agi and Gavutu to Guadalcanal . These units added about 1 @,@ 500 troops to Vandegrift 's original 11 @,@ 000 men defending Henderson Field . The 1st Parachute battalion , which had suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu @-@ Tanambogo in August , was placed under Edson 's command .   = = Battle = =   = = = Prelude = = =   Kawaguchi set the date for his attack on the Lunga perimeter for 12 September and began marching his forces west from Taivu towards Lunga Point on 5 September . He radioed 17th Army and requested that it carry out air strikes on Henderson Field beginning on 9 September , and that naval warships be stationed off Lunga Point on September 12 to " destroy any Americans who attempted to flee from the island . " On 7 September , Kawaguchi issued his attack plan to " rout and annihilate the enemy in the vicinity of the Guadalcanal Island airfield . " Kawaguchi 's plan called for his forces to split into three , approach the Lunga perimeter inland , and launch a surprise night attack . Oka 's force would attack the perimeter from the west while Ichiki 's Second Echelon — renamed the Kuma Battalion — would attack from the east . The main attack would be by Kawaguchi 's " Center Body " , numbering 3 @,@ 000 men in three battalions , from the south of the Lunga perimeter . By 7 September , most of Kawaguchi 's troops had started marching from Taivu towards Lunga Point along the coastline . About 250 Japanese troops remained behind to guard the brigade 's supply base at Taivu .   Meanwhile , native island scouts — directed by British government official and officer in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force , Martin Clemens — told the Marines of Japanese troops at Taivu , near the village of Tasimboko , about 17 mi ( 27 km ) east of Lunga . Edson launched a raid against the Japanese troops at Taivu . Destroyer transports USS McKean and Manley and two patrol boats took 813 of Edson 's men to Taivu in two trips . Edson and his first wave of 501 troops landed at Taivu at 05 : 20 ( local time ) on 8 September . Supported by aircraft from Henderson Field and gunfire from the destroyer transports , Edson 's men advanced towards Tasimboko village but were slowed by Japanese resistance . At 11 : 00 , the rest of Edson 's men landed . With this reinforcement and more support from the Henderson Field aircraft , Edson 's force pushed into the village . The Japanese defenders , believing a major landing was underway after observing the concurrent approach of an Allied supply ship convoy heading towards Lunga Point , retreated into the jungle , leaving behind 27 dead . Two Marines were killed .  
agi Ġand ĠG av ut u Ġto ĠGu adal can al Ġ. ĠThese Ġunits Ġadded Ġabout Ġ1 Ġ@ , @ Ġ500 Ġtroops Ġto ĠVand eg rift Ġ' s Ġoriginal Ġ11 Ġ@ , @ Ġ000 Ġmen Ġdefending ĠHenderson ĠField Ġ. ĠThe Ġ1 st ĠPar ach ute Ġbattalion Ġ, Ġwhich Ġhad Ġsuffered Ġheavy Ġcasualties Ġin Ġthe ĠBattle Ġof ĠTul agi Ġand ĠG av ut u Ġ@ - @ ĠTan amb ogo Ġin ĠAugust Ġ, Ġwas Ġplaced Ġunder ĠEd son Ġ' s Ġcommand Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= ĠBattle Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= ĠPrelude Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠKaw ag uchi Ġset Ġthe Ġdate Ġfor Ġhis Ġattack Ġon Ġthe ĠLung a Ġperimeter Ġfor Ġ12 ĠSeptember Ġand Ġbegan Ġmarching Ġhis Ġforces Ġwest Ġfrom ĠTa iv u Ġtowards ĠLung a ĠPoint Ġon Ġ5 ĠSeptember Ġ. ĠHe Ġradio ed Ġ17 th ĠArmy Ġand Ġrequested Ġthat Ġit Ġcarry Ġout Ġair Ġstrikes Ġon ĠHenderson ĠField Ġbeginning Ġon Ġ9 ĠSeptember Ġ, Ġand Ġthat Ġnaval Ġwarships Ġbe Ġstationed Ġoff ĠLung a ĠPoint Ġon ĠSeptember Ġ12 Ġto Ġ" Ġdestroy Ġany ĠAmericans Ġwho Ġattempted Ġto Ġflee Ġfrom Ġthe Ġisland Ġ. Ġ" ĠOn Ġ7 ĠSeptember Ġ, ĠKaw ag uchi Ġissued Ġhis Ġattack Ġplan Ġto Ġ" Ġrout Ġand Ġannihil ate Ġthe Ġenemy Ġin Ġthe Ġvicinity Ġof Ġthe ĠGu adal can al ĠIsland Ġair field Ġ. Ġ" ĠKaw ag uchi Ġ' s Ġplan Ġcalled Ġfor Ġhis Ġforces Ġto Ġsplit Ġinto Ġthree Ġ, Ġapproach Ġthe ĠLung a Ġperimeter Ġinland Ġ, Ġand Ġlaunch Ġa Ġsurprise Ġnight Ġattack Ġ. ĠO ka Ġ' s Ġforce Ġwould Ġattack Ġthe Ġperimeter Ġfrom Ġthe Ġwest Ġwhile ĠIch iki Ġ' s ĠSecond ĠE che lon ĠâĢĶ Ġrenamed Ġthe ĠK uma ĠBattalion ĠâĢĶ Ġwould Ġattack Ġfrom Ġthe Ġeast Ġ. ĠThe Ġmain Ġattack Ġwould Ġbe Ġby ĠKaw ag uchi Ġ' s Ġ" ĠCenter ĠBody Ġ" Ġ, Ġnumbering Ġ3 Ġ@ , @ Ġ000 Ġmen Ġin Ġthree Ġbatt alions Ġ, Ġfrom Ġthe Ġsouth Ġof Ġthe ĠLung a Ġperimeter Ġ. ĠBy Ġ7 ĠSeptember Ġ, Ġmost Ġof ĠKaw ag uchi Ġ' s Ġtroops Ġhad Ġstarted Ġmarching Ġfrom ĠTa iv u Ġtowards ĠLung a ĠPoint Ġalong Ġthe Ġcoastline Ġ. ĠAbout Ġ250 ĠJapanese Ġtroops Ġremained Ġbehind Ġto Ġguard Ġthe Ġbrigade Ġ' s Ġsupply Ġbase Ġat ĠTa iv u Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠMeanwhile Ġ, Ġnative Ġisland Ġscouts ĠâĢĶ Ġdirected Ġby ĠBritish Ġgovernment Ġofficial Ġand Ġofficer Ġin Ġthe ĠBritish ĠSolomon ĠIslands ĠProtector ate ĠDefence ĠForce Ġ, ĠMartin ĠCle mens ĠâĢĶ Ġtold Ġthe ĠMarines Ġof ĠJapanese Ġtroops Ġat ĠTa iv u Ġ, Ġnear Ġthe Ġvillage Ġof ĠTas imb oko Ġ, Ġabout Ġ17 Ġmi Ġ( Ġ27 Ġkm Ġ) Ġeast Ġof ĠLung a Ġ. ĠEd son Ġlaunched Ġa Ġraid Ġagainst Ġthe ĠJapanese Ġtroops Ġat ĠTa iv u Ġ. ĠDestroyer Ġtransports ĠUSS ĠMc Ke an Ġand ĠMan ley Ġand Ġtwo Ġpatrol Ġboats Ġtook Ġ8 13 Ġof ĠEd son Ġ' s Ġmen Ġto ĠTa iv u Ġin Ġtwo Ġtrips Ġ. ĠEd son Ġand Ġhis Ġfirst Ġwave Ġof Ġ501 Ġtroops Ġlanded Ġat ĠTa iv u Ġat Ġ05 Ġ: Ġ20 Ġ( Ġlocal Ġtime Ġ) Ġon Ġ8 ĠSeptember Ġ. ĠSupported Ġby Ġaircraft Ġfrom ĠHenderson ĠField Ġand Ġgunfire Ġfrom Ġthe Ġdestroyer Ġtransports Ġ, ĠEd son Ġ' s Ġmen Ġadvanced Ġtowards ĠTas imb oko Ġvillage Ġbut Ġwere Ġslowed Ġby ĠJapanese Ġresistance Ġ. ĠAt Ġ11 Ġ: Ġ00 Ġ, Ġthe Ġrest Ġof ĠEd son Ġ' s Ġmen Ġlanded Ġ. ĠWith Ġthis Ġreinforcement Ġand Ġmore Ġsupport Ġfrom Ġthe ĠHenderson ĠField Ġaircraft Ġ, ĠEd son Ġ' s Ġforce Ġpushed Ġinto Ġthe Ġvillage Ġ. ĠThe ĠJapanese Ġdefenders Ġ, Ġbelieving Ġa Ġmajor Ġlanding Ġwas Ġunderway Ġafter Ġobserving Ġthe Ġconcurrent Ġapproach Ġof Ġan ĠAllied Ġsupply Ġship Ġconvoy Ġheading Ġtowards ĠLung a ĠPoint Ġ, Ġretreated Ġinto Ġthe Ġjungle Ġ, Ġleaving Ġbehind Ġ27 Ġdead Ġ. ĠTwo ĠMarines Ġwere Ġkilled Ġ. Ġ Ġ