MARINES, United States.-- The oldest branch of the United States military service, inaugurated in 1775. While until recent years the services of this corps did not receive special notice, through recent foreign expeditions their conspicuous bravery under the most trying con ditions (Peking, Vera Cruz, etc.) brought them a prominent place in the public eye, a con dition reaching its climax during the World War in 1918 (Belleau Wood, etc.). The marines have had numerous soubriquets conferred on them among them might be mentioned °Webfoot sol diers»; °Soldiers of the Sea,» while Kipling called them °Soldier and sailor, too.» The Hon. Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, prefers to term them °the efficient fighting, build ing and landing force of the Navy,» which title well defines some of the activities that come within their scope. The Marine Corps is an independ ent branch of the military service under direc tion of the Secretary of the Navy. Their home service consists of protecting government prop erty at naval stations and use in national emergencies (riots, insurrection, etc.). Abroad they are the first line of mobile defense of naval bases and stations; they are used for the protection of American lives and interests in foreign countries, besides acting as landing parties with expeditionary forces and on ad vanced base duties.
The equipment of the Marine Corps con tains at present: Infantry, field artillery, ma chine-gun companies, fixed defensive artillery, engineers, signal corps, etc. An aviation branch used heavier and lighter than air crafts in efficient service on the Allies western front in 1918. • The corps is then a complete army in itself, lacking only cavalry. And on several recent expeditions horses have been brought into play as mounts for some officers. Every man in the ranks obtains a perfect training and practice in marksmanship, and their officers, after the full course at the Annapolis Naval School, which constitutes the naval officers course, have to pass through two years' vigor ous study and drill at the Norfolk School for Marine Corps Officers.
The first record of American marines in this country dates back to 1740 when three regiments were organized in New York for service under the flag of Great Britain. On 10 Nov. 1775 a Marine Corps was organized under a resolution of the Continental Congress with one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, two majors, etc., to be known as "First and Second Battalions of American Ma rines.» Already by February 1777 a battalion of 300 marines and landsmen, under Maj. Samuel Nichols, captured the English forts of New Providence, Bahamas — United States marines' first battle. Throughout the Revolutionary War the marines did an appreciable share of the fighting which brought victory and free dom in its train. Conspicuously active were they under John Paul Jones, in the battle be tween the Ranger and the Drake, Lieutenant Wallingford losing his life commanding his marines. Forty-nine out of 137 marines in the great battle between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis were killed or wounded. The
State of Pennsylvania fitted out the Ryder Ally with a crew of 110 seamen and marines with Captain Barney in command, in 1782, which fought the hot combat in Delaware Bay, cap turing the British ship General Monk, generally looked upon as one of our most brilliant ac tions. With the Revolution ended, both army and navy were disbanded, the new Navy De partment being created April 1798 and the Marine Corps organized and established 11 July of the same year.
The next noteworthy marine engagement was in 1803 in the War with Tripoli when the Philadelphia's Lieutenant Osborne and guard were taken prisoners ((after the most gallant exertions? It was the marines who rendered such valuable service to General Eaton (q.v.), consul at Tunis, in his remarkable march of about 600 miles across the desert of North Africa, from Alexandria to Derne, on arriving at which latter place native fortifications were stormed and captured by the marines under Lieutenant O'Bannon. They hauled down the Tripolitan flag and hoisted that of the United States of America, this being the first time the American flag flew on a fortress in the Old World. gTnpolig has appeared inscribed on the banners of the Marine Corps ever since. When, in the War with Great Britain (1812), the Constitution defeated the Guerriire, it was the commander of the marine guard, Lieuten ant Bush, who was the first officer killed, while repelling boarders during a critical phase in the action. In the capture of the frigate Mace donian by the United States (Commodore Deca tur) the marines, under Lieutenants Anderson and Edwards, are cited as fighting with steadiness? Lieutenant Gamble, of the ma rines, was commended for ((skill and efficiency)) • in commanding in turn his guard, a prize ship and a fort at Nulcahiva, Marquesas Islands. In the sanguinary combat between the Shannon and the Chesapeake, so famous in our history, Lieutenant Brown and 11 of his men were killed and 20 wounded. In the battles of Lake Champlain and Lake Erie the marines actively participated, also in the engagement between the Constitution and the Cyane and Levant, in the combat between the President and Endy mion and in the battle on Lake Ponchartrain. They were with the army under Scott in Can ada, with General Winder at Bladensburg, at New Orleans with General Jackson, at North Point, Baltimore, and in minor actions on Maine's coast and the shores of Chesapeake and Delaware bays. The Indian outbreak in Geor gia (1836) found the army unprepared and Colonel-Commandant Archibald Henderson, of the marines, quickly volunteered the corps' serv ices, and they fought, under General Jessup, through southern Alabama and the Florida Everglades against the guile of the Creeks and Seminoles. Previous to this they had been engaged against Spanish pirates in the West Indies and in Sumatra, and in the great fire in New York (1835) they had guarded private and public property.