In 1932, during the heigth of the depression, McArthur led the US Army to attack the “Bonus Army” marchers in Washington DC.
The “Bonus Army” was a march of unemployed American WW1 veterans demanding that the US government should pay them a bonus promised to them by congress in WW1.
For McArthur, this was a communist plan to overthrow the American government under President Hoover, though intelligence sources stated that among the 26 leaders of the march were only3 communists, the rest included people like priests. Against Eisenhower’s recommendations, who was on McArthur’s staff, McArthur ordered a charge, which included 5 Renault FT17 tanks on the largely unarmed protestors. One of the unit commanders was a Major Patton.
"Army Chief of Staff MacArthur was convinced that the march was a communist conspiracy to undermine the government of the United States, and that “the movement was actually far deeper and more dangerous than an effort to secure funds from a nearly depleted federal treasury.” But that was simply not the case. MacArthur’s own General Staff intelligence division reported in June that only three of the twenty-six leaders of the Bonus March were communists. And the percentage within the rank and file was likely even smaller; several commanders reported to MacArthur that most of the men seemed to be vehemently anti-Communist, if anything. According to journalist and eyewitness Joseph C. Harsch, “This was not a revolutionary situation. This was a bunch of people in great distress wanting help… These were simply veterans from World War I who were out of luck, out of money, and wanted to get their bonus – and they needed the money at that moment.”
"Next came the most controversial moment in the whole affair – a moment that directly involved General MacArthur. Secretary of War Hurley twice sent orders to MacArthur indicating that the President, worried that the government reaction might look overly harsh, did not wish the Army to pursue the Bonus Marchers across the bridge into their main encampment on the other side of the Anacostia River. But MacArthur, according to his aide Dwight Eisenhower, “said he was too busy,” did not want to be “bothered by people coming down and pretending to bring orders,” and sent his men across the bridge anyway, after pausing several hours to allow as many people as possible to evacuate. A fire soon erupted in the camp. While it’s not clear which side started the blaze, the sight of the great fire became the signature image of the greatest unrest our nation’s capital has ever known. "
From:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/peopleevents/pandeAMEX89.html
Other links:
http://www.felsted.essex.sch.uk/~jms/history/usa/partb/bonus.htm
“In 1930, MacArthur returned to the United States and was named by President Herbert Hoover as chief of staff of the Army. At age 50, he was promoted to the rank of full general at a time when America was staunchly isolationist and military figures like MacArthur played a small part in the nation’s activities. In 1932, MacArthur led a force of tanks, cavalry and infantry against a group of 15,000 unarmed World War I veterans who had camped in Washington to petition Congress for early payment of their service bonuses. In a violent clash precipitated by orders from MacArthur, the “Bonus Army” was dispersed. For many at that time, and for historians since, the harsh treatment of the “Bonus Army” has seemed to offer insight into the mind and character of Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur later justified his actions by improbably claiming that he had thwarted a “Communist revolution.””
From
http://korea50.army.mil/history/biographies/macarthur.shtml
Jan