History of the United States Marine Corps ... From official reports and other documents, compiled by Captain R. S. Collum

Front matter

HISTORY OF THE TJJS"ITED STATES MARINE CORPS. "Per Mare et Terram." BY M. ALMY ALDRICH. FROM OFFICIAL REPORTS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS COMPILED BY CAPTAIN RICHARD S. COLLUM. BOSTON: HENRY L. SHEPARD & CO. 1875. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by HENRY L. SHEPARD & CO. In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. TO THE OFFICERS OF THE MARINE CORPS OF THE UNITED STATES THIS WORK IS CORDIALLY DEDI CATED ; NOT WITH THE EXPECTATION OF ADDING TO THEIR WELL-EARNED FAME ; BUT WITH A DESIRE THAT THE SERVICES OF THE CORPS MAY BE MORE WIDELY APPRECIATED, AND THAT THE NATION MAY RECOGNIZE THE DEBT IT OWES TO THE MEN, WHO, IN ALL THE TRYING TIMES IN OUR COUN- TRY'S HISTORY, HAVE NOBLY DONE THEIR DUTY, -Per Mare et Terram." " From the establishment of the Marine Corps to the present time, it has constituted an integral part of the Navy, has beexi identified with it in all its achievements, ashore and afloat, and has continued to receive from its most distinguished command ers the expression of their appreciation of its effectiveness as a part of the Navy." — Report of House Committee on Naval Affairs ; 3gth Congress, 2d Session.

Preface. 8 published in newspapers have been used in preference even to official documents, the author believing that the unprejudiced newspaper reporter is the real historian of the age. As a mat ter of course, an acquaintance, on the part of the reader, with general history is taken for granted, such knowledge being nec essary to a correct understanding of some portions of the pres ent work. The reader will necessarily be called on to furnish many missing links, the production of which in these pages would introduce much matter foreign to the design of the book, not having a direct bearing on the subject treated. The need of such a work is acknowledged by students of his tory, and is proved by the general lack of information on the subject. Few persons outside the immediate circle of the active and retired members of the Corps know anything of the value of the services rendered by the Marines in many of the more important events which go to make up the history of our country.

To record the services of the dead, and the efficiency of the living, officers and men whose names make up the roll of those who have served as Marines since the Continental Congress first authorized the formation of the Corps, is a labor whose importance is fully realized, and to meet the demands of which a con scientious, and, it is believed, successful effort has been made. CONTENTS.

Chapter II

The Antiquity of the Marine Service. — Phœnician and Greek Marines. — The Force under Xerxes. — The Royal Marines of Great Britain. — A Well-merited Tribute to the American Marines, by a Prominent Officer of the Navy 21

Part II. Chapter

I. From 1775 to 1798. — The Early Organization of the Corps. — Services during the War of the Revolution 33

CHAPTER II.

After the Revolution. — Settling up the Accounts of the Old Navy. — Attempts at Reorganization 41

Chapter XXIX

1864 to 1S70. — Some of the Fighting during the Last Part of the War. — The Great Fire in Portland, Me. — The Rank of Brigadier-general Created for the Commandant of the Corps. — Fight at Formosa, etc 189

Part III. Chapter

I. Complete List of all the Officers of the Corps, from 179S to the Present Time 227

CHAPTER II.

Thanks, Medals, and Swords Awarded to the Corps, from 1798 to the Present Time .' 2ei

CHAPTER III.

List of Officers who were Brevetted for Services during the Civil War

Chapter I. Nature And Value Of The Services Of The Marines

— BRIEF SKETCH OF THE MARINE FORCES CONNECTED WITH SOME OF THE EUROPEAN NAVIES, ETC. THE value of a well-organized, efficient Marine Corps is recognized by all the leading governments of the present day. When united Germany, at the close of the Franco-Prus sian war, set about availing herself of all the naval and military strength of the empire, for any future emergencies, one of the first steps taken was to organize a Marine Corps ; it was made up of picked men from the Army, and is now one of the most efficient forces in Europe. The Royal Marines of Great Britain, which number 27,000 men in time of war and 15,000 in time of peace, are not excelled in discipline or efficiency by any equal numbers of men in the English Regular Army. The formation of the British Marine Corps dates back to the latter part of the seventeenth century.

Lieutenant Nicolas, in his " Histori cal Record of the Royal Marine Forces," says: "Until the year 1664, the British Navy was manned by means of the system of impress, or by enlisting landsmen ; but the commerce of Eng land at that period was so limited that those measures were found inadequate to procure sufficient seamen for the public service, and this difficulty suggested the formation of an estab- Nature and Value of the Services of the Marines. 16 lishment of Marines. The men were raised with the object of forming a nursery to man the fleet, and being quartered in or near the principal sea-ports, their great utility in the equipment of squadrons soon made it desirable to augment their strength." In 1664, the order was issued for raising a regiment of Royal Marines. Although the force has witnessed many changes in its system of organization, and was at one time, in 1748, in con sequence of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, temporarily dis banded, it has ever, by bravery and efficiency, proved the wisdom of the original plan for its formation.

It was a favorite remark with the immortal Nelson, who fully appreciated the services of the Marines, that when he should become First Lord of the Admiralty, "every fleet should have a perfect battalion of Marines, and, commanded by experienced officers, they would be prepared to make a serious impression on the enemy's coast." Nelson maintained his belief in the efficiency of the Marines till death, and it was a strange yet fitting sequel that when struck by the fatal missile at the bloody fight at Trafalgar, he was borne from the deck by a sergeant and two privates of the Marine Corps into whose arms he fell. In all the principal con tests in which Great Britain has engaged during the last century, on land or sea, the Marines have borne a brave, an honorable part. This is especially true of those conflicts carried on in distant countries.

In the Ashantee war, no laurels were more honorably or bravely won than those which crowned the record of the Royal Marines. What has been said of the appreciation of the value of the Marine Corps by the German government is equally true in the case of Italy. When Victor Emanuel established his government at Rome and took the necessary steps to strengthen himself in the enlarged sphere over which his power was extended, one of the first means adopted was to bring the Marine Corps to a high degree of efficiency. The result is, that the Italian Marines are as finely disciplined and organized a body of men as can be found in the service of any nation. Spain, with all the changes Marine Forces as European Navies. 17 in her government, and with all her national weakness, keeps up the high standard of her Marines, and that body of men alone would prove a powerful force for offence or defence in case of a foreign war.

France, too, has for many years, in spite of the com parative weakness of her Navy, maintained an excellent Corps of Marines. Sir John Jervis, Earl of St. Vincent, the famous English admiral, who died in 1823, when urging, as necessary to add efficiency to the British Navy, an increase in the number of Marines, pointed to the French Navy and said: "The French, from the era of Louis XIV., have always equipped their fleet sooner than we have, and their bureau de classe continues in full vigor. Without a large body of Marines, we shall be long, very long, before an efficient fleet can be sent to sea." Trained, as they are, for duty both on shipboard and on land, the Marines combine the discipline of soldiers and sailors in such a manner as to render their services indispensable in con nection with the properly organized Navy of any country.

Accustomed by the very nature of their training to the dangers of sea and land, the value of their services cannot be easily es timated. The United States Marine Corps, although composed, comparatively, of a small force of men, has played a most impor tant part in all the struggles through which the nation has passed. Acting as an integral part of the Navy, the Marines have won the highest praise from the naval officers themselves. It is not necessary, in proving the value of the services of the Marines, to bring forward credentials or testimonials to their valor. Yet it is a pleasure, in this connection, to note the opin ions of some of the officers whose names have added lustre to our naval records. The men of our Navy have ever justly been a source of pride to the nation, and no small part of the honors which they have won should be shared with the Marines.

This fact is willingly acknowledged by the officers of the Navy. The brave Admiral Farragut thus bore his testimony : " I have always deemed the Marine Guard one of the great essentials of a man-of-war, for the preservation of order and maintenance of Marine Forces of European Navies. discipline. They work and fight their guns well. It is next to impossible to maintain the efficiency of the ship and proper dis cipline without the restraints of the soldiers over the sailors." And Farragut's successor, Admiral Porter, says : " The Marines are as necessary to the well-being of a ship as the officers. I hope for the good of the service that no attempt will be made to interfere with the Corps in any way, unless to increase it. The Navy would truly feel the blow. I am sure you will not find any advocate for touching the Marine Corps amongst any officers of experience in the Navy."

Commodore Rodgers says : "I do not think that soldiers temporarily detailed from the Army to serve in the Navy could do the work of Marines them selves, since the latter have chosen their service and are accus tomed to its confinement, as well as habituated to the sea." Commander Roe says : " It is impossible to substitute soldiers of the Army for Marines. The Marines are sea soldiers ; they are half-sailors, and have a special training which the land sol diers cannot have." In spite of all this, the popular idea of the duties of the Marine Corps is exceedingly vague. On those occasions, which have not been infrequent, when the propriety of abolishing the organization has been urged by certain members of Congress, the most ardent defenders of the Corps, while fully convinced of the necessity of its existence, have sometimes found themselves at a loss to describe its duties.

Considering the peculiar circumstances of the case, such a lack of information is not sur prising, for only those familiar with the value of the services of the Marines can well be acquainted with the details of the arduous and responsible duties performed by the officers and men attached to the Corps. In 1866, the National House of Representatives instructed the Committee on Naval Affairs "to consider the expediency of abolishing the Marine Corps, and transferring it to the Army, and of making provision for supply ing such military force as may at any time be needed in the Navy, by detail from the Army." The Committee unanimously Marine Forces of European Navies. 19 decided in opposition to the project, and, in their report, made use of 'the following language in describing the duties of the Marines : " The Marines are strictly infantry soldiers trained for service afloat.

Their discipline, equipment, character, and esprit de corps being that of the soldier, they necessarily give to a ship-of-war its military character. As sentinels, they watch over the magazines, store-rooms, gangways, galleys, and all lights and fires required for the use of the ship ; they guard all the public property and all prisoners of war, which at times may outnumber the crew ; and at all times sustain and protect the discipline of a man-of-war by their organization, distinctive character, and peculiar training. In the ordinary duties of a ship at sea, they pull and haul in common with the rest of the crew ; and although not required to go aloft, they keep regular watch, and are most to be relied upon to man the ropes in sudden squalls, a duty the prompt discharge of which is as necessary to the safety of a ship as reefing or furling.

Marines are also trained at the great gun exercise, so that in time of action they are ready to assist in manning guns or to act as a reserve force to meet the casualties of battles. These duties being natural to, and part and parcel of, the service to which they belong, their absence from the deck would have to be supplied by an equal amount of physical force ; and, as some part of the crew must be kept on deck to perform these important duties, it will be readily seen why a body of well-trained men, familiar with sea life and its duties, should be preferred to soldiers drawn from the Army unaccus tomed to these duties. As soldiers, they guard the ship from troubles within and from surprise without ; and as part of the ship's complement, take part in most of the duties necessary to her efficiency as a man-of-war.

While ashore, undergoing train ing as soldiers, they are not otherwise idle, but guard and pro tect the Navy Yards with the immense amount of public property within them, and are always ready for emergencies in adjacent cities." In an article descriptive of the nature and value of the services Marine Forces of European Navies. 20 of the Marines, the New York Times says : " In times of peace this Corps has saved millions of dollars to our national treasury by its faithfulness in guarding the public property in our Navy Yards and magazines. It is worthy of attention that no large fire has ever occurred at any of our Navy Yards where a guard of Marines was on duty. Had the New Ironsides been in charge of even a corporal's guard of Marines, instead of a number of irresponsible watchmen, the fire never would have occurred, and the .government would not have been a loser thereby of a sum equal to the amount appropriated for the support of the entire Corps.

It has been estimated that the pay of the watchmen for one year who are employed in our Navy Yards, added to the property lost through their inefficiency, would support a Marine Corps of more than double the present number of men. The difference between a well-drilled, responsible soldier as a guard and sentinel, and an irresponsible civilian, ,ought to be evident to all, and especially to those who have our national property under control."

Chapter II. The Antiquity Of The Marine Service

PHŒNICIAN AND GREEK MARINES. THE FORCE UNDER XERXES. THE ROYAL MARINES OF GREAT BRITAIN. A WELL-MERITED TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN MARINES, BY A PROMINENT OFFICER OF THE NAVY. CAPTAIN S. B. LUCE, of the United States Navy, has kindly furnished the following chapter in relation to the antiquity of the Marine Service, etc., with a tribute to the value of the United States Corps, which will be appreciated alike by the student of history and by the officers and men of the Corps : The employment of infantry as part of the regular complement of vessels of war was common to the Phœnicians and to all the maritime States of Greece at least five centuries before the commencement of the Christian era. In the earlier period of history it was not so. When vessels were no larger than pentekonters, — open boats pulling fifty oars, — perhaps up to the time of biremes, the. warriors were the oarsmen.

But as naval science progressed, and the size of vessels increased, there gradually sprang up distinct classes, which together made up the. personnel of the Navies about 500 B. C. : the rowers, the seamen proper, who had the general management of the vessel and sails, and the Marines, or fighting men. Marines are specially mentioned in the account of the battle of Lade, in the time of Darius, king of Persia, about 497 B. C. The Ionian Greeks, being in a state of revolt, had their fleet drawn up at The Antiquity of the Marine Service. 22 Lade-, a small island lying off Miletus, where it was discovered by the Persians. In the battle which ensued, the Samian and Lesbian squadrons deserted the cause, the people of those isles having been won over by Persian emissaries, and were followed by others.

" Of those who remained and fought," says Herodotus, " none were so rudely handled as the Chians. They had furnished to the common fleet over one hundred ships, having each of them forty armed citizens on board, and those picked men. Scorning to follow the base examples of the trai tors, they fought desperately, till, overcome by numbers, they were obliged to seek safety in flight." The same author, in es timating the strength of the Persian naval force which accompa nied the army of Xerxes to Greece, observes that each vessel had on board, besides native soldiers, thirty fighting men, who were either Persians, Medes, or Sacans. At the dawning of the day of the battle of Salamis, the men-at arms of the Greek fleet were assembled on shore, and speeches were made to them. "The best of all was that of Themis tocles, who, throughout, contrasted what was noble with what was base, and bade them in all that came within the range of man's nature always to make choice of the nobler part."

These men-at-arms or soldiers, which formed part of the complement of the Greek trireme, were called Epibatæ, a word all authorities agree in rendering into English by the word Marines. The largest number of Marines found aboard each of the " swift ships ' ' — that is, the regular men of war, as distinguished from trans ports — at this period was forty. Plutarch gives the number on board each Greek trireme at the battle of Salamis as eighteen, four of whom were archers and the rest heavy-armed. During the Pel oponnesian War, the average number on board the Athenian trireme was ten. It may not be out of place to give here one of the many incidents of the battle of Salamis, as an illustration of the valor and mode of fighting of the Epibatæ : " A Samothracian vessel bore down on an Athenian and sunk it, but was attacked and crippled immediately after by one of the Eginetan squadron.

Phœnician and Greek Marines. 23 Now the Samothracians were expert with the javelin, and aimed their weapons so well that they cleared the deck of the vessel which had disabled their own, after which they sprang on board and took it." (Herodotus viii. 90.) In the account of the battle of Flatea, where Mardonius, the great military leader of the Persians, was slain, and the choice of the Persian troops routed, there is an instance related where the military and naval training are curiously blended in the person of the Athenian Sophanes. " He wore," says Herod otus, " an iron anchor, fastened to the belt which secured his breastplate by a brazen chain ; and this, when he came near the enemy, he threw out, to the intent that when they made their charge it might be impossible for him to be driven from his post.

As soon, however, as the enemy fled, his wont was to take up his anchor and join the pursuit." Another account states that the anchor was simply a device upon his shield. But in either event the anchor would indicate that he had served afloat. Thucydides makes frequent mention of Epibatæ. When the Athenian strategus Demosthenes was operating near Leu cas with thirty ships, he landed his forces, and had, besides the army, " the three hundred Epibatæ from his own ships," making ten for each trireme. Rawlinson, in translating the word Epibatæ, explains that it means " the armed portion of the crew, corresponding to our (English) Marines." So also Dr. Dale, in his translation of " Thucydides," renders the word Epibatæ as " the heavy-armed soldiers who served on board ship, answering to our Marines."

The eminent Greek scholar, Dr. Arnold, takes the same view. The learned historian of Greece, Mr. Grote, speaks of Epibatæ as Marines, and observes that " though not forming a corps permanently distinct, they correspond in func tion to the English Marines." In the statement that they did not form a distinct corps, Mr. Grote seems to differ from other authorities. Boeckh, probably one of the very best authorities on the antiq uities of Athens, who is so freely quoted by Mr. Grote in Phœnician and Greek Marines. 24 his history of Greece and referred to by Dr. William Smith and Rich in their dictionaries of Roman and Greek antiquities, in speaking of matters concerning the Athenian Navy, remarks that " The crews of the swift triremes consisted of two descrip tions of men : of the soldiers or Marines appointed to defend the vessels, who were also called Epibatæ ; and of the sailors.

These Epibatæ were entirely distinct from the land soldiers, such as the hoplitæ, peltastœ and cavalry, and belonged to the vessel." (" Boeckh's Economy of Athens," Vol. I, page 373.) They had, moreover, their own officers, called trierarchoi. During the naval supremacy of Rome, the quinquireme only, as a, rule, was admitted into the line of battle. Polybius gives the number of rowers in these vessels as three hundred, and that of the Marines (clasiarii milites) as one hundred and twenty. In regard to the manner of fighting, it may be observed that the Epibatæ used arrows and darts at a distance, spears and swords in close combat, and as ships increased in size they added balistæ, and turres, or turrets (naves turritœ), and fought from them as from castles on land. In the earlier period of naval history, when opposing fleets, drawn up in parallel lines, closed at once and decided the issue of the battle by a hand-to-hand contest, the number of Marines aboard each vessel was as large as could be accommodated.

But when, in the process of time, military science became better understood, and its principles came to be applied to the man agement of fleets, naval tactics grew to be an art in which the Athenians rendered themselves preeminently successful. Skil ful manœuvres and evolutions performed with wonderful celerity and precision took the place of the old style of rushing headlong into battle. To maim and disable an enemy, without receiving any injury in return, was now the evidence of an expert trierarch and a well-drilled crew; this feat once accomplished, and the enemy's vessel reduced to a helpless wreck upon the water, the survivors were easily despatched by the Marines. Hence, with the improved tactics came a reduction of the number of Marines allowed to a Greek trireme, the precise number being finally settled at ten, as already stated, the entire complement of the trireme being two hundred.

The true functions of the Marine of modern times were little understood, his great value to the Navy to which he belonged little appreciated, till within a recent period. According to their own writers, the Corps of Marines of Great Britain was originally instituted in 1664; and, curiously enough, partly with a view to forming a nursery of seamen for the fleet. The privates were encouraged to qualify as able seamen, and were al lowed every opportunity of doing so. * " It having been found necessary on many occasions to embark a number of soldiers on board our ships of war * * it was judged expedient to appoint certain regiments for that service, who were trained to the different modes of sea-fighting, and also made use ful in some of those manœuvres of a ship where a great many hands were required.

These, from the nature of their duty, were distinguished as Marine soldiers, or Marines." ("Grose's Mili tary Antiquities of the English Army," Vol. I.) They were ex pected to be more or less familiar with the duties of seamen, and it is still more curious to observe that this total misapprehension as to the nature of the duties of Marines was transmitted to the colonies in America, and found definite expression in the first act of the Continental Congress establishing a Marine Corps. In 1740 three additional regiments were raised in America and assembled at New York. All the officers, excepting the captains of companies, who were colonists nominated by the provinces, were appointed by the Crown, and Colonel Spotis wood, of Virginia, was colonel-commandant of the whole, t *" Royal Marines," by T. Smith, R. M. Colburn's "United Service Mag azine " for May, and following numbers, 1874. t The history of the Royal Marines is not without its page of romance.

One Hannah Snell, of Worcester, England, it appears, fought in the ranks as a Marine. She belonged to the guard of the Swallow, one of the squad- In 1760, the strength of the Corps being increased to eigh teen thousand, three hundred and fifty-five men, application was made for an increase of the number of field officers, etc. Nicolas, in his history of the Royal Marine forces, gives very full accounts of all the battles in which that Corps participated, but although the British Marine had in many a hard fought action acquitted himself with credit, yet on no occasion had he proved himself of more value to the Navy to which he belonged, or reflected more honor on his Corps, than during the momentous period covering the great mutinies at Spithead, the Nore and Bantry Bay. The seamen of the fleet fully under standing the advantage, in the stand they had taken against the Government, 'of engaging the Marines as their allies, took care to include them in their demand for redress of abuses.

In their answer to the Lords of the Admiralty, dated on board the Queen Charlotte at Spithead, April 19, 1797, they say, — " and as a further proof of our moderation, and that we are actuated by a true spirit of benevolence towards our brethren, the Marines, who are not noticed in your lordship's answer," etc. But neither had they, in their first statement of grievances, be ginning, " We, the seamen of His Majesty's Navy," alluded, even remotely, to the Marines, showing that the alliance was an after thought. The Marines were mentioned, however, in the petition to Parliament. But although their " brethren the Marines " doubt less had their own grievances, yet they, as a rule, remained true to their duty, and by their steadfast courage and good discipline suppressed more than one mutiny. One remarkable instance ron under Admiral Boscawan, was distinguished for bravery, wounded twelve times in various actions ; and was finally discharged without her sex being discovered.

This brings to mind the story of the lady whose devotion to the fortunes of one William Taylor induced her to follow that hero to sea. She assumed the name of Richard Carr, behaved with great gallantry, and not withstanding the secret of her sex being revealed, she was actually promoted to be first lieutenant of the Thunder bomb. (See " Universal Songster," London, 1827, Vol. I., page 65.) among many of a similar character, is related of the crew of the Impetueux, Captain Sir Edward Pellew, afterwards Lord Exmouth. The mutineers had in vain attempted to win over the Marines, and Sir Edward, finding he had them on his side, at once took such energetic measures that the mutiny was put down. The Marine Guard of the Castor frigate summarily suppressed a mutiny on board that ship December, 1801.

In the same year the mutiny in the squadron in Bantry Bay broke out ; this also was put down by the aid of the Marines. On each oc casion the good conduct of the Marines was recognized in the official report of the affair, and it was probably due to the repu tation for loyalty then acquired under the most trying circum stances, rather than their conduct in battle, that gave rise to the complimentary order of the Admiralty, of April 29, 1802, conveying His Majesty's directions " that the Corps shall be styled Royal Marines." The last serious mutiny necessary in this connection to notice, occurred on board the Excellent, 74, in the West Indies. Lord Hood, in general orders, dated " Blenheim, Barbadoes, December 30, 1802," says: "The commander-in-chief (as well as the members of the Court Martial), are highly sensible of the active exertions of the officers of H. M. ship Excellent, in quelling the late mutiny on board that ship ; and also the officers, non-commissioned officers, and private Marines belonging to the said ship : who, by their firmness in resisting the at tempt to seduce them from their duty, and in opposing men in actual mutiny, have increased, if possible, the high character the Corps has so justly acquired," etc., etc.