Type the Lesson Name Here (Heading 1 Elegant)



From the Halls of Montezuma

The Marine Corps (1775-1848)

|Purpose |

|THE RICH AND VARIED HISTORY OF THE MARINE CORPS PRECEDES THE |

|ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. LIKE THE BRITISH ROYAL |

|MARINES AFTER WHOM THEY WERE MODELED, COLONIAL MARINES SERVED |

|WITH THE BRITISH IN 1740 IN ENGLAND’S WAR AGAINST SPAIN. LED BY |

|COLONEL WILLIAM GOOCH, THESE BATTALIONS INCLUDED APPROXIMATELY |

|3,000 MEN AND WERE KNOWN AS GOOCH’S MARINES. DURING THE FRENCH |

|AND INDIAN WAR, COLONIALS AGAIN SERVED AS MARINES FIGHTING WITH |

|THE BRITISH. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARINE CORPS MIRRORS THE |

|ESTABLISHMENT AND GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES. NO STORY OF THE |

|EMERGENCE OF THE UNITED STATES AS THE DOMINANT NATION OF THE |

|WESTERN HEMISPHERE CAN BE TOLD WITHOUT TELLING THE STORY OF THE |

|UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS. |

Introduction

On November 10, 1775, the birthday of the Marines, the Continental Congress passed a resolution that established two battalions of Marines. This resolution, signed by John Hancock, later to become famous as the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, instituted the American Marines. Within three weeks, Samuel Nicholas was commissioned as the first officer of the Marines and its first commandant.

Marines in the American Revolution

Under his leadership, the Marines took Fort Montagu from the British in the Bahamas. The Marines were able to capture gunpowder, cannon, smaller guns, and mortars. They also were able to free three American ships captured by the British. The first objective of the Marines was considered a success.

Marines fought throughout the American Revolution on ships at sea. They fought with John Paul Jones aboard the Ranger. They boarded enemy vessels, assaulted the British with musket fire when they could not board, and provided the Navy with a landing force. Like the Marines of today, these Marines showed courage in battle, did their duty, and conducted themselves with honor.

After the Revolution, there was a fear that a professional army might make it difficult for the United States to remain a democracy. However, it soon became clear that without an army, the U.S. would be at the mercy of other nations. In 1794, Congress authorized the enlistment of sailors and Marines. In 1798, Congress enacted legislation that established the Marine Corps. William Ward Burrows was given the title of Lieutenant Colonel Commandant. Burrows improved the discipline of the Corps by emphasizing drill for both officers and enlisted men. He also created the Marine Corps Band that often performed for the President.

Peg Mullin’s Beef-Steak House-better known as Tun’s Tavern-was the site of Naval Committee meetings. The Naval Committee was created to oversee the development and employment of American sea power. Tun Tavern became an important recruiting center for the Marines, and it is reputed that Robert Mullen’s success as a recruiter led to his being made a captain in the Marines.

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 United States’ 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 succumb 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. 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 invocation "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. First Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon is remembered for heroism in the battle for Derna. O'Bannon's Marines were the first U.S. forces to hoist the flag over territory in the Old World. Hamet presented the jewel encrusted “Mameluke” sword, carried by Marines officers today, to O’Bannon in 1805. Oddly enough, the Pasha came to an agreement with the State Department and continued in power. 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.

The United States declared War on Great Britain on June 12, 1812 because of long simmering disputes with Great Britain. The central dispute surrounded the impressments of American soldiers by the British. 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. 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.

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. 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 Bush and by the Chesapeake commanded by Captain James Lawrence. It was Lawrence who, as he was dying, uttered the famous words, “Don’t give up the ship.”

On land, the Marines under the command of Captain Samuel Miller, fought at the Battle of Bladensburg just outside of Washington, DC. Even though they were badly outnumbered, the combination of seamen and marines withstood three British charges. 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.

In 1815 at New Orleans, the Marines were under the command of Major Daniel Carmack. Even though Carmack was wounded and unable to participate, his men so well defended the fortifications that Congress cited them for “valor and good conduct.” 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.

Growth of the Corps

The nickname “Leatherneck” goes back to the leather stock or neckpiece that was part of the Marine uniform between 1775 and 1875. While one story says that its purpose was to protect the neck from sword slashes, the most likely story is that it was intended to ensure that Marines kept their heads erect.

In the period between 1815 and 1836, the United States did not engage in any foreign wars. Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Wharton, commandant from 1804 to 1818, focused on improving the disciplinary system, and improving health and living conditions in marine quarters. He established Marine Corps barracks where drilling and training could take place. He was responsible for adopting the hand salute.

Major Archibald Henderson, who came to be known as the “Grand Old Man of the Corps,” served as commandant from 1820 to 1859. Henderson was able to preserve the Corps during peacetime when there was a danger that it could be dissolved or taken over by the Army or the Navy. Henderson was able to wrest control over the assignment of officers, get more officers and men for the Corps, get better accommodations, and get better training facilities.

When President Jackson called for troops to fight the Seminole Indians in the southeast, Henderson volunteered the Marine Corps and led the Marines in the field. In fact, the story goes that Henderson nailed a note on his door that stated, “Gone to Florida to fight Indians, will return when the war is over.” While the Marines had limited success against the Seminoles in Florida, they engaged the Creek Indians in numerous battles in Georgia and Alabama. The Indian Wars provided the Marines with their first opportunity to engage the enemy as an expeditionary force when they were forced to march extraordinary distances to engage the enemy. The war against the Indians of the southeast ended in 1842.

The Mexican War

Since 1836, Texas had declared itself independent from Mexico. Until 1846, there was a dispute over that independence when finally the United States annexed Texas. Texas had set the Rio Grande as its border to the south and west. That boundary now became the basis for a dispute between the United States and Mexico. President James K. Polk sent John Slidell to Mexico to negotiate a settlement, but the Mexican government refused to see him and eventually had him sent out of the country.

The massing of Mexican troops on the southern bank of the Rio Grande led President Polk to order General Zachary Taylor to move to the borders. Taylor marched to the Rio Grande and fortified a position on the northern bank. The Mexican and the American troops were thus facing each other across the river. When Taylor refused to retreat to the Nueces River, the Mexican commander crossed the Rio Grande, ambushed a scouting force of 63 Americans, and killed or wounded 16 of them (April 24, 1846).

President Polk addressed Congress asking for and receiving a declaration of war against Mexico. He cited the Mexican government’s refusal to negotiate and their attack on Americans on American soil as reasons for his request. Congress agreed and voted for 50,000 men and $10 million to be allocated to prosecute the war.

President Polk believed in Manifest Destiny, that it was the God-given right or destiny, to expand the country's borders from coast to coast. In 1846, present day California and New Mexico were considered part of Mexico. Polk assigned First Lieutenant Archibald Gillespie to carry dispatches to the American Consulate in California and to Captain John C. Fremont. Gillespie was also expected to travel through Mexico to see if a war was imminent. Gillespie discovered that the Mexicans were unhappy with their government, but were not too fond of Americans either. At the time that Gillespie delivered his messages, the war began. He fought in several battles in California under a number of military commanders. He exemplifies the “can do” attitude of the Marine Corps.

Officers and noncommissioned officers have worn scarlet stripes on their dress trousers ever since the early days of the Corps. The Marine lore says that the right to wear the scarlet stripes was conferred on the Corps after the battle of Chapultepec, in honor of Marine officers and noncommissioned officers who were killed or wounded during the action.

The Marines were involved in the largest amphibious landing for the American military before World War II at Vera Cruz. A provisional battalion of 200 Marines joined with the armies of General Taylor and General Winfield Scott to defeat the Mexicans in a number of battles in 1847.

As Scott’s army began to dwindle in size, Commandant Henderson volunteered six companies of Marines who marched 200 miles through Mexico to join Scott’s force in August of 1847.

The decisive battle of the Mexican War is the attack on Chapultepec, a castle that protected the road to Mexico City. On September 13, the Americans bombarded the castle for two hours. Then under Brigadier General John A. Quitman, whose forces included the newly arrived Marines, the Americans assaulted the hill upon which rested Chapultepec. The fighting lasted all day, but in the end, U.S. forces captured the castle and the gates to the city. By the next morning, U.S. forces raised the American flag in the Mexican capital. The Marines had been to the Halls of Montezuma.

Conclusion

Shortly after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed ending the war, gold was discovered in California. By the end of the Mexican War, the United States had established itself as the most powerful country in the Western Hemisphere, with borders from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. Marines had distinguished themselves in battles against the Barbary Pirates, the British, and the Mexicans. (

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download