Formation of the United States Marine Corps
-Jason
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Humans have sailed the oceans in their endeavors to find new homes, natural goods, or trade partners since before history was recorded. While most of those interactions took place peacefully, warfare is a near constant state in human societies. The need to protect their own ships and capture their enemy’s vessels spawned the need for warships and the trained infantry to accompany the sailors. Ancient Greek, Phoenician, Persian, Carthaginian, and Roman navies enlisted, trained, and retained foot soldiers to help use shipboard weapons, land on enemy shores, and prevent mutinies from taking place.
Ancient Greek city-states, particularly Athens and Corinth, had large overseas colonies and vast trade routes spread throughout the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Adriatic Seas. These needed protection on water as well as land. Greek warships were powered by both rowers and sails. Rowers were used in combat and there training transformed these ships into deadly weapons using the ram at the front of the vessel. But sometimes the ram was not enough, or they did not want to destroy the enemy ships. A small group of Greek hoplites, or heavy infantry, were stationed aboard each ship for just such situations. The armor, weapons, and discipline of these hoplites were superior to anything the enemy ships’ crews could muster. The fighting was brutal and up close as opposing contingents fought across the decks of opposing vessels.
In addition to attacking and defending ships at sea, these marine, or waterborne, hoplites were used to conduct amphibious attacks against land targets. The operations this seaborne infantry performed were not limited to just raiding an enemy town, but also storming the more vulnerable areas of a fortification. Alexander the Great used both naval and land-based infantry to help him conquer the city of Tyre in 332 BCE. The need to have trained infantry to support the sailors operating the warships was vital to operations that had the potential to confound, and possibly defeat, an enemy. While ships, weapons, and technology advanced, the need for specially trained marines became increasingly important to the world’s navies.
By the late eighteenth century, Great Britain controlled the largest overseas empire in the world. The need to protect these far-flung realms meant that the massive British Royal Navy consisted of hundreds of warships stationed around the world. The protection of colonies, merchant ships, and warships was paramount to the survival of an overseas empire: thus, the British Royal Marines were an integral part of the Royal Navy’s hitting power. These troops fought for control of the Caribbean Sea, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean against both European and indigenous enemies of the British Empire.
The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783 CE) revolved around the British North American Colonies fighting to break away from the British Empire. It was a mismatched conflict in many aspects. The Royal Navy was vastly superior in terms of training, size, and equipment which gave the British an immense military advantage. British ships-of-the-line, multi-deck battleships of the age, and frigates were able to blockade and attack American coastal settlements and ships with little opposition. The American Colonial Navy was officially created by the Continental Congress on 13 October 1775 with authorization to arm two small warships. These ships were not intended to engage Royal Navy warships, rather they were to act as merchant raiders that would seize British merchant ships. By the end of the Revolutionary War, the United States Navy had launched fifty warships to hinder the British war effort.
The sailors onboard the American warships had not been trained to conduct naval warfare: many of them were volunteers and had little, if any, military training. To protect these new warships, the Continental Congress authorized the formation of two battalions of Continental Marines on 10 November 1775. Captain Samuel Nicholas was nominated by John Adams as the first commander of the Colonial Marines. Captain Nicholas raised the first battalion of 300 volunteers from Philadelphia within only a month’s time. By March 1776, the battalions of Marines were ready to confront the British.
The Marines were specifically trained to fight both aboard ship and conduct amphibious attacks against enemy land facilities. The Marines would also be used to seize enemy merchant and warships when the opportunity presented itself. One of the first major operations conducted by the Marines was an amphibious assault on Nassau, a British colony in the Bahamas, on 3 and 4 March 1776. The Battle of Nassau was conducted to seize the stockpiles of gunpowder and munitions located on the Caribbean Island. The Marines captured Fort Montagu, which defended the eastern end of Nassau harbor, but the colony’s governor ordered most of the gunpowder to be loaded on ships that evaded the American squadron. The Marines entered the town after the ships escaped and occupied the area for two weeks before sailing back to the Colonies.
The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and witnessed the creation of a new nation. The newly independent Americans felt secure enough in their victory to disband the Continental Navy and Colonial Marines in April 1783. These actions proved to be a costly mistake as the new American country could not defend its merchant ships from hostile European and North African powers. The United States Navy was recreated in 1794 and the construction of new frigates was authorized by Congress. The Colonial Marines were reestablished as the United States Marine Corps three years later. The War with the Barbary Pirates, the Quasi-War with France, and the War of 1812 all demonstrated to Congress the need for such a flexible fighting force. To this day, it still guards American interests at home and around the world.