Happy Birthday, US Marine Corps!

Defending America Since Day One

Two hundred and forty-four years ago, the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Marines with the following decree:

That two battalions consisting of one Colonel, two lieutenant-colonels, two majors and other officers, as usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal number of privates as with other battalions, that particular care be taken that no persons be appointed to offices, or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve for and during the present war with Great Britain and the Colonies; unless dismissed by Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the First and Second Battalions of Marines.

Tun Tavern, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and owned by Robert Mullan, the first Captain, is considered the birthplace of the Corps.  The first Marines were enlisted under Commandant Samuel Nichols and were deployed a year later to the very first conflict our infant nation was to fight–the Revolutionary War.

More than any other branch of America’s military, the United States Marine Corps values and embraces its history.  Beginning in boot camp, every Marine is educated on the Corps’ proud and storied past as they learn what it means to be part of such a prestigious organization.  In the spirit of the tremendous value the Corps places on its history, the editor & chief of Prattle On, Boyo seeks to give Marine families and supporters an opportunity to learn about the Marine Corps legacy and embrace it as intently as the greenest Marine recruit is taught to.

Accomplishments & Milestones

March 1776:  Commandant Nichols led 210 Marines on the first landing in Marine Corps history to a hostile shore on a raid of Nassau on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas.  The raid was not as successful as hoped for but did succeed in capturing the town along with a substantial supply of guns, mortars and gun powder.  During this same month, the Marines also saw the first combat death, that of Lieutenant John Fitzpatrick.

January 1777:  The Continental Marines joined with General George Washington’s Continental Army to defeat the British at the Battle of Princeton in New Jersey marking the third defeat in 10 days for the British Army.  The victory raised morale among the American troops and inspired more young men to join in the fight again the British.

January 1778:  Captains John Rathburn and John Trevett led a second raid on Nassau once again capturing it.  Their victory marked the first time the Stars and Stripes was raised over foreign soil.

April 1778:  Marines under the command of John Paul Jones made two daring raids on British soil–once at the port of Whitehaven in Northwest England and the second later that day at St. Mary’s Isle in southwest Scotland.

1779:  A Marine detachment secured New Orleans preventing British traders from entering the city while Marines also led a series of raids on British Loyalists living on the shores of Lake Ponchartrain outside the city.

1781: Continental Marines engaged what would be their last official act of the Revolutionary War when they escorted a supply of silver from Boston to Philly.  The silver was a loan from King Louis XVI of France and allowed the nation’s first bank to open.

March 1783:   The last actual action the Continental Marines saw was during the final confrontation of the war–a duel between the USS Alliance and the HMS Sybil off the coast of Florida five weeks after the war had ended.

Over the course of seven years of battle, the Continental Marines had only 49 men killed and just 70 more wounded out of a force of roughly 130 Marine Officers and 2,000 enlisted men.

Legacy

During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Marines’ uniforms consisted of a green jacket with high leather collar to protect the neck against sword blades.  While the Marines changed the color to blue in 1798 (to honor its naval tradition) the collar remained part of the uniform until  the 1870s. Over time, the wearing of the leather led sailors on the ships the Marines were serving to refer to Marines as leathernecks, a nickname by which Marines are still known today.

The Revolutionary War not only led to the founding of the United States (Continental) Marines Corps, but also highlighted for the first time the versatility that Marines have come to be known for.  They fought on land, at sea on ships and they performed numerous amphibious assaults which, over time, would become one of the Marine’s most dangerous and defining capabilities as would be seen in the Pacific Theater of WW II and at Inchon in Korea.

From its earliest days, the Corps has played a vital role in securing and defending the freedom of our nation.  While the role Marines played in the Revolutionary War is often overlooked, it should not be underestimated.  As the great American author James Fenimore Cooper once wrote:

At no period of the naval history of the world is it probable that Marines were more important than during the War of the Revolution..the history of the Navy, even at that early day, as well as in these later times, abounds with instances of the gallantry and self-devotion of this body of soldiers.

 

Happy Birthday, Gentlemen.  Policing the world since 1775–Semper Fi!  Oo-rah!