Multiple events were held over the weekend in Philadelphia to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States Marine Corps, which took place on November 10, 1775. On Monday evening, a formal black-tie event, the 100th Marine Corps Birthday Ball, will take place at the Bellevue Hotel, recreating some traditions from the first-ever ball.
This follows a demonstration, attended by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, at Camp Pendleton last month, as well as celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Continental Navy.
Origins of the USMC Date Back Even Further
Even as the modern United States Marine Corps celebrates its 250th anniversary and its founding in the City of Brotherly Love, the Marine Corps can trace its origins back even further, to the colonial battalions of Marines that were raised in the American colonies before the Revolution. Those units, which served as a precursor to the Corps, were modeled on their British counterparts.
Four such units of “Marines,” with approximately 3,000 men in total, were raised for service to fight Spain in the “War of Jenkins’ Ear,” allegedly triggered by the arrest and mutilation of a British captain. Among these early units was the 43rd Regiment of Foot, later known as “Gooch’s Marines,” named after their commander, Colonel William Gooch.
The Marines took part in fighting in Cartagena, Colombia, in April 1741, and in July of that same year, Marines landed unopposed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was nearly 150 years later that the USMC landed in the same location, where the United States Navy still maintains a naval base on the island.
One of Gooch’s Marine officers during the campaign was reported to be Captain Lawrence Washington, the half-brother of George Washington, the future commander of the Continental Army and later the first president of the United States.
As the War of Jenkins’ Ear expanded into a Franco-British confrontation, merging with the War of Spanish Succession, “Colonial Marines” served as marksmen on Royal Navy warships and took part in boarding parties against enemy ships.
Ties That Bind Remain
The Colonial Marines were the first to fight alongside the British. While they would later become enemies during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, they would later serve side by side in conflicts, including the Boxer Rebellion in China, both World Wars, the Korean War, the Gulf War, and the Global War on Terror.
Common traditions between the UK’s Royal Marines and the United States Marine Corps persist today; both services wear full dress blue uniforms, featuring scarlet and gold facings.
The Royal Marines wear a “globe and laurel” device, whereas the USMC wears the now famous “eagle, globe and anchor” device (sometimes known as a “chicken on a ball”).
The Continental Marines
In the early stages of the American Revolution, seven of the original 13 colonies organized a Marine force to serve aboard ships of their fledgling navies.
In the spring of 1775, the Second Continental Congress recognized the need for a centralized command, as the existing local militias were not sufficiently coordinated to fight the British effectively. This led to the creation of the Continental Army on June 14, 1775.
On October 13 of that year, the Continental Navy was created to disrupt British supply lines, protect ports, and support military operations. Less than a month later, the Continental Marines were established to engage in ship-to-ship combat, provide security, and maintain discipline aboard ships. However, Congress had already instructed General Washington to “give proper encouragement to the Marines and seamen”—it was the first written reference by Congress of “Marines.”
The Continental Marines first went into action in March 1776, when an American squadron raided the Bahamas with the principal aim of seizing gunpowder for Washington’s forces. During a two-week raiding operation under the command of Captain Samuel Nicholas, the Marines captured two forts, a quantity of guns, and occupied Nassau. The British governor of the island was even taken prisoner.
It was during the journey back to Rhode Island that the Royal Navy inflicted the first combat losses suffered by the Continental Marines.
Second Lieutenant John Fitzpatrick and six enlisted men were killed when the Continental Navy warship USS Cabot engaged the British corvette HMS Glasgow.
The Continental Marines would go on to fight in the Second Battle of Trenton in January 1777, and later carried out raiding duties in the Gulf of Mexico. There were Continental Marines who traveled with John Paul Jones aboard USS Ranger when it made raids on the British mainland in April 1778. Marines later made amphibious attacks on the island of Jersey in the English Channel, the last such operation of the war.
During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Marines had a peak strength of 124 officers and 3,000 men. Samuel Nicholas, then promoted to major, was its first “commandant.”
When peace came, however, the Continental Navy was disbanded, and along with it the Continental Marines.
Birth of the USMC
Following the Revolution, the United States of America had no navy and thus no need for Marines. A number of states still maintained small warships, but it wasn’t March 1794 that Congress took steps to reactivate the Navy. That led to the construction of six frigates, of which one survives to this day. USS Constitution is now preserved as a floating museum and is the oldest commissioned warship in the world.
The Congressional Act of July 1, 1797, laid down the number of Marines that would serve on the warships. At that point, Marines were considered to be part of the United States Navy.
An early supporter of the idea of a Marine Corps, one that would have a separate identity and command structure, was Secretary of War James McHenry. He wrote in an April 1798 letter to the House Naval Committee recommending the formation of the Marine Corps.
The House of Representatives passed a bill that calls for the creation of a battalion, which the U.S. Senate increased to the size of a regiment. The Corps was initially placed under the direct orders of the President of the United States and was to be attached to either the U.S. Army or the U.S. Navy as the situation required.
The United States Marines served aboard warships during the Undeclared War with France in the late 18th century and were then dispatched with the U.S. Navy to the Mediterranean to confront the Barbary pirates operating in the states of Morocco, Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli. It was at the actions in the latter location that are now commemorated in the Marine Corps hymn, “To the Shores of Tripoli.”
Over the course of more than two centuries, the United States Marine Corps has participated in every major U.S. war and numerous smaller conflicts. Due to its availability for amphibious operations, the USMC has often been the “first to fight” in many instances.
