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The U.S. Marine Corps -The Early Years

(1775-1815)

|Purpose |

|THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS BEGAN BEFORE THE |

|COLONIES BECAME STATES AND CONTINUES TODAY. IT IS A STORY OF |

|HEROIC DEEDS, TRADITIONS, AND DEDICATION TO COUNTRY. THE TEXT |

|THAT FOLLOWS IS THE FIRST OF FOUR LESSON TEXTS THAT CHRONICLE THE|

|ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MARINES COVERING THE PERIOD 1775 TO 1918. THE|

|FIRST SECTION, “THE EARLY YEARS” COVERS THE PERIOD FROM THE FIRST|

|DAYS OF THE MARINE CORPS THROUGH THE WAR OF 1812. DURING THIS |

|PERIOD OF TIME MARINE CORPS, TRADITIONS WERE DEFINED; MARINE |

|CORPS HEROES WERE IDENTIFIED; AND MARINE CORPS LEGENDS WERE |

|ESTABLISHED. |

Introduction

Before there was a United States of America, there was a Marine Corps in America. Prior to the American Revolution, colonists sometimes served as Marines in British naval operations. In 1740, four colonial battalions were raised to fight against Spain. Known as Gootch’s Marines after Colonel William Gootch, these American Marines included George Washington’s half-brother Captain Lawrence Fairfax. Fairfax served under British Admiral Edward Vernon, after whom the Mt. Vernon home was named. Colonel Gooch was wounded in action at Cartagena, Colombia. In July of 1741, Gootch’s Marines landed at Guantanamo Bay where they secured a forward base for the British fleet. More than 250 years later, Guantanamo still serves as an important U.S. foothold in the Caribbean.

Marines were also involved in supporting the British during the French and Indian War. Detachments of Colonial Marines were on every British fighting ship and were engaged in both sea and land operations. During sea battles, Marines fought from the mastheads and rigging as sharpshooters and grenadiers. Marines were also an important part of the landing force when it was needed.

The American Revolution

In October of 1775, General George Washington was asked by Congress to use Marines in an effort to capture two English ships loaded with munitions. This legislation established both a Continental Navy and a need for a Marine Corps. To oversee the development and deployment of American sea power, Congress created a Naval Committee with John Adams as its head. The Naval Committee met at Tun’s Tavern in Philadelphia. On November 10, 1775, a resolution sponsored by Adams to the Continental Congress formally established the Marine Corps. The resolution called for the forming of two Marine battalions. It noted that the Marines that formed the group should be good seamen and serve for the duration of the war with Great Britain. November 10 is annually celebrated as the birthday of the United States Marine Corps.

While the two battalions were never raised, on November 28, Congress commissioned Captain Samuel Nicholas to be the first Marine officer. Although he was never officially designated as such, Nicholas is usually considered by Marines to be the first commandant. Robert Mullin, proprietor of Tun’s Tavern, was also commissioned an officer. Some have argued that Mullin’s success as a recruiter in Tun’s Tavern led to his commission. Under the leadership of Commodore Esek Hopkins, Captain Nicholas led the first amphibious Marine landing party in March of 1776 at New Providence Island in the Bahamas. They marched against Fort Montagu and received only token resistance. After confronting the governor, Nicholas indicated that their objective was to secure the island forts and capture gunpowder, cannon, guns, and mortar. They also recaptured three ships from the British. All of this was accomplished without a shot being fired.

On their return trip, Commodore Hopkins’ fleet encountered the British frigate, Glasgow, in battle. During that one and a half hour battle, seven Marines were killed including Second Lieutenant John Fitzpatrick - the first Marine officer to die in battle.

One unusual aspect of the American Revolution was that colonists fought as Marines not only in the Continental Navy, but also in the navies of the individual states and on privateers -ships that were privately owned but authorized to attack and capture enemy vessels.

Continental Marines wore green uniforms that included a special leather stock feature around the neck. Some regarded it as a special bit of body armor to protect a Marine’s neck from a cutlass, and others thought it was a device designed to keep a man’s head erect. Whatever its purpose, it was used until after the Civil War and gave Marines the nickname, “Leathernecks.”

In January of 1777, Nicholas, now a major, and 300 Marines joined Washington in the second Battle of Trenton. Washington tricked the British by leaving his campfires burning and slipping through the enemy lines. Washington detached a brigade, with Major Nicholas on the right flank, to hold a stone bridge two miles from Princeton. They ran into British troops who charged with fixed bayonets. Washington rallied the American troops, who at first broke lines, and the British were routed. The Battle at Princeton was the first Marine land campaign.

Captain James Willing was asked by the Commerce Committee of Congress to raise a company of Marines and to open up the Mississippi River. Willing and his Marines captured several British ships and eventually reached New Orleans where they defeated an armed British sloop on Lake Ponchartrain. Later, some of Willing’s men fought the pro-British Indians in Illinois country. By securing the western border, Willing and his men helped make possible U.S. expansion beyond the Appalachian Mountains.

Continental Marines played an important role in battles fought by John Paul Jones in European waters and a major role in what has been called the greatest sea fight of the war. In that battle, Jones was commander of a French ship named the Bonhomme Richard. Sailing in the North Sea, the Americans came upon 41 British merchantmen escorted by the 50-gun frigate, Serapis. Jones had the two ships lashed together, with 35 Marines on board shooting from the tops of the ship to clear the Serapis’s decks. After shooting at each other from point blank range, both ships were on fire. The British captain asked Jones to surrender, and Jones replied, “I have not yet begun to fight.” Eventually, the Marines won the day. They climbed into the Serapis’s rigging and kept her deck cleared of defenders. Finally, the British surrendered, but the Bonhomme Richard sank the next morning.

On April 11, 1783, the Treaty of Paris officially ended the War of Independence. Shortly thereafter, the Congress authorized the sale of the ships in the Continental Navy and the Continental Marines were dissolved.

President John Adams

The First U.S. Marine Corps

In 1796, the Congress of the United States authorized the construction of three speedy, medium-sized war vessels called frigates, the United States, the Constellation, and the Constitution. In 1797, the number of Marines was established by Congressional Act to include five lieutenants, eight sergeants, eight corporals, three drummers, three fifers, and 140 privates - or a total of 167 members.

On July 11, 1798, President John Adams signed an act establishing and organizing a Marine Corps into law. Under the Marine Corps act, there would be 881 men commanded by a major. The term of service was three years, and the Senate was responsible for the appointment of all officers. The concept of the Marine as a fighter first was established at this time. Marines would operate under naval regulations while on board ship and under the Articles of War when ashore. Marines were responsible for discipline aboard ship; leading boarding parties and amphibious landings; fighting with muskets in short-range naval battles; and if the captain wished, working some of the ship’s long guns. They would also staff coastal installations and forts, “and any other duty ashore, as the President, at his discretion, shall direct.” While the original rules forbid blacks and Indians from being Marines, at least three blacks served in the Continental Marines, including John Martin, a former slave, who was killed at sea in 1777. It was not until World War II that African-Americans were able to serve in the Marines.

President Adams named William Ward Burrows the first official commandant of the Marine Corps. Burrows moved Marine headquarters to Washington, D.C. In 1801, the site of the Marine Barracks Washington (8th and I Streets, SE) was selected. The Barracks was completed in 1806 and still stands today as the “Oldest Post of the Corps” and home of the present Marine Corps Commandant.

The Marine Band also came into official existence on July 11, 1798. Congress provided for a drum major, a fife major, and 32 drummers and fifers. Within a short time, this group of musicians became extremely popular in the Washington area. The Marine Band played at so many official receptions and functions that it became known as “The President’s Own.”

War with France

France was at war with England, and she expected the U.S. to side with her. The U.S. attempted to stay out of war, but France began to impress American merchant seamen on the high seas. Impressment is the process of forcing persons to serve in the military against their will. The French also seized American ships and their cargo. American warships fought a number of one-on-one battles with the French at sea.

In the spring of 1800, the U.S. attempted to disrupt the French in Haiti by supporting anti-French blacks in their efforts for independence. A landing party from the Constitution, commanded by Captain Daniel Carmick, recaptured a British ship held by the French in the Haitian port of Santo Domingo. Carmick then led the Marines ashore through neck-high water, captured the forts, and spiked its cannon.

During the decade after 1801, the French seized more than 500 American ships. When Napoleon Bonaparte became the new leader of France, he ended the war with the U.S.

The Barbary Wars

The four Barbary States of North Africa - Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli - had plundered sea-borne commerce for centuries. Surviving by blackmail, they received great sums of money, ships, and arms yearly from foreign powers in return for allowing the foreigners to trade in African ports and sail unmolested through the Barbary waters. They demanded tribute money, seized ships, and held crews for ransom or sold them into slavery.

Barbary pirates seized American merchant ships, no longer covered by British protection, in the years after the United States gained its independence, and American crews were enslaved. In 1799, the United States agreed to pay $18,000 a year in return for a promise that Tripoli-based corsairs would not molest American ships. Similar agreements were made at the time with the rulers of Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis.

In May 1801, the United States refused to yield to the increasing demands of the Pasha (ruler) of Tripoli; in return, the Pasha declared war against the States. While Tripoli was not a strong power and little effort was necessary to watch and blockade it, the fear was that the other Barbary powers would join against the United States. The United States sent naval squadrons into the Mediterranean under the slogan of "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute!" Under the leadership of Commodores Richard Dale and Edward Preble, the Navy blockaded the enemy coast, bombarded the Pasha’s shore fortresses, and engaged in close, bitterly contested gunboat actions.

On February 16, 1804, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led 74 volunteers including eight Marines into Tripoli harbor to burn the captured American frigate, the Philadelphia. The pirates had captured the ship when it struck a rock in Tripoli harbor and was disabled. The U.S. feared that the pirates would be able to repair the Philadelphia and use it against American ships. Sneaking into the harbor under the cover of darkness, Decatur and his men boarded the Philadelphia, killed or captured most of the enemy, and set the ship on fire. After only twenty minutes, they escaped. British Admiral Lord Nelson called the raid "the most daring act of the age."

In 1805, Marines stormed the Barbary pirates' harbor fortress stronghold of Derna (Tripoli), commemorated in the Marine Corps Hymn "To the Shores of Tripoli." Former consul William Eaton devised a plan to overthrow the Pasha of Tripoli and replace him with the Pasha’s brother, Hamet, who was more favorably disposed toward the U.S. In November of 1804, Eaton sailed for Alexandria, Egypt to persuade the Pasha’s brother to lead a force against Tripoli. First Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon, only 20 years of age, commanded the Marine detachment. Eaton, O’Bannon and 18 men traveled on the Nile River and in February of 1805 met Hamet in the desert. Hamet agreed to return to Tripoli, and in March they began their trek across the desert with 500 men and more than 100 camels, determined to capture the Pasha and Tripoli. After marching 600 miles and dealing with mutiny along the way, Eaton arrived at Derna. U.S. ships bombarded the city that morning, and Eaton and O’Bannon led the attack. Eaton was wounded, and O’Bannon led the charge to the fort. By mid-afternoon, the first American flag to be raised in battle in the Eastern Hemisphere was flying over the fort.

The Pasha counter-attacked. The defense of the city lasted sixteen days. After Hamet’s forces completely defeated his brother’s men, news arrived that the Americans had made peace with the Pasha. The treaty included a payoff of $60,000 and left the Pasha in power. Hamet was taken to safety and presented the jewel encrusted “Mameluke” sword, carried by Marines officers today, to O’Bannon in 1805. The European powers ended the control of the Mediterranean by Barbary pirates a decade later.

The War of 1812

When George Washington left office after the completion of his second term in 1796, he warned Americans to stay clear of foreign entanglements. While this advice may have been good for the country at the time, it left the United States unprepared for a British invasion in The War of 1812.

President George Washington

Causes of War

The United States declared War on Great Britain on June 12, 1812. This marked the first of time in all of U.S. history that Congress declared war on another country. The war was declared because of long simmering disputes with Great Britain. The central dispute surrounded the impressment of American sailors by the British. The British Navy claimed that the Americans were actually British-born subjects of the king. The British had previously attacked the USS Chesapeake and nearly caused a war two years earlier. In addition, disputes continued with Great Britain over the Northwest Territories and the border with Canada. There were many in the U.S. who wanted to make Canada part of our country. Others wanted to expand our territory to the south. Finally, the attempt of Great Britain to impose a blockade on France during the Napoleonic Wars was a constant source of conflict with the United States.

Marine Sharp-shooters

One of the primary reasons for the early success of the U.S. in the War of 1812 was the effectiveness of Marine sharpshooters. In battles against the Guerriere off the coast of Boston and the Java near Brazil, it was this skill that won the day. When able to get close enough, the Marines boarded British ships and usually defeated the enemy. Several successful sea battles included victories by the Constitution commanded by Lieutenant William Bush and by the Chesapeake commanded by Captain James Lawrence. Lawrence as he was dying, uttered the famous words, “Don’t give up the ship.”

Marines, serving under Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry on Lake Erie, used their excellent marksmanship to decimate the English seamen on the decks of their ships. In September of 1814, Perry led his crew on the flagship Lawrence against the British. In short order, 83 of the 102 men aboard the Lawrence were killed or wounded. Despite these losses, Perry was able to defeat the British. His victory ended the British and Indian attacks on the western frontier and provided the opportunity for expansion to the Northwest.

Battle of Bladensburg

The British had some 4,000 men on hand to invade the United States. The naval defense of the Chesapeake Bay was given to Joshua Barney. A few Marines, under the command of Captain Samuel Miller, cooperated with Barney from the shore. When the British entered the area, Barney had his own ships sunk. As the British began the forty-mile march to Washington, Captain Miller arrived from Washington with 110 Marines and five artillery pieces. He joined Barney’s 400 to stop the British. At the Battle of Bladensburg, just outside of Washington, DC, the combination of seamen and marines withstood three British charges, even though they were badly outnumbered. Finally, they were forced to withdraw, and the British went on to burn the city. It is said, however, that the Marine headquarters was spared because of the bravery shown by the Marines at Bladensburg.

The Star Spangled Banner

After two nights in Washington, the British moved toward Baltimore where ten thousand Americans had built up the earthworks and prepared to defend the city. A thousand sailors and Marines formed a brigade under Commodore John Rodgers. The British pushed the defenders back and when the British commander was killed, the attack slowed. The British army halted and waited for the navy to bombard the defenders. For 24 hours, they bombarded Fort McHenry. When dawn came, the U.S. flag was still flying over the fort, and Francis Scott Key had the inspiration for what was to become the Star Spangled Banner.

The Battle of New Orleans

In 1815 at New Orleans, the Marines were under the command of Major Daniel Carmick. Their job was to defend the canal against thousands of British troops. Even though Carmick was wounded and unable to participate, his men so well defended the fortifications that Congress cited them for “valor and good conduct.” After all was said and done, the British had 2,100 dead and wounded and 500 soldiers had been captured. The Americans had 71 casualties. The irony of the Battle of New Orleans was that the victory came after a peace treaty with the British had been signed the month before.

Conclusion

In its first 40 years of existence, the Marines fought the British and the French, and pirates on the shores of Tripoli. The Marines were established as an organization and their roles were defined. They defended their country at home and abroad. They became known for their skill as sharpshooters and for their daring. As pages were added to the story of the new nation, the long and proud history of the Marines would continue to grow as well.(

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