I’m writing a research paper on the founding of the USMC right now, but for some reason I had the urge to write a brief summarization of it.
Marine combat has been around for thousands of years, the Greeks, Egyptians, all those good guys employed marine warfare. But marine forces that were more directly related to the birth of our current United States Marine Corps started happening in the 1600s. King Charles II of England had the Royal Marines, of which the American colonials were a part of since roughly 1740. I think it’s safe to assume that once the American Revolution started, those loyal to England remained part of the Royal Marines, and those loyal to America left. But I did not read that in any of my books.
In 1775, the Continential Congress ordered the creation of 2 battalions of marines, thus forming the Continential Marines. Captain Samuel Nicholas was put in command of these battalions, as well as given the responsibility of recruiting those 2 battalions. As any Marine will tell you, that recruiting took place at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia. Captain Nicholas is considered the first commandant of the Marine Corps.
The Continential Marines fought and led many battles during the Revolution, but afterwards, they kind of dissolved. There wasn’t an immediately obvious need for them. In the 1790s, however, we started to get into trouble with the Barbary Pirates and France. So Congress ordered the creation of the Department of the Navy, and shortly after that a “Marine Corps.” And that is when the actual United States Marine Corps was founded. And of course they have served as America’s finest in all of our conflicts since then.
Once I am done with my paper, I’ll probably post that up here. Which should be in a few weeks, following the class schedule.
