Division on Guadalcanal. The total number of Marines on Guadalcanal and Tulagi on 6 January 1943 was 18,383.</ref>

On 18 December, Allied (mainly U.S. Army) forces began attacking Japanese positions on [[Mount Austen]]. A strong Japanese fortified position, called the Gifu, stymied the attacks and the Americans were forced to temporarily halt their offensive on 4 January.<ref>Frank, pp. 529–534; Miller, pp. 231–237, 244, 249–252; Jersey, pp. 350–351; Anderson, Hough, pp. 363–364; Griffith, pp. 263–265.</ref> The Allies renewed the offensive on 10 January, attacking the Japanese on Mount Austen as well as on two nearby ridges called the Sea Horse and the Galloping Horse. After some difficulty, the Allies captured all three by 23 January. At the same time, U.S. Marines advanced along the north coast of the island, making significant gains. The Americans lost about 250 killed in the operation while the Japanese suffered around 3,000 killed, about 12 to 1 in the Americans' favor.<ref>Frank, pp. 563–567; Miller, pp. 290–305; Jersey, pp. 367–371.</ref>