At 13 : 05 on 14 September , Kawaguchi led the survivors of his shattered brigade away from the ridge and deeper into the jungle , where they rested and tended to their wounded all the next day . Kawaguchi 's units were then ordered to withdraw west to the Matanikau River valley to join with Oka 's unit , a 6 mi ( 9 @.@ 7 km ) march over difficult terrain . Kawaguchi 's troops began the march on the morning of 16 September . Almost every soldier able to walk had to help carry the wounded . As the march progressed , the exhausted and hungry soldiers , who had eaten their last rations on the morning before their withdrawal , began to discard their heavy equipment and then their rifles . By the time most of them reached Oka 's positions at Kokumbona five days later , only half still carried their weapons . The Kuma battalion 's survivors , attempting to follow Kawaguchi 's Center Body forces , became lost , wandered for three weeks in the jungle , and almost starved to death before finally reaching Kawaguchi 's camp .